shutting down the government

Far right Republican Congressman Gary Miller (CA) was basically redistricted out of office... except he managed to win a very blue district because of a quirk in California's new election law that found him running against a fellow Republican in the general, all the Democrats having eliminated each other in a crowded open primary. Obama had won what is now CA-31 (Colton Loma Linda, San Bernardino, Redlands, Rancho Cucamonga) with 122,691 votes (57%) against McCain's 89,376 (41%) in 2008. Last year Obama scored another 57-41% victory in the district, taking 118,043.

And it's not just Maddow who is pointing out that this wasn't just a bunch of random berserk teabaggers causing this. This is official, well-planned out Republican Party strategy, as Jonathan Chait explained to New York magazine readers yesterday.

Over the weekend, Barbara Lee (D-CA), an icon for peace, sent out an appeal to her supporters to back Alan Grayson. In 2001 Rep. Lee was the only Member of Congress to just say no to the Bush-Cheney request for authorization to attack Afghanistan.

Saturday night House Republicans passed 248-174 a repeal of a medical device tax as part of the CR that threatens to shut down the government. They are demanding a one year delay to the Affordable Care Act and the repeal of the medical device tax.

This week, PPP found that Ted Cruz is now the number one choice of Republican voters to be their 2016 nominee.

On Saturday, John Culberson (R-TX), marched out of the GOP House caucus meeting that had resolved to shut down the government, shouting "Let's Roll," a true suicide-bombing terrorist. Except his neatly gerrymandered R+13 district (which Romney won 60-39%) won't extract any penalty from its harebrained congressman.

Suicide bomber vests strapped to their chests, congressional Republicans have a message for the American people: "Give us our way, or we'll blow the whole damn thing up!" And by their way, they're talking about a lot more than defunding the Affordable Care Act. Yesterday, the NY Times Editorial Board was aghast at the Republican demands-- and they called it what it is A Republican Ransom Note.

Kline hates everyone-- young and old!Steve Israel was never a businessman-- nor a farmer. He's always worked in politics. He doesn't know how to make long term plans or how to initiative and follow through on long term goals. He can't see beyond the quarter or, off on his furthest horizon, the cycle. And the DCCC chair isn't the only near-sighted Democrat in power. The whole party is blinkered by strategists who never see the value of long-term planning.

Karl Rove was on Fox News Sunday this week when Chris Wallace announced that "as soon as we listed Ted Cruz as our featured guest this week, I got unsolicited research and questions, not from Democrats but from top Republicans, to hammer Cruz." Accusations started flying across the wingnut blogosphere. McConnell, panic-striken, immediately denied that it was him or any of this staffers trying to undermine Cruz.

DCCC faves McIntyre & Matheson both voted to shut down the governmentI'm sure you already know that on Friday, Boehner surrendered to the Tea Party nihilists and the deranged Ted Cruz faction of his party and passed a bill that would shut down the government unless the Senate and Obama agree to repeal the Affordable Care Act.