The Tea Party cure for LaTourette syndrome.
Posted on 01/04/2014 3:30:05 AM PST by Pharmboy
WASHINGTON — In the year since he stepped down from Congress, Steven C. LaTourette, a Republican from Ohio, has emerged as one of the top generals in the establishment Republicans’ war against the Tea Party.
It is a role that has benefited the Main Street Partnership, a corporate-backed advocacy group he runs, and its effort to raise millions of dollars to protect centrist Republicans from Tea Party challengers. It has also helped draw clients to a separate lobbying office Mr. LaTourette and his wife have set up across the street from the Capitol.
But this blitz of activity has led to complaints from Mr. LaTourette’s political opponents that under the guise of defending the Republican Party from extremists, he is profiting from his continued presence in the Washington spotlight. In addition, Mr. LaTourette’s activities have raised questions about whether, in his dual roles, the former congressman violated the federal statute that prohibits lawmakers from lobbying on Capitol Hill for a year after leaving office.
Mr. LaTourette’s situation underscores a new reality as the fierce divisions in the Republican Party unleash tens of millions of dollars in corporate funds, campaign donations and advocacy efforts, creating potential windfalls for well-positioned strategists and former officeholders. It also illustrates how vague the rules are governing lobbying by former members of Congress.
Snip...
His work for the Main Street Partnership, he said, is focused solely on helping lawmakers who believe in the government’s ability to solve problems to fight back against extremist groups like the Club for Growth, which he has likened to a “cancer that has attached itself” to the Republican Party for its role in challenging incumbent Republicans with more conservative candidates.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
They liken the Tea Party to a cancer that has attached itself to the GOP. I maintain that the cancer has been growing from within, slowly at first, and now with exponential effect.
If anything, the Tea Party, more importantly, the sentiment of millions of Americans who aren’t officially affiliated with the Tea Party, are the white blood cells of the body politic.
The Tea Party cure for LaTourette syndrome.
Oh, absolutely. I’m still fuming about the NRC not supporting Cuccinelli in my neighboring Commonwealth of Virginia. The demonization of the Tea Party by pubbies is a killer.
The 2014 elections will be very, very telling.
Rats using piubes to do thier bidding. The cancer has spread
More and more obvious is the effort to run the Tea Party types off, into a Third Party. Out of their hair and with TP in a minority would suit the Establishment purposes very well.
Chances are that floating a third party would prove a ghastly expensive endeavor for grassroots alone to finance, to ever hope to get off the ground. Especially up against an era of Big Money and the accompanying battalions of Big Lobby, with real exchanges of value to lure outcomes.
Many/most corporates are far more interested now in global profiteering than bouying the American economy, or even America’s best interests. TP seeks simple things, as the Founders, but carry no gifts.
The title if this piece is poor English
Anyway the cancer is the GOPe. They do not work as they are supposed to. They do not work for the pu try, their voters, and certainly not for the Constitution that they swear th God to do.
They are the sick ones.
The GOP is destructive, selfish and greedy. It’s food source is lobbyists
They are unpredictable and they are sick and they make the country sick.
The same can be aside of democrats and their food source, the NYT, the Unions, abortionists, interest groups.
The Times is once again aenseless, here
I suppose the efficacies to big business and wrong-thinking establishment Republicans in the vein of Karl Rove in destroying the TP seem good. Particularly, when their wrong thinking leads them to believe that ‘moderatism’ and pandering to Hispanics, blacks and other minorities to seem inclusive and caring will result in increased numbers for them to offset TP desertions.
They are wrong. They may bring big money and business support from some quarters but it will not result in increased Hispanic or other minority votes for Republicans. That market is indelibly marked to the Democrats - in perpetuity.
As for myself, I am resolutely determined to NEVER hold my nose again and vote for the generic establishment RINO. As far as I’m concerned, establishment Republican is the same thing as a Democrat, only having second-tier power - and they are VERY comfortable with it.
I’ve hit bottom on the Republican Party as far as faith or hope goes. I’d sooner see it burn to the ground figuratively than ever accept an appeasing RINO GOPe traitor for any office for which I can vote.
Yoiu ain't no R .. jackass.
We ought to get it over with and call them "The K Street Partnership" inj every public venue and every interview.
As have I, hit the bottom with the R Party. I was lucky to have Bob Barr on the ballot as an alternative to voting for McCain, for whom nothing, including Palin, could persuade me to vote EVER.
Four years of Obama stormed my panic impulse and I think I voted for Romney! A mental block is my reward.
The R Party saw how conservatives work and then fold, work and then fold, over and over, and as Pavlov’s dogs, they would like that to continue allowing us to splinter during the primaries and run their guy up the crease for the nomination.
It HAS to stop. We have to break the cycle.
The NYT and liberals in general are desperate to show the Right in a bad light. They will seize on anything, magnify it all out of proportion in order to take attention away from the horrendous failures of this Administration and the Democrat party.
This disagreement, or infighting is imo a healthy sign and will ultimately accrue to the benefit of the Party and the Country.
Politics is a nasty, nasty game and not for the faint of heart. If folks are not willing to stand and fight vigorously for what they believe, we will simply cease to exist as the great and successful nation we have been up until a few short years ago when this slide we are seeing began.
Just another rovian enemy of Freedom and Liberty.
Republicans who are not Tea Party are Democrats with an “R” after their name.
No but we carry enough votes to deny the repukes power if they deny our ideology. Either they embrace us or die.
I agree with you 100%!
I love it! I am getting sick and tired of the rhetoric about how sick "Tea Partiers" are! Just because we don't come firing back every time they insult us, doesn't mean we've retreated with our tails between our legs. We're just not the types to always be in the forefront!
We are still here! And we are listening, watching and getting ready to vote our mind!
I believe you are right. The conservatives struggle for the nomination is one thing, but methodically picking a few off, one at a time, in congress has finally scared the fearful.
The most fearful (Boehner) are huffing and puffing to the media and to their comrades across the aisle that they are done with us. I believe that is fear talking big, and their last hurrah, as in their final push. These guys are so exposed and have painted themselves into a corner and been bought off, if they will only dump us at the curb.
Money is their only weapon against us, on our feet now. Cruz has got to lead, or Rand Paul will.
Of the Republican party. And deservedly so.
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