Who needs Dexter when you have the GOP Implosion Show?
by digby
I love the smell of Republicans imploding in the morning:
is advocating disruption on a grander scale, urging Republicans to wage what some in the party are calling a suicidal campaign to shut down the government unless President Obama agrees to defund his signature health initiative. Last week, Boehner (R-Ohio) cancelled another vote — this time on a plan to keep the government open past Sept. 30 — after the Club and other outside groups complained that it failed to undermine Obamacare.
“Every Republican ran on defunding or repealing Obamacare. This is a test of whether they’re actually going to do what they say they’re for,” said Club President Chris Chocola, a former congressman from Indiana. “What’s the more radical thing to do: Continue to spend more and borrow more from China? Or have the confrontation? It’s never going to get any easier.”
GOP leaders are reworking the measure while Washington braces for another round of white-knuckle deadlines. Meanwhile, Republican strategists are fuming, accusing the Club and its allies of dividing the party and toying with the U.S. economy in a cynical bid to raise cash.
“These are self-perpetuating entities, and if they stop fighting for a cause, the money dries up. So they have to drum up this outrage because it pays their salaries,” said former Arizona congressman Ben Quayle, the son of former vice president Dan Quayle. Ben Quayle narrowly lost his House seat last year after tangling with the Club. “It’s all about how to increase their fundraising,” he said.
Chocola is unapologetic. The Club’s mission, he said, is to advance “economic freedom, not Republicans.”
This is so much fun to watch:
Chocola came to the Club in 2009, just as the tea party was emerging. Under his leadership, the Club’s hand has been hot. In 2010, the Club not only chased veteran Arlen Specter (Pa.) out of the Republican Party — he eventually lost the Democratic primary and Toomey won his seat — but also took out Sen. Robert F. Bennett (R-Utah), who made the mistake of championing universal health insurance. Last year, the Club spent roughly $5 million to promote the long-shot Cruz over Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst.
And the Club vows to be more aggressive in 2014. It has set up a Web site, Primary My Congressman, aimed at crowdsourcing challengers to House moderates. So far, it has found one, to run against Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho), a close Boehner ally.
The normally loquacious Simpson did not respond to requests for comment. But former congressman Steven C. LaTourette (R-Ohio), leader of the centrist group Main Street Advocacy, quickly vowed to defend him, calling the Club for Growth “a cancer on the Republican Party that prides itself on supporting rigid, divisive and obstructionist candidates.”
Yeah, I’d say the Republican Party prides itself on supporting rigid, divisive and obstructionist candidates too. But apparently, these Club For Growth monsters are even worse.
By the way, who funds the Club for Growth?
Chaired by prominent Wall Street investors like Thomas Rhodes and Richard Gilder, as well as the wealthy and reclusive Howie Rich, the Club collects funds from employees of J.P. Morgan Chase and Goldman Sachs, while being buoyed by large donations like a $1.4 million contribution from investor Stephen Jacksons of Stephens Groups Inc. The hand-picked candidates of the Club claim to lead the tea party movement, even though polls show that 70% of self identified tea partiers want the government to help create jobs, and nearly half want government to rein in executive bonuses.
Also too:
Three others rank among the nation’s top 25 political donors, according to the center: Perry Homes founder Bob Perry of Texas, who died in April; private equity giant John Childs of Florida; and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, who helped bankroll the presidential campaign of then-Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex.).
Sweet.
Those poor tea partiers. They are true believers who honestly think this agenda is good for America. They have no idea they’re being played by a bunch of rich pricks who want nothing more than to impoverish every last one of them. Too bad they’re taking the rest of us down with them.
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