Tea Party Civil War

We all love watching the Republican civil war between the greed and selfishness wing and the hate and bigotry wing as it unfolds. In the radio interview above, Palin declares war, again, on Marco Rubio and Kelly Ayotte. But how about the civil war that's tearing apart the Tea party itself... a civil war within a civil war? Those are always the most fun.

Over the weekend Luke Mullins covered an aspect of that for the Washingtonian: Armey In Exile. A month before Romney went down in flames, Dick Armey had agreed to resign as chairman of FreedomWorks, one of the big-money Tea Party fronts, forced out by Matt Kibbe with an $8 million payoff to just go away. Mullins asks and answers the question about what had turned Armey and Kibbe into bitter enemies and ripped FreedomWorks apart just as-- in their deranged minds-- Romney was sweeping into the White House and Republicans were taking over the Senate?

Though Armey rose to political prominence during the Gingrich Revolution, congressional staffers saw that he lacked political instincts-- "forgetting people’s names and arriving late to votes because he was chatting with his staff. 'He was a Mr. Magoo type of character,' says a former GOP leadership aide. 'Everyone knew that he didn’t know what was going on.' Armey also talked himself into controversy. He referred to Hillary Clinton as 'Marxist' and to Massachusetts Democrat Barney Frank-- an openly gay congressman-- as 'Barney Fag.'" After resigning from Congress, Armey joined Matt Kibbe's radical right Citizens for a Sound Economy, an early version of the Tea Party, funded by the John Birch Society's Koch family. Armey's starting salary was $430,000 a year and he was able to keep his $750,000 a year job as a slimy K Street lobbyist at DLA Piper. The Kochs soon left in a huff over something or other and started their own teabagger front, Americans for Prosperity, and the Kibbe-Armey rump renamed itself FreedomWorks. They struggled for a while before glomming on to Rick Santelli's anti-Obama rant on CNBC, at which time Kibbe started quietly paying off Hate Talk Radio hosts Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh to endorse the organization on the air.

Despite being Beltway elites, Armey and Kibbe emerged as emissaries for the populist, anti-Washington revolution. The New Yorker described Armey-- who flew first class and had a chauffeur-- as “the de-facto leader of the Tea Party movement.” Newsweek called Kibbe-- a former chief of staff to a Republican congressman-- a Tea Party “mastermind.”

As FreedomWorks’ profile expanded, contributions doubled from $7 million to $14 million between 2008 and 2010. Its number of volunteers jumped from 500,000 to 1.2 million. FreedomWorks fired up a long-dormant political-action committee and supported hard-line conservatives-- such as Republicans Marco Rubio in Florida and Mike Lee in Utah-- in Senate primary campaigns against more moderate GOP opponents for the 2010 midterms.

Fueled by Tea Party enthusiasm, the GOP picked up 63 seats in the House-- enough for control of the chamber-- six seats in the Senate, six new governorships, and nearly 700 seats in state legislatures.

It was finally happening-- Armey and Kibbe were at the center of the most powerful conservative movement in a generation. Together they wrote a bestselling book, Give Us Liberty: A Tea Party Manifesto, and appeared on NBC’s Today show. Driving to Tea Party rallies around the country, Kibbe played his Grateful Dead tapes for Armey, hoping to convert the country-music lover.

But Armey was lame and considered, at 70, too old. His public comments made right-wing operatives at FreedomWorks cringe, often insulting people on TV-- echoes of "Barney Fag"-- and more often screwing up details of anything he talked about, including the names and work of right-wing heroes. He clearly needed to be kept away from live microphones. The go-go wingnuts saw him as a liability that could destroy their whole mission-- and the big salaries they were drawing. Kibbe's wife, an ugly stereotype of a catty, overly ambitious wife, wanted to push Armey out and make Kibbe the sole head of FreedomWorks. She was jealous of Armey's wife and made fun of her for being a devout Christian. Mrs. Kibbe is an atheist filled with contempt for Christians. Meanwhile Mr. Kibbe's priorities were changing. He went from being obsessed with elections and campaigns and grassroots and public-policy fights to his own image and selling books and doing Glenn Beck TV. Armey was pushed out of the media spotlight and media requests for him were given to Kibbe.

The ostensible break came over Kibbe's new book. Profits from the book he and Armey had written belonged to FreedomWorks. Kibbe insisted that the profits from the new book were his personally, even though the book had been written by FreedomWorks staffers on company time. "Diverting nonprofit resources for personal use is a violation of federal tax code," writes Mullins. "If Kibbe had used 'significant staff resources' to produce his book, he would have put FreedomWorks’ tax-exempt status at risk. Kibbe, Armey says, 'had put the organization in jeopardy, and he had done it to line his own pockets.'”

Kibbe has mutton chops-- and a childish impulse to insult Hillary Clinton

Furious, Armey and his wife flew to Maine to show the document to FreedomWorks’ third trustee: C. Boyden Gray, a former White House counsel.

Armey and Gray called a special meeting of the board for Tuesday, September 4, 2012. Kibbe arrived at Gray’s DC law office without knowing why he’d been summoned. When they were around a conference table, Armey argued that Kibbe had pilfered his media requests and used FreedomWorks’ resources to profit personally.

The trustees voted two to one-- Armey and Gray for, Kibbe against-- to remove Kibbe from the board, and then put Kibbe and Brandon [FreedomWork's press secretary] on administrative leave.

Before Kibbe left, the trustees asked him to sign a document preventing him from launching an organization similar to FreedomWorks for the next four years, a FreedomWorks executive says, adding that the agreement came with a $100 signing bonus: “It was meant to be insulting.” (Armey denies that there was a signing bonus and says that the document was just a confidentiality agreement.)

Kibbe refused to sign.

Armey worried that Kibbe might instruct his allies to destroy documents related to the book deal, so he telephoned Jean Campbell, who was waiting outside FreedomWorks’ Capitol Hill headquarters.

“Go ahead,” Armey told her.

She secured the office, marshaling employees away from their computers and into the conference room. An armed former Capitol Police officer accompanied her-- in case there was any trouble.

“Dick Armey will be here soon with an announcement,” Campbell told the staff.

Some 30 anxious staffers surrounded the rectangular table when Armey and his wife marched in. Armey announced that Kibbe and Brandon had been put on leave, but he didn’t explain why.

FreedomWorks staff divided into two camps. While some senior employees respected Armey’s authority, many newer ones weren’t old enough to remember his days in Congress and-- because Armey worked from Texas-- didn’t really know him. In Kibbe, they found a hip libertarian who went on television and hosted parties at his home. Younger staffers developed a “cultish admiration” for Kibbe, a former official says. Some even wore their chops you can believe in T-shirt at the office.

To the young staffers, Armey seemed ill suited to run the organization. He put three additional FreedomWorks employees on administrative leave but-- when they broke down in tears-- immediately reinstated them. Staffers say he referred to a Japanese employee with a ponytail as “that Indian fella.” (Armey denies this.) And when Armey kicked his cowboy boots up on a table in Kibbe’s office, that was it. “It was kind of like, ‘Well, I’ll be damned if this is going to happen,’ ” a young employee says.

Kibbe and Brandon had retreated to Kibbe’s Capitol Hill home, where they contacted FreedomWorks donors, activists, and board directors to establish support outside of headquarters. Directors were angry that Armey hadn’t consulted them before taking action. Glenn Beck and members of Congress called Kibbe to offer encouragement.

Soon after Armey’s takeover, a group of young Kibbe loyalists arrived at Kibbe’s house for pizza and wine. They told Kibbe about Armey’s office management. Among Armey’s first moves was ordering the removal of all references to Kibbe from the FreedomWorks website. (Armey says he only asked for the removal of references to Kibbe’s book.)

“In our limited experience dealing with Armey, [we] saw him as this lovable grandpa,” says a young staffer. “To see him tailspin into this power-hungry, totally out-of-touch person was really frightening.”

The younger staffers used their cell phones to record conversations with Armey or Campbell. They disregarded Armey’s instructions, refusing, for example, to provide him with Kibbe’s schedule of upcoming donor meetings. Says Armey: “They started trying to sabotage things right from day one.”

...Armey and his wife stopped at the Chicago home of Richard Stephenson on their way back to Washington. A reclusive millionaire who had founded the for-profit Cancer Treatment Centers of America, Stephenson was a big FreedomWorks donor and Kibbe’s strongest ally on the board of directors.

When Armey arrived, Stephenson introduced a therapist who he suggested could mediate Armey and Kibbe’s dispute. Armey didn’t know it, but Kibbe had flown in from Washington and was waiting in another room. “If you think you’re going to therapize me into working with Matt Kibbe again, you’re kidding yourself,” Armey told the therapist.

He had previously told Stephenson that the allegedly rerouted media requests gave him a legal case against FreedomWorks for tortuous interference. He calculated damages at $8 million-- the potential earnings Armey felt he’d sacrificed by staying at FredeeomWorks. (The figure is based mostly on Armey’s $750,000 annual contract with DLA Piper, which his position at FreedomWorks forced him to give up.)

Either Kibbe goes or I go, Armey said. “And if I go, I’m going to have to sue. I can’t go away with empty pockets.”

As Armey left, he saw Kibbe sitting on a couch in an adjacent room. Neither said a word.

The next afternoon, C. Boyden Gray summoned Armey to his Washington office: Stephenson was willing to pay Armey $8 million to retire. The deal would be arranged as a consulting contract between Armey and Stephenson, payable in annual installments of $400,000 over 20 years. In return, the trustees would reinstate Kibbe as FreedomWorks president and Armey would leave the organization after the election.

Armey accepted.

Kibbe and Brandon were back in the office by the end of the day and spent the next few weeks settling scores, former staffers say. They labeled employees who had been helpful to Armey as “collaborators” and stripped them of authority. Kibbe promoted two young staffers who had remained loyal to him during the crisis, and he donated his $50,000 book advance to FreedomWorks. (Brandon denies punishing employees and says all promotions were merit-based.)

...Meanwhile, FreedomWorks is struggling. Key staffers and board members have fled, and first-quarter fundraising has slipped. Things may get even worse. Two watchdog groups have asked federal authorities to examine $12 million in suspicious donations that FreedomWorks received right before the election.

...Following the disastrous 2012 election, public support for the Tea Party has crumbled, and establishment GOP figures such as Karl Rove have launched initiatives to prevent less electable Tea Party candidates from winning primary campaigns. At its most recent tax-day rally at the Capitol, the crowd numbered in the dozens-- a turnout that recalled FreedomWorks’ early days.

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Big Money Invented Paul Ryan To Work For Them, Not For Teabaggers

Palin's not happy with the Republican Party Establishment-- and she claims she may be ready to bolt and start one of her own. No one represents that Establishment better than Paul Ryan. Ryan's a packaged product, courtesy of Wall Street and Madison Avenue. That's all he's ever been and Boehner was more than happy to boost him into the chair of the Budget Committee to please the banksters both serve. Recall, if you will, Ryan's first big effort for the criminal banksters who lifted him out of obscurity.

It's September 2008 and the GOP kleptocrats are winding up their last months in office. They wanted to deliver one more grand giveaway to Wall Street-- Henry Paulsen's bankster bailout. One problem: enough Republicans (133 of 'em) joined with Democrats to defeat it 205-228 when it was first brought up for a vote. Wall Street's best-paid shills, Boehner, Cantor and Paul Ryan, mobilized for battle. At the time Ryan, a relatively junior Member, had already taken $1,704,095 in legalistic bribes from Wall Street (a number that has now risen to $$3,303,872, just slightly more than the $3,283,687 the banksters gave Democratic crook Steve Israel). After the defeat in the House, Wall Street and the banksters went bonkers and pulled all Bush's strings and he and Paulsen easily got the monstrosity passed in the House of Lords and then went back to the House with a no less odious version of the bill that they had rejected a few days before. This time it passed 263-171 with not 65, but 91 Republicans joining in. Among the vote switchers who had had their arms twisted by Boehner, Cantor and Ryan plus the official registered Wall Street lobbyists:

• Gresham Barrett (R-SC- $807,723)
• Judy Biggert (R-IL- $1,675,717)
• Charlie Dent (R-PA- $760,872)
• Mary Fallin (R-OK- $336,576)
• Jim Gerlach (R-PA- $1,670,352)
• Pete Hoekstra (R-MI- $295,830)
• Gary Miller (R-CA- $807,688)
• Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL- $928,068)
• Mean Jean Schmidt (R-OH- $458,449)
• John Shadegg (R-AZ- $1,218,261)
• Lee Terry (R-NE- $1,246,007)
• Patrick Tiberi (R-OH- $2,438,284)

At the time some people wondered if teabaggers and fiscal conservatives would hold a screamingly hypocritical Ryan accountable at all. Yesterday's selection by Romney-- popular with the GOP base-- shows they didn't give a damn. At the time, Ryan was the ranking Republican on the House Budget Committee and a member of the Ways and Means Committee. He' had assigned himself the job of spokesperson for fiscal austerity but he had already taken more money from the banksters than any other politician in the history of Wisconsin politics and, as we saw, he voted for the bank bailout not once, but twice. In fact, Ryan was one of the hypocrites exposed in Michael Moore's film, Capitalism: A Love Story:

In a section of the critically acclaimed examination of how Wall Street insiders diverted hundreds of billions of tax dollars into their accounts, Moore illustrates how the bailout happened. Democratic and Republican members of Congress who do the bidding of the bankers scared their colleagues and the American people into approving a massive bailout of the speculators whose misdeeds created the financial meltdown that shocked the nation in September 2008.

Ryan, the Republican congressman from southeast Wisconsin's hard-pressed 1st District, is shown playing the fear card by telling the House that it had to steer almost $800 million BILLION to Wall Street's sleaziest players.

"If we fail to do the right thing, heaven help us-- if we fail to pass this I fear the worst is yet to come," claimed Ryan.

The statement from the Wisconsin Republican who has positioned himself as a budget specialist in the House played a significant role in securing support for a bailout bill that had not been adequately analyzed and that included few protections against fraud.

Had Ryan used his reputation and his role on key committees to aggressively oppose the bailout, he might have blocked the rush to judgment that economists now say could end up costing American taxpayers trillions of dollars-- and a big chunk of their country's future.

Instead, the GOP establishment's favored point man on fiscal issues claimed-- without benefit of facts, figures or any grounding in economic reality-- that a failure to give the bankers everything they were asking for could bring on a depression.

"This is a Herbert Hoover moment," Ryan told the House, as he reached a fear-mongering crescendo. "(Hoover) made mistakes during the Great Depression-- let's not make those mistakes."

It was a virtuoso performance. Moore was right to highlight it.

The filmmaker has given Wisconsin taxpayers a dramatic illustration of how it came to pass that we are bailing out bankers and billionaires at the same time that auto plants are closing in cities such as Janesville and Kenosha-- both of which are in the 1st District. More importantly, Moore has reminded the voters of southeastern Wisconsin how key members of Congress such as Paul Ryan determined to take care of the speculators on Wall Street rather than working families on Main Street.

Ryan was overjoyed to bail out his bankster/paymasters on Wall Street but when it came to bailing out their victims who, through no fault of their own, were swamped with screwed up mortgages, he changed his tune... drastically. Ryan always stands up for corporations and never stands up for working families.

And Ryan's a gift that keeps on giving. Over the weekend, a far right propaganda website wigged out at the way Ryan's playing Pied Piper to Republican House backbenchers over immigration, just as he did in the TARP battle.

Ryan has been meeting with House conservatives to persuade them that reform of the immigration system, including a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, is an economic necessity and critical to fixing the nation's fiscal problems.

...Anti-tax activist Grover Norquist said the sheer amount of time Ryan has spent talking with House Republicans about budget issues gives him the credibility to court them on immigration reform.

"I would bet you a nickel that he has had more face time with each member than anyone else in the caucus," said Norquist, an influential conservative who also believes immigration reform is vital to the economy.

Republican strategist Whit Ayres calls Ryan "one of the most effective messengers the Republican party has in the House," adding that "If Paul Ryan talks, the House Republicans will listen."

That assessment may be overly optimistic, considering the large number of House Republicans from conservative districts who see legalization of illegal immigrants and offering them a path to eventually become U.S. citizens as an "amnesty."

But Ryan said a Republican-backed amendment to the Senate bill to boost security on the U.S.-Mexico border improves the chances that the House and Senate could ultimately agree on a compromise version of the legislation.

The amendment "brings the Senate bill closer to the House's position and that gives me the belief that we have a better chance at getting this law fixed at the end," he said.

Unlike Republican Senator Marco Rubio, an architect of the Senate immigration bill and a potential rival for Ryan if both seek the presidency, Ryan is not writing legislation or participating in a congressional working group on the issue.

But both Ryan and Rubio face risks from the divisiveness of the immigration issue among Republicans.

Support for immigration reform could cost either man votes with conservatives who will nominate a 2016 Republican candidate. On the other hand, the influence of Hispanic-Americans in U.S. elections could make it harder for any candidate who opposes immigration reform to win the White House.

...In April, Ryan teamed up with his friend, Democratic Congressman Luis Gutierrez, who is a staunch supporter of immigration reform, to tout the issue at an event in Chicago. He has also co-sponsored immigration reform bills in the past.

Like Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, Ryan talks of the work ethic of immigrants and the high proportion who start businesses. He often tells of his Irish ancestors who fled the potato famine in the 1850s and started a family farm in Wisconsin.

In the interview, he cited future budget deficits as a reason for urgency on immigration reform. With 10,000 baby boomers retiring from the workforce each day, "our economy is going to need more labor in the future," he said.

Ryan said he believes the country needs a system "designed for the economy, to bring workers in to do jobs that people won't do or to bring their high-tech intellectual capital."

The fiscal argument helped fuel momentum for the Senate immigration bill when the Congressional Budget Office estimated it would reduce deficits by $197 billion over a decade because of additional workers paying income and payroll taxes.

If Ryan is worried about a conservative backlash on immigration, he is showing no signs of it.

He has offered to debate anyone who says an "earned" path to citizenship is the equivalent of amnesty.

And the man who has sparred for years with Democrats on budget issues believes he can play a role in getting the two parties to work together. "I think when you get Democrats to listen to Republicans and Republicans to listen to Democrats you can find the common ground," he said.

Alex Nowrasteh of the libertarian Cato Institute said Ryan could give other Republicans political cover to support immigration reform. "Nobody is going to question the conservative credentials of Paul Ryan," he said.

Really?

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Comprehensive Immigration Bill Passed The Senate... Now What?

Today, just after noon, the Senate broke the last-ditch attempt by the GOP racists and bigots to filibuster the bill. The vote for cloture was 68-32, Chambliss and Portman voting with the bad guys. A few hours later a solid majority in the Senate-- every Democrat and 14 Republicans-- overwhelmingly passed the bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform bill 68-32. Democrats, of course, over-compromised to get more GOP votes-- militarizing the borders, wasting billions of taxpayer dollars on bullshit that the Republicans insisted on and confiscating the Social Security contributions of millions of undocumented workers. Senate Republicans who voted for it, absolutely insisted on their pound of flesh. Democrats, as usual, were too weak and lame to fight back effectively.

These were the Republicanos who voted with the Democrats:

• Lamar Alexander (TN)
• Kelly Ayotte (NH)
• Jeff Chiesa (NJ)
• Susan Collins (ME)
• Bob Corker (TN)
• Jeff Flake (AZ)
• Lindsey Graham (SC)
• Orrin Hatch (UT)
• Dean Heller (NV)
• John Hoeven (ND)
• Mark Kirk (IL)
• John McCain (AZ)
• Lisa Murkowski (AK)
• Marco Rubio (FL)

One of the most progressive members of the Senate, Brian Schatz (D-HI), fought hard to make the bill better. Right after teh vote, he said "While this bill does not accomplish everything I hoped for, it will move us much closer to where we should be as a free and open society, bringing 11 million people out of the shadows and giving our economy a boost. Now, as the bill heads to the House and, hopefully, to President Obama’s desk, I was proud to cast my 'yes' vote-- but I am also proud to recommit to fighting for legislation that will make this bill a better one for Hawaii, in particular by passing stronger protections for family reunification."

Now the bill goes over to the House, where teabaggers and other racists have made it clear that they will depose Boehner as Speaker if he allows a vote on it.

“There gets to be a point in time where there is the proverbial straw that breaks the camel’s back,” Rep. Matt Salmon (R-AZ) said Wednesday, arguing that if Boehner violates the Hastert Rule again on the issue, “I think that a lot of members in the conference would probably be frustrated to the point of looking for new leaders.”

Speaking at a Capitol Hill panel organized by the Heritage Foundation, Salmon said there’s “great unrest” among Republicans about the violations of the majority-of-the-majority principle this year. GOP leaders have this year brought up four bills without the support of most House Republicans-- including legislation to avert the fiscal cliff, provide aid to Hurricane Sandy victims and reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act.

Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA) issued the same threat.

“The American people elected a Republican majority to the House of Representatives,” McClintock said. “Were a leader of that majority to use his authority to circumvent that majority would be cause for removal in my judgment.”

...Rep. Raul Labrador (R-ID) said Republicans are “running around like chickens with our heads cut off thinking that we have to do [immigration reform] for political reasons.” He said the farm bill fiasco last week was “very instructive” for Republicans, arguing that the legislation failed because GOP leaders relied on Democrats.

“So our leadership needs to take a lesson from this: Stop negotiating with Democrats,” he said. “Start doing what is the right policy-- the right conservative policy for America.”

Salmon said he’s organizing an internal GOP petition to codify the Hastert Rule and that he’s making good progress. “I do believe most members of our conference will believe that legislation that we pass should be majority legislation,” he said.

Is Boehner worried? Well, you tell me. This is what he said yesterday at a press conference, following orders from Bill Kristol: “For any legislation, including a conference report, to pass the House, it’s going to have to be a bill that has the support of a majority of our members." That's very bad news for everyone who wants to see immigration reform because a majority of the House-- a big majority-- favors it, but a majority of House Republicans are dyed-in-the-wool racists and xenophobes and they oppose it. Even with Republican leaders like Cantor, McCarthy and Ryan urging Republicans not to commit part suicide by opposing this, most Republicans are paying attention to extremist groups, Hate Talk Radio hosts and bigots inside the caucus like Bachmann, Gohmert, King, Broun, Gingrey and the other House hatemongers. So, yeah, it's great that the Republican filibusters were beaten back in the Senate and great that the Senate finally passed the whole bill, but... now what? Will Boehner kill the dreams of millions of Americans and make it official that the GOP is anti-immigrant-- just because he's a wretched political coward?

Right after the vote Congressional progressive Caucus co-chair Raul Grijalva, fired a warning shot over Boehner's bow: “This is a time to move together on a bipartisan basis and really do the people’s business. Speaker Boehner can show some leadership or keep playing the same political games that have Congress’ approval rating at a historic low. The American people are watching every step of this process very closely, and the next step is letting the House take a vote. Hiding and making excuses are not on the table.”

And a statement from El Presidente... putting mucho pressure on Señor Boehner:

The bipartisan bill that passed today was a compromise. By definition, nobody got everything they wanted. Not Democrats. Not Republicans. Not me. But the Senate bill is consistent with the key principles for commonsense reform that I-- and many others-- have repeatedly laid out.

If enacted, the Senate bill would establish the most aggressive border security plan in our history. It would offer a pathway to earned citizenship for the 11 million individuals who are in this country illegally-- a pathway that includes passing a background check, learning English, paying taxes and a penalty, and then going to the back of the line behind everyone who’s playing by the rules and trying to come here legally. It would modernize the legal immigration system so that it once again reflects our values as a nation and addresses the urgent needs of our time. And it would provide a big boost to our recovery, by shrinking our deficits and growing our economy.

Today, the Senate did its job. It’s now up to the House to do the same.

As this process moves forward, I urge everyone who cares about this issue to keep a watchful eye. Now is the time when opponents will try their hardest to pull this bipartisan effort apart so they can stop commonsense reform from becoming a reality. We cannot let that happen. If you’re among the clear majority of Americans who support reform-- from CEOs to labor leaders, law enforcement to clergy-- reach out to your Member of Congress. Tell them to do the right thing. Tell them to pass commonsense reform so that our businesses and workers are all playing by the same rules and everyone who’s in this country is paying their fair share in taxes. 

We have a unique opportunity to fix our broken system in a way that upholds our traditions as a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants. We just need Congress to finish the job.

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Another Manifestation Of The GOP Civil War: Utah's 2 Republicans Parted Ways On Immigration Reform

Mike Lee & Orrin Hatch

What's a Republicano to do? The racist, hate-filled base they've nurtured equates comprehensive immigration reform with national suicide but the party elders and, more important, the corporate financial financiers, absolutely insist on it-- and assert it would be political suicide for the GOP to derail it.

The conservative rank-and-file have a loud and clear message for Republican officials: Support citizenship for illegal immigrants at your own peril.

A sizable plurality of registered GOP voters say they will be less likely to support their incumbent lawmaker if he or she votes for immigration reform that includes a pathway to citizenship for those currently living illegally in the United States.

That's what happens when you outsource your party messaging to ratings (profit)-motivated shock jocks on Hate Talk Radio. But Paul Ryan, always a patsy for the check-writing Establishment that funds right-wing politicians like himself-- he really is their Frankenstein monster-- is helping persuade House Members to buck up, just like he persuaded them to back Bush's big bankster bailout. Cantor, McCarthy and Ryan are the Establishment's shock troops inside the House GOP caucus to deliver enough Republicans so that Boehner can slip the Senate bill in without violating "the Hastert Rule" and triggering his own political demise.

To watch how this is playing out locally, let's look at the reddest and most backward state in America. In 2012, Utah voters gave Romney 73% of it's vote, far worse than Alabama (61%), Mississippi (56%), Georgia (53%), South Carolina (55%), Arkansas (61%), Kansas (60%), Wyoming (69%), Idaho (65%), Louisiana (58%), Oklahoma (67%), Alaska (55%) or Texas (57%). Romney won every single county in the state, even Salt Lake, Summit and Grand counties. And in 10 counties, Obama only managed to score 10% of the vote or less, just 8% in benighted, all Mormon Rich County. Utah is a Republican hellhole. The only Democrat Utah sends to Congress, corrupt Blue Dog Jim Matheson, has been a more reliable supporter of this year's Republican's conservative agenda than half a dozen Republicans!

Junior Senator Mike Lee is one of the most right-wing ideologues elected to the U.S. Senate since before the Civil War. And, of course, he's an unapologetic bigot who caters to the worst instincts of the Hate Talk Radio crowd and a leader of the anti-immigrant hard-liners. Yesterday's Salt Lake Tribune features him vowing to fight on despite passage of comprehensive immigration reform. Hometown boy in the hometown paper:

Sen. Mike Lee has aggressively fought against the Senate’s immigration bill, but on Fox News Sunday he said not only is the Senate poised to pass the legislation this week, it may well get the 70 votes supporters have long desired.

That doesn’t mean Lee, R-Utah, is dropping his campaign. He is just shifting its target, hoping to bolster Republicans in the House who agree with him that the nation must not only pass border security legislation but also see it implemented before undocumented immigrants receive legal status.

...Lee argues the bill’s supporters are selling it on false promises.

"They told us that it would be tough but fair, and it is neither," he said. "It is not tough on those who have broken the law, and it’s not fair on those who have patiently been waiting in line to come to this country legally."

The legislation would allow many of the 11 million undocumented immigrants to begin a 13-year path to citizenship, with a green card contingent on border improvements and an expanded workplace verification system.

The state's other very conservative-- if more mainstream-- senator is Orrin Hatch. He was also in the Salt Lake Tribune yesterday... explaining why he was voting for the bill Lee and the hate Talk Radio crowd are so vehemently opposed to.

Eleven million people. That’s the number of undocumented immigrants estimated to be in our country, the result of our broken immigration system.

The question is not only what should be done with these 11 million people, but what should be done to prevent 11 million more from coming to the United States illegally. We can’t afford to ignore this reality any more.

Is this legislation perfect or what I would have drafted? Absolutely not. But as it stands now, the Senate immigration bill makes sure that these 11 million people are paying into society, and fixes many of the pressing issues associated with our broken immigration system.

That’s why I will vote for it this week.

This legislation significantly strengthens border security. An amendment by my colleagues Sens. John Hoeven, R-N.D., and Bob Corker, R-Tenn., means that an additional 20,000 Border Patrol agents will be stationed along the southern border, more than doubling the current force.

It also requires that an additional 700 miles of fencing be built and that E-verify-- an Internet-based system that ensures that employers hire only legal workers-- be used by all businesses in the country, making it virtually impossible to work in the United States illegally.

Some have said this bill grants amnesty, but that’s just not true. We have de facto amnesty right now, and this bill fixes that. The fact is that in order to be put on a pathway to citizenship, immigrants currently here illegally would be required to pay a fine, pass criminal and national security background checks and pay taxes.

Only after at least 10 years have passed and all five of these so-called “triggers” have been fully implemented can an illegal immigrant even apply for a green card. That’s hardly amnesty.

I successfully added an amendment to create a mandatory biometric exit system at the top airports to increase border security from the inside out.

Preventing individuals from entering the country illegally is only one side of the coin; the other side is preventing them from staying here illegally.

Two additional amendments I introduced to limit public benefits to newly legalized immigrants are a part of this package as well. Ensuring that federal welfare requirements are fully complied with and that unauthorized workers are prohibited from receiving Social Security benefits protects American taxpayers.

And I’m going to continue to push to include that back taxes must be paid for anyone who’s been here illegally.

The immigration reform legislation ensures that we can meet our labor needs in the short term and the long term.

First, the legislation creates a guest-worker program that’s vitally important for the agricultural sector of our economy, including Utah’s farmers and ranchers.

Second, the bill includes several amendments I introduced to improve our high-skilled employment base and education and training in the STEM fields-- science, technology, engineering, and math-- to ensure we can continue to compete in a global economy.

In the short term, the legislation creates a real-time, market-based escalator that allows additional high-skilled H-1B visas to be granted when these jobs are needed here in the U.S., and fall when they’re not.

The legislation also increases the number of visas allocated each year, which is important because the cap on these visas was met in only five days this year. And another one of my amendments included in the bill creates a STEM education and training account which takes money from visa fees and sends it to the states to use towards STEM education programs.

Finally, the legislation includes a number of additional provisions I fought for that also impact Utah.

It permanently extends a visa program for religious workers and establishes strong penalties for growing marijuana on federal land.

I’ve served in the Senate the last two times immigration has been undertaken-- in 1986 and in 2007. I voted against both of those pieces of legislation because they were the wrong approach.

I believe that the bill before the Senate today takes many important steps toward being the right solution for our country, but more needs to be done.

I will work with the House of Representatives to ensure that we continue to improve this bill for American families and taxpayers.

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Chamber Of Commerce Moves To Bolster Their Boy Rubio, As Palin And The Hate-Filled GOP Base Reject Him

Two polls were released Monday-- and both auger terrible news for the GOP. One, by the reputable Pew organization trumpets the broad national support for comprehensive immigration reform embodied in the Gang of Eight proposal. The other, by the Republican Party's own polling firm, Rasmussen, showed that Marco Rubio's support among Republican voters has plummeted because of his role in the drafting of that immigration legislation most Americans want to see passed. 71% of American voters say undocumented immigrants should be allowed to stay in the country. The racists, xenophobes, Know Nothings and teabaggers who are now the base of the GOP, disagree. Rubio's dilemma is fraying the Republican Party. Republican base icon Sarah Palin started the week rolling by smearing Rubio now that he's down and out with her followers.

"It’s beyond disingenuous for anyone to claim that a vote for this bill is a vote for security," Palin wrote. "Look no further than the fact that Senator Rubio and amnesty supporters nixed Senator Thune’s amendment that required the feds to finally build part of a needed security fence before moving forward on the status of illegal immigrants who’ve already broken the law to be here.

"And if shooting down the border fence wasn't proof enough, they blew another chance by killing Senator Paul’s ‘Trust But Verify’ amendment which required the completion of a fence in five years and required Congress to vote on whether the border is actually secure before furthering any immigration measures. And then they blew it yet again, nixing Senator Cornyn’s ‘Results’ amendment, which also required border enforcement standards. Now the Senate’s pro-amnesty crowd is offering a fig leaf to security via the Corker-Hoeven Amendment, but this is really nothing more than empty promises. It’s amnesty right now and border security … eh, well, someday.”

Palin promised to make immigration a major issue in the 2014 election cycle, comparing it to 2010 when the tea party movement helped propel Republican gains as Americans rallied against President Barack Obama’s federal health-care law.

“As the Senate moves to pass amnesty, the only bright spot in this travesty is the rallying revolution we can look forward to,” Palin wrote on Monday. “For just as opposition to Obamacare became a rallying cry for the 2010 midterm elections, opposition to this fundamentally transforming amnesty bill will galvanize the grass roots in next year’s elections. And 2014 is just around the corner.”

Nor was this Palin’s only attack on Rubio in recent days. On Sunday, Palin highlighted a story from Townhall.com which insisted Rubio shifted his position on immigration between when he ran for the Senate in 2010 and today.

“Politicians wonder why we can't trust them?” Palin demanded on Facebook on Sunday before including Alaska’s two U.S. senators-- Democrat Mark Begich and Republican Lisa Murkowski. “Campaign flip-flops like this and carve-out bribes in the Amnesty Bill for politicians like Begich and Murkowski to exempt Alaska seafood workers.”

The ad up top is being run-- and run heavily-- by the very far right U.S. Chamber of Commerce, as a reward to Rubio. The Chamber isn't interested in humanitarianism or racial equality; their only interest in the immigration fight is cheap labor. Can they make up for the damage Palin and the teabaggers are doing to Rubio's reputation inside his own party? Not a chance. Just listen to Lindsey Graham (from Fox News Sunday) explaining how his party has to be bigger than just the backward racists in his own state and Utah:

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One Final Kaddish For The Farm Bill... And John Boehner's Career?

Chad Pergram is a Fox News reporter who skulks around the House floor all day looking to get behind the votes and delve into the whys of what's going on on the floor. He's better than almost all the other political reporters in the House-- and yes, he works for Fox! He had a field day with the Farm Bill and, although, we've already covered many of his insights since Thursday, a letter he sent that was forwarded to me by a Member of Congress is chock full of unreported information about how the disaster unfolded. It's called "Whisper Campaign" and... it's so wonderfully dramatic.

The House of Representatives’ chamber was its usual clamorous self Thursday afternoon as lawmakers sped through a lengthy vote sequence on amendments to the farm bill. Members dashed in and out during a “lightning round” of two minute roll call votes, squeezing in brief calls on their iPhones in the Speaker’s Lobby. Aides scurried about, briefing members on amendments. Some raucous shouts of “hurry up!” and “regular order” emanated from impatient lawmakers as the House hurtled toward a final up-or-down vote on the farm measure.

Rep. Kevin Yoder (R-KS) presided over the House, launching the last vote with a rap of the gavel. The gigantic, electronic screens bearing the surname of each House member sparked to life. Neon green “Y’s” and red “N’s” burst suddenly onto the board next to the names, denoting how each lawmaker voted.

And suddenly the din subsided. The frenzied back-and-forth to the Speaker’s Lobby halted. Mouths hung agape.

An eerie pall swallowed the chamber-- which was weird considering how boisterous it had been.

But something “bad” was happening. And people started whispering toward the back of the room.

The farm bill was supposed to pass. Only it wasn’t.

Lawmakers sat in their seats, staring up at the vote tally board. Some clenched the armrests with both hands. There were murmurs.

Bystanders of traffic accidents often speak of seconds before the crash where time seemingly slows to a crawl. The witnesses see the car run the light and see the other vehicle about to make the left-hand turn. But there’s nothing they can do about it. They know there’s going to be a wreck. And they feel helpless as mere spectators, destined to watch the accident unfold in slow motion.

Such was the case on the House floor during the farm bill vote. Lawmakers from both sides stood around and saw the accident coming. But there was little they could do. House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) walked the center aisle. House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) huddled in the well of the chamber with Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas (R-OK) and a squadron of aides.

The crash was happening before their very eyes. The margin between the yeas and nays swelled. It wasn’t even close. Lawmakers were helpless. And after a few minutes of an uncomfortable quiet, Yoder banged the gavel, closing the vote.

There were 234 nays and 195 yeas. Only 24 Democrats voted yes. 62 Republicans voted no.

It is said that success has many fathers. Failure is an orphan. Unless there’s blame involved. And Congress being Congress, everyone rushed to find a scapegoat.

For the Republican leadership, the choice was obvious.

McCarthy spokeswoman Erica Elliott read the vote total to a scrum of reporters in the Speaker’s Lobby. She characterized the mere 24 Democratic yeas as “pathetic.”

As he exited, the chamber, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) pinned the blame on a tried-and-true GOP target.

“I am very disappointed in (House Minority Leader) Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) who chose partisanship over progress,” said Cantor.

“Everybody thought this was going to pass,” groused Cantor’s spokesman Rory Cooper. “Democrats are not able to govern.”

Of course, Republicans hold a 234-201 advantage in the House of Representatives. One GOP aide who asked not to be identified quipped that “at the rate we’re going, we may wind up in the minority. But there’s no reason to act like we’re there yet.”

Cooper later clarified his remark in a Tweet, saying Democrats “won't work in good faith to participate in governance.”

Pelosi was having none of it.

“It’s silly. It’s sad. It’s juvenile. It’s unprofessional. It’s amateur hour,” fumed the California Democrat.

Others castigated Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN), the senior Democrat on the Agriculture Committee, for the failure. Republicans argued Peterson at one point promised 70-80 Democratic votes. Then before the vote, the GOP aimed to get about 40 from the Democratic side. But those Democratic votes never materialized.

“They can try to blame it on me but that ain’t going to work,” steamed Peterson, who in turn imputed Republicans.

“If you overreach, you get nothing. You get nothing. You take things too far and it blows up on you,” Peterson said.

The “overreach” Peterson alluded to was amendments that drastically altered the original farm bill passed out of committee. There was an amendment offered by Rep. Steve Southerland (R-FL). It would allow states to impose work requirements on those who receive food stamps. The House okayed Southerland’s amendment 227-198. But only one Democrat, Rep. Jim Cooper (D-TN), could stomach it and vote yes.

In particular, Peterson fought for his own dairy plan in the farm bill. But Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) advocated his own amendment to kill the federal stabilization program for milk and fill in the gaps with insurance.

The House overwhelmingly okayed Goodlatte’s dairy measure 291-135. But despite his resounding victory, Goodlatte still voted no on the entire bill. Goodlatte chairs the House Judiciary Committee. Four other committee chairs joined him with nay ballots: Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI), Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Jeff Miller (R-FL) and Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-CA).

Some immediately asked why the leadership could allow those chairmen to vote no on a bill like this.

Others asked about how the bill got to the floor at all. Longstanding parliamentary doctrine dictates that the House of Representatives almost never brings a major piece of legislation to the floor for a vote unless the votes are locked down. So what happened here? Earlier in the week, there was chatter the House would debate the farm bill this week and then punt passage to next week. That would make sure everything was set. That didn’t happen. So naturally, some blamed Cantor, who controls the floor schedule, for bringing the bill to the floor for a vote.

Kevin McCarthy wouldn’t escape blame either, as he is in charge of whipping the vote. Of course McCarthy said Peterson was supposed to deliver a chunk of Democratic votes. But that didn’t happen. Still, some point out that McCarthy is the ultimate arbiter of vote counting in the House. Right or not, sources from both sides of the aisle blamed the Whip for misjudging where the votes were.

Then comes John Boehner.

Few in Congress have as much disdain for farm bills as Boehner. He’s only voted for one in his Congressional career. But Boehner has long said he would support this farm bill, even if he didn’t like all parts of it.

Speakers of the House vote sparingly on the floor. But Boehner made a point of voting in favor of the Goodlatte amendment. It was the first time during his speakership that the Ohio Republican voted on something other than final passage of a bill. Boehner then left the Capitol to deliver a speech to the National Association of Manufacturers. He then high-tailed it back to the floor to vote yea on the farm bill.

No one could remember an incident where the Speaker of the House took the rarefied step of voting for a bill-- especially a big one-- and then watched it melt down.

The press and commentators immediately jumped on Boehner. They described it as a debacle, suggesting this was yet another case of him not coaxing Republicans to support him on major pieces of legislation like avoiding a government shutdown, raising the debt ceiling, renewing the payroll tax, sidestepping the fiscal cliff, approving money for victims of Hurricane Sandy and a host of others.

Boehner wasn’t a fan of the entire bill. But he believed it carried significant reforms. It included deep cuts in the food stamp program and eliminated direct payments to “farmers”-- some of whom are simply property owners in the Midwest who live in Midtown Manhattan.

“It’s preposterous the Speaker is being cited as a failure in all of this,” said Tyson Redpath, a former Boehner aide and current agriculture lobbyist. “He was committed to the process. He was committed to the bill, which was a seismic step forward.”

But Boehner’s backing wasn’t enough to secure buy-in from 62 members of his conference-- to say nothing of Democrats.

Political analysts suggested this didn’t bode well for Boehner and the House at large as it begins tangling soon with immigration reform. Then there’s a potentially epic struggle over sidestepping a government shutdown and raising the debt limit.

Backers of the farm bill contend there were billions of dollars in savings in the package. Some of those supporters complained that conservatives who voted no because the cuts weren’t enough will be at Boehner’s throat later this year-- demanding cuts during the debt ceiling/government shutdown fight. Those critics contend some conservatives weren’t willing to accept this plan because it wasn’t “perfect.”

Meanwhile, interest groups like Heritage Action reveled in their prescience.

In May, Heritage Action sent to a letter to Boehner and Cantor. It urged them “to avoid bringing any legislation to the House Floor that could expose or highlight schisms within the conference.” Heritage Action CEO Michael Needham specifically cited the farm bill as one of those bills.

The farm bill failure reignited an old debate about palace intrigue in the leadership ranks. Some aides who toiled on the farm bill suggested they got “played” and this was part of an elaborate scheme to embarrass Boehner. One aide described the atmosphere on Capitol Hill as being “rife with conspiracy.” Of course, there’s no evidence of such an elaborate cabal attempt. Chatter about internecine leadership battles had all but stopped. However, the farm bill debacle quickly rekindled that talk.

Over the coming days, there will be many interpretations, theories and distillations about the meaning of Thursday’s havoc and who is responsible. But Thursday’s vote represents a tectonic shift in how the House of Representatives has operated over the past two and a half years to approve major, “must do” bills.

In the previous Congress (spanning 2011-2012), Republicans had a high-water mark of 242 GOPers. Democrats had 203 or fewer. That meant Boehner could only afford to lose 19 of his own before he required help from the Democrats to pass those measures.

For instance, in April 2011, 59 Republicans voted against keeping the government operating. But Democrats made up the difference. In August 2011, the GOP lost 66 of its own on the debt ceiling vote. But 95 Democrats helped usher that plan to passage.

Similar situations unfolded on the transportation bill in 2012, the fiscal cliff package and Hurricane Sandy relief. In some ways, Democrats were John Boehner’s best friend.

But those bipartisan coalitions frayed on Thursday.

The course ahead?

The GOP leadership brain trust knows it can always pass very conservative bills-- which wouldn’t have a chance of getting anywhere in the Senate or past President Obama. It could now adopt that strategy. But it would detonate immigration reform and result in a fiscal crisis this fall.

Or, it could revert to engineering a bipartisan coalition again on those “must pass” measures. Historically, farm bills have been bipartisan. But it’s harder to write a bill with wide bipartisan support when the nation is polarized.

Lots of whispering goes on at funerals. The House chamber fell silent as shock consumed members on the farm bill. Most were stunned, whether they liked the bill or not. But lawmakers were quiet because they may have witnessed the death of bipartisan coalitions to pass major bills which have dominated the GOP-controlled House for so long.

And everyone is whispering about who to blame.

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It's Almost As Though The Georgia GOP Has Figured Out A Way To Elect Michelle Nunn To The Senate

Sam Nunn (L), Michelle Nunn (R)

Virginia Republicans who weren't paying close enough attention are still wondering how their party got saddled with such radical extremists at the top of their ticket. Neo-fascist Ken Cuccinelli and certifiably insane sociopath E.W. Jackson are not going to attract any of the independent swing voters Virginia Republicans need to win statewide, not even against a Democratic candidate as patently unattractive as Terry McAuliffe. But there was no primary. The Cooch manipulated the system so that a nominating convention, dominated by extremists and radical ideologues, would determine who the candidates were. That was a disaster for Virginia Republicans-- and some Georgia Republicans would like to follow suit.

With Michelle Nunn looking more likely to run for the open Senate seat-- and looking like she could beat any of the extremists, especially Handel or Broun, the far right of the Georgia GOP is doing exactly what Nunn's advisors were hoping they'd do: follow Virginia down the yellow brick road... to electoral oblivion. The far right activists are petrified that Rove and other "pragmatists" are trying to manipulate the process in favor of someone who could win a general election.

Georgia Republicans are weighing an election shift that could reshape the state’s political landscape by giving grass-roots activists tremendous new clout in picking the party’s nominee.

State GOP leaders plan to vote Saturday whether to take a first step away from the summer primaries that elect the party’s nominee and toward allowing a convention of party insiders to choose the candidate for statewide and national office. Consider it an audition for a more sweeping electoral change.

Not surprisingly, some elected Republican leaders and assorted power brokers are wary of an overhaul they fear could disenfranchise the roughly 700,000 people who vote in party primaries and cede power to a smaller group of activists.

But supporters say the change is needed to offset what the resolution calls the “power of Big Money and Big Media” and give more say to the activists who feel they’ve been ignored during the GOP’s ascendancy.

“This is an effort to try to remove money from the nominating contest, and some who aren’t in support of it are the ones who enjoy the privilege to dictate who will be our nominee through their money,” said Dale Jackson, a LaGrange businessman who chairs the state GOP’s 3rd district.

“Right now there are a very few people who are participating, and those are the people who can afford to spend hundreds if not millions of dollars to influence who wins the nomination.”

The pitch comes at a pivotal moment for Georgia Republicans. Gov. Nathan Deal and other leaders routinely acknowledge the party needs to broaden its message or risk facing a resurgent Democratic Party emboldened by a growing minority population. And the heated competition for an open U.S. Senate spot triggered a race to the right that some fear could give Democrats a better chance at seizing the seat.

...The party’s establishment wing hasn’t been keen on the idea, and some point to Virginia as a prime example why. Virginia’s Republicans selected E.W. Jackson, a little-known minister and attorney, as their candidate for lieutenant governor despite controversial comments about gays and abortion that could haunt him during the general election.

“I’m not sure less democracy is the solution, at this point in our history, to whatever ills or frustrations are out there,” House Speaker David Ralston said this week. “I can’t support that and I don’t support it. I re-read the resolution this morning and I’m not sure what the rationale for it might be.”

Brant Frost V, the Coweta County GOP chairman who brought the resolution, said his reasoning is simple: The grass-roots base that powered the GOP for generations during its political exile has been “discriminated against” as the party came to power in the past decade. Enough members of the party’s 16-member resolution committee agreed, setting up Saturday’s vote.

“We’ve seen the cost of a primary spiral out of control, and that means you’re excluding candidates who can’t raise the money,” said the 23-year-old, whose family has been influential in GOP politics. “Politics is like a stew. You’ve got to have money, support, the ground game. But we’ve so spiced it up with the money angle that we’ve completely deadened the effect of all the other essential ingredients.”

...Top Republicans, though, are wary of any changes. Ralston, a Blue Ridge Republican, said the voters in his North Georgia district spend their nights going to Little League games and weekends hunting and fishing-- not at party meetings and insider conventions.

“Are we going to tell them that if they don’t have time to be an activist then we are going to disenfranchise them?” he asked. “I’m not going there.”

He may have no choice-- and that would open the door further to a crackpot like Paul "Lies Straight From the Pit of Hell" Broun, a John Bircher, Karen Handel or Phil Gingrey, all fringe candidates Nunn could beat statewide. Although there's another Democrat running as well, Branko Radulovacki-- "call me Dr. Rad"-- an Atlanta psychiatrist, Republicans are blasting away at Nunn.

“National Republicans are so terrified of the possibility of a Michelle Nunn candidacy that they are already misleading the public about her and her record,” said Matt Canter... at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. “The divisive Tea Party primary and the demographic changes in Georgia, make this seat one of the best pick up opportunities for Democrats this cycle,” he said.

This is what the Georgia neo-fascist/KKK/Bircher grassroots wants to send to the U.S. Senate:

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