Month: October 2013

Posted by Bob Lord I just finished Glenn Greenwald’s With Liberty and Justice For Some. I was a bit late to the party on this one – the book has been out for a few years. But it seemed like a timely read anyhow, given Greenwald's current notoriety. And well worth it. After reading his … Read more

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Last week i suggested "It is time for a Grand Alliance between Democrats, establishment
Republicans, and centrist moderates in a united front" against the far-right radical extremist elements of the Tea Party.

Today I read that the GOP establishment business community shares this view. The New York Times reports today, Business Groups See Loss of Sway Over House G.O.P.:

As
the government shutdown grinds toward a potential debt default, some of
the country’s most influential business executives have come to a
conclusion all but unthinkable a few years ago: Their voices are
carrying little weight with the House majority that their millions of
dollars in campaign contributions helped build and sustain.

Their
frustration has grown so intense in recent days that several trade
association officials warned in interviews on Wednesday that they were
considering helping wage primary campaigns against Republican lawmakers
who had worked to engineer the political standoff in Washington.

Such an effort would thrust Washington’s traditionally cautious and pragmatic business lobby into open warfare with the Tea Party faction, which has grown in influence since the 2010 election and won a
series of skirmishes with the Republican establishment in the last two
years.

“We
are looking at ways to counter the rise of an ideological brand of
conservatism that, for lack of a better word, is more anti-establishment
than it has been in the past,” said David French, the top lobbyist at
the National Retail Federation. “We have come to the conclusion that
sitting on the sidelines is not good enough.”