Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
As I said in the previous post, the Tea-Publican Party is an anti-government party. They are not
interested in sound government policy, they are an insurrection bent on
destroying government. The House Republican Conference has prepared an "exceptionally detailed" guide for its members with anti-government talking points for the August recess.
Roll Call reports, House GOP August Plan: Hate on Washington:
When House Republicans retreat to their districts for the August
recess, they will each be armed with a detailed guide — an exceptionally
detailed guide — on how to assure their already convinced constituents
that Washington is broken.
The August House Republican Conference planning kit, titled “Fighting
Washington for All Americans,” offers a rare glimpse into the
constituent outreach efforts of the GOP. Those efforts, it turns out,
are highly calculated, hashtag-heavy and rife with references to the
video app Vine.
The best way to stay in Washington appears to be to deride
Washington, and Republican leadership isn’t going to deviate from that
familiar formula.
Of the many topics Republicans could delve into — the impending debt
ceiling debate, immigration or, perhaps, the sequester — the 31-page GOP
packet focuses on safer ground: Obamacare, jobs and the fierce hatred
of all things Washington.
There’s an “Emergency Health Care Town Hall,” for starters, with
detailed recipes on where to hold the event, how to promote it — tweet
it, Vine it, Instagram it, Facebook it — and how to hold an “impromptu”
media availability to “frame the key takeaways.”
* * *
The memo also suggests plenty of media time, including a “#CutWaste
Drive Time Radio Tour,” an editorial board meeting and an “Obamacare
Media Tour.”
* * *
To get the conversation rolling in the right direction, the playbook
suggests planting questions: “Prepare a few questions in advance in case
the conversation slowly starts.”
“Invite at least 3-4 people with whom the member already has an
established relationship,” the memo instructs. “This will strengthen the
conversation and take it in a direction that is most beneficial to the
member’s goal.”
* * *
Riva Litman, the spokeswoman for Republican Conference Chairwoman
Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington, said it is the job of the House
Republican Conference to equip members with “the tools and resources
they need to take our message to all corners of this country.”
“That’s why, in anticipation of the upcoming August recess, we’ve
provided offices with a thorough and comprehensive planning kit —
complete with suggested events, best practices and talking points,”
Litman said. She noted that a second packet, complete with updated
talking points, would be on its way to members soon.
The first kit offers variations on an old Washington favorite: bashing Washington.
“Washington is out of control,” warns a “sample op-ed” titled “Fighting Washington for You.”
Naturally, it’s not the specific member of Congress’ fault.
“But every day I serve in Congress, I work to fight Washington,” the
theoretical House Republican declares in his or her theoretical op-ed.
The memo suggests the member use the op-ed to tout an event and
promise attendees won’t get “another boring speech or more
inside-the-beltway rhetoric.”
Members should also consider an op-ed about the tea party-IRS scandal
and the “rampant overreach of power by the Obama administration — and
what House Republicans are doing to combat it.”
Gee, I wonder how many of these Astroturf op-eds will find their way into the pages of the GOP-friendly Arizona Republic and East Valley Tribune. Is this op-ed from Rep. David Schweikert today in the Arizona Republic one of these Astroturf op-eds? (It sure reads like it). Schweikert:
Blame 'compromise' for debt.
Democrats, for their part, accuse the GOP of creating the very dysfunction it derides.
“As the saying goes, Republicans claim government doesn’t work, then
they get elected and prove it,” a senior House Democratic leadership
aide said. “With no record to go back home and sell, it’s no surprise
that House Republicans will spend the summer regurgitating the same old
anti-government rhetoric.”
The article concludes: "But whatever you do, just don’t remind voters you are part of that government."
As Steve Benen observes, House GOP has a game-plan for August:
I'm no political strategist, but wouldn't this be a more effective tactic if, say, Republicans weren't the majority party
in the House of Representatives? When GOP officials whine incessantly
about those bums on Capitol Hill, do they realize that John Boehner is
the Speaker and Eric Cantor is the Majority Leader? If they spend four
weeks in August condemning the powers that be inside the Beltway, has it
occurred to them they're among those with power?
And this observation:
About seven months into the new Congress, House Republicans don't have
much to show for 2013, at least not yet. They've passed no major bills;
they're on track to be the least productive since historians started
keeping track; and Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has said he wants to be
judged by how many laws he repeals — a figure that currently totals
zero.
This is how our Tea-Publican Congress critters ought to be greeeted by their constituents.
