Month: September 2015

The winnowing has begun: Governor Goodhair calls it quits

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RickPerry2Oh Rick, I warned you that the “hipster glasses” were not going to fool anyone. Gov. Rick Perry and his Superman disguise.

Governor Goodhair Rick Perry, whose campaign is flat broke and his unpaid staffers have been jumping to other campaigns like rats jump from a sinking ship, finally accepted the inevitable today — the winnowing of the GOP field has begun.

POLITICO Tiger Beat on The Potomac reports, Rick Perry abandons presidential run:

Former Texas governor Rick Perry on Friday said he is suspending his campaign, becoming the first Republican candidate to drop out of the crowded race for the White House.

Perry had struggled to raise money and gain traction in what was his second attempt at a presidential bid, following a failed run in 2012.

“I share this news with no regrets,” Perry said, according to the text. “It has been a privilege and an honor to travel this country, to speak with the American people about their hopes and dreams, to see a sense of optimism prevalent despite a season of cynical politics. And as I approach the next chapter in life, I do so with the love of my life by my side, Anita Perry. We have our house in the country, we have two beautiful children and two adorable grandchildren, four dogs, and the best sunset from our front porch that you could ever imagine. Life is good. And I am a blessed man.”

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Mutiny on the Boehner: Iran, Planned Parenthood, then government shutdown

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FreedomWorksPhase one of the Mutiny on the Boehner is now complete.

On Wednesday, the mutinous GOP House Freedom Caucus took Captain Queeg the TanMan hostage and forced him to pull the scheduled vote on the resolution of disapproval of the Iran agreement. They then forced the nominal Weeper of the House to accede to their hair-brained “Tortilla coast gambit” based on a debunked conspiracy theory about IAEA “secret side deals” with Iran. The GOP House Freedom Caucus ‘Tortilla Coast gambit’ to delay the Iran deal is a fraud.

On Thursday, the House voted on two resolutions claiming that the President had not given them all the information required to be reviewed by Congress under the Iran review law passed by Congress.  Not true: As Max Fischer wrote:

You can read, for yourself, the law that Congress passed articulating its authority to disapprove the Iran deal. Section 135 describes the congressional review period, and specifically articulates the documents that the Obama administration is required to give Congress. There is nothing in there about the text of IAEA safeguards agreements with Iran.

These two resolutions from the GOP’s Gimmicks-R-Us Shoppe were approved on a straight party-line vote without a single Democrat in support. Roll Call Vote 491 243-186 (straight party-line vote); Roll Call Vote 492 245-186 (straight party-line vote). This demonstrates that the TanMan is not in command of his mutinous ship.

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Male politicians may shy away from attacking “women” but many will attack the hell out of certain women (contains link to my radio interview)

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Crossposted from DemocraticDiva.com

Carly Fiorina

I got asked to be on KJZZ, the Phoenix area’s public radio station, on Wednesday morning to discuss the upcoming election season and how the two major parties would be targeting female voters. This is because the National Federation of Republican Women is in town for a conference this week.

I think I did okay and was glad for two things: That this wasn’t the typical situation where I’m on a panel with two Republican men (it was just me and Here and Now host Steve Goldstein chatting alone in the studio after he played a taped interview with a Republican strategist) and that I had anticipated that we would be discussing the contrast between Hillary Clinton and rising GOP primary candidate Carly Fiorina and prepared accordingly by reading up on both their campaigns.

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Kyrsten Sinema only AZ Democrat to oppose Iran deal

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This morning the Arizona Republic reported that Arizona’s  Democratic congressional caucus will support the P5+1 world powers nuclear agreement with Iran, with one member still “undecided” (oh, you already know who). Arizona Democrats in Congress to support Iran deal:

SinemaU.S. Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., who represents a Tempe swing district, is the only member of the state’s Washington, D.C., delegation who has yet to publicly disclose how she will vote on the divisive foreign policy issue. A Sinema spokeswoman did not return messages Wednesday.

Now remember, on Wednesday the House fell into chaos when the GOP House Freedom Caucus derailed the scheduled vote in the House on the resolution of disapproval of the Iran deal and forced a recess. The hair-brained scheme they came back with is three votes to set up a lawsuit to sue the President on a thoroughly debunked conspiracy theory that the President did not provide them the IAEA “secret side deals” with Iran, so the 60 day review period never started — because we say so! When you’ve lost in one forum, seek another forum and play on.

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