Clipping blog

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Clearing the Browser Tabs – Candidate Overload Thursday Edition Posted: 02 Jun 2011 03:10 AM PDT I admit sometimes I’m not altogether sure that more candidates is better for the Republicans. On one hand, plenty of candidates will provide many opportunities for us to work out our policy differences in time for the general election season. On the other, there is such as thing as too many voices, especially when some of those voices won’t be doing anything but echoing what other better candidates are saying. I say that because Jim Demint, the Senator from South Carolina, is considering a run for the White House. I don’t think he stands a prayer of even finishing in the Top Five at the end of the race and I don’t see what he will add to the conversation as a candidate. Yes, he’s been a conservative stalwart, but that doesn’t mean he’ll make a good candidate. He’d be far more useful as an enthusiastic backer of another candidate (Herman Cain, anyone?), especially in the important primary state of South Carolina. And now, links! If you want to get fully up to speed on public sector unions, then you should read this report as soon as possible. It’s the best layman’s guide I’ve ever seen on the subject. And speaking of good layman’s guides, The Lonely Conservative has a good one on Antionio Gramsci and why his “long march through the institutions” matters to all of us today. Also, the word “memetic” appears, which is a handy word to know. And once you’ve brushed up on your Gramsci, let Chris Muir introduce you to Herbert Marcuse. If Recovery Summer 2.0 is anything like Recovery Summer, Limited Beta Release Edition 1.something, we’re in for a giant steaming helping of Obama-style malaise. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz hasn’t limited her partisan hackishness to Medicare. She’s branched out into immigration and crime, too. However did the Vikings live through global warming? Oh, wait… America flat-out hates Obamacare. Unfortunately, the Democrats aren’t very interested in listening to America.

Harry Reid: Champion of the Common Man, Assuming the Common Man’s a Lobbyist with Bags of Cash Posted: 01 Jun 2011 07:39 PM PDT It is an article of faith that the Republicans are the Party of the Rich Lobbyist, but that turns out not to be so much the truth. Open Secrets took a look at who got the most lobbyist cash over the two-year period of 2009-2010 and, let’s just the if Michael Buffer has announced the winner of that contest, he’d say, “Your winner and still Champeen of Selling You Down the River to Pad the Campaign Coffers and Get Re-Elected is…Senator Harry Reid!” As Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) was running for re-election, about $1 out of every $20 he raised for his massive war chest came from a tiny but elite group of Washington insiders: federally registered lobbyists and their immediate family members, according to a new analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics of campaign finance data and lobbying reports. In 2009 and 2010 alone, Reid raised about $919,000 from 572 lobbyists who were registered and actively lobbying during either one of those years, the Center found. That’s more than any other member of the U.S. Senate, but he’s hardly the only member of Congress to post notable numbers. No one even came close. So next time Reid burbles something about special interests and Republicans, you may feel free to laugh in either one of his two faces. (via Tim Carney’s Twitter feed)

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