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Steele Facing Threat To His Financial Control Of RNC
The Washington Times reports that Michael Steele is facing a new threat to his leadership of the Republican National Committee -- a proposed rule being circulated by some RNC members that would impose new restrictions and oversight measures against Steele's ability to spend money:
The Pullen resolution would make it a written rule that contracts of $100,000 or more be open to competitive bidding; that all checks be signed by two RNC officers; that party staff be prohibited from signing on behalf of an officer; and that all contracts be reviewed and approved by the members of the RNC executive committee.
Wisconsin GOP chairman Reince Priebus, a Steele supporter, is circulating a letter warning against "this hostile attempt to embarrass and neuter the chairman of the RNC."
Steele has already lost one fight going into the special May 20 RNC meeting: Sufficient signatures have been gathered to vote on a resolution calling for the Democratic Party to be renamed the "Democrat Socialist Party," even though Steele had already advised against it.
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Josh
Matt
Eric
Brian
Would YOU want this asshat in charge of your finances?
April 29, 2009 11:32 AM | Reply | Permalink
Having asshats in charge of finances--whether in DC or on Wall Street--Didn't bother them from 2001-2008. Why the sudden enthusiasm for sensible financial controls now?
April 29, 2009 11:40 AM | Reply | Permalink
Must be all that bling-bling.
April 29, 2009 1:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
Michael Steele is obviously a DNC plant.
April 29, 2009 11:43 AM | Reply | Permalink
Maybe my tinfoil hat isn't working... but I continue to believe there's an element of tacit blackface/pantomime in all of this.
On some level, maybe not quite conscious or deliberate, the RNC in some ways must prefer having the face of EPIC FAILURE be urban/black by RNC standards. If the RNC wasn't chaired by Steel, they'd still be failing miserably. This allows them a sort of political denial for the utter failure of GOP policies, and an easy cultural/racial scapegoat.
I can't believe the alternate story, that the RNC just decided to try a black guy to demonstrate their commitment to "diversity" (a Republican epithet) upon seeing Obama's success. That goes against everything they represent and the general movement towards ideological purity in the Republican party. That would be truly pathetic.
Do I think the remaining Republican 21% base is stoopid enough to conflate one black guy, a total incompetent, with another black guy, who promises to be the most competent President we've had in decades? Even when they're from different parties? Absolutely. This is a group that has a near religious reverence for a Hollywood actor who bought a ranch and wore cowboy hats to seem more genuine.
Can I imagine some Great White Hope unseating Steele, probably with a compelling narrative about returning to traditional conservative values and such blather, in a coyboy hat and plaid shirt, then becoming the rallying point for disheartened and desperate Republicans? Absolutely.
I don't think it'll work. But it's amusing.
April 29, 2009 7:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oh, let them fight. Pass the Raisinets, please.
April 29, 2009 11:46 AM | Reply | Permalink
Michael, they're discriminating against you because of your race. You're not going to take this lying down, are you? I didn't think so! Raise a hue and cry!
April 29, 2009 11:51 AM | Reply | Permalink
Hold it, there already is a Democrat(ic) Socialists of America. Why don't the Reps just make it easy and call to rename the Democratic Party "the Party of People We (reborn fiscal conservatives) Don't Like."
April 29, 2009 11:55 AM | Reply | Permalink
Forcing the real Democratic Socialists of America to file a trademark infringement suit would be kind of a hoot, you have to admit.
April 29, 2009 12:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
That's off the hook, yo!
Peace out. Word to your mother.
April 29, 2009 11:59 AM | Reply | Permalink
"Obama has proved that you can't trust a black man with money." - Pullen
April 29, 2009 12:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
I am in favor of renaming the Republican Party as the No, Nothing Party. That name has a nice historical resonance.
April 29, 2009 12:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
The NNP...I like it! In fact, some of the more familiar acronyms for NNP are:
NNP Neural Network Processor (not)
NNP No Needed Parts
NNP Noise Normalized Power
NNP Nice Nil Partner
April 29, 2009 12:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
I love how the GOP assumes that why they are failing is because of Michael Steele.
Protip, GOP: It's that you have no real leaders, that you're still under the control of a small lunatic right, and have no moderate presence.
And, in the meantime, all you do is say NO NO NO to everything.
April 29, 2009 12:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
Everything except tax cuts.
April 29, 2009 12:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
Since when do Republicans favor oversight and elimination of no-bid contracts?
April 29, 2009 12:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is Calvinball, mister! The rules change when we say they change!
April 29, 2009 12:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
So they put a black man in charge but they don't trust him witrh the money? Typical!!
April 29, 2009 12:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
In Maryland, Steele's reputation, from his days as state GOP chairman, is that "grassroots organizing" means spending lots of money on consultants. (They don't have to be his relatives; being expensive is sufficient.) That's one reason Maryland Dems were high-fiving when we heard that Michael had won the national GOP post. The GOP seems to have this type of problem in the Midatlantic. They just replaced their state chair in Virginia over similar issues.
April 29, 2009 12:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't really have an opinion on Michael Steele's organization skills, just his personality, which makes my skin crawl. I'm wondering, though, exactly what is the RNC chairman's job? If they don't want him to talk, and they don't want him to handle the books, what do they want him to do? Sit around and look black? I think given their current philosophy, they's obviously be more comfortable with somebody like Newt Gingrich.
April 29, 2009 1:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
If they don't want him to talk, and they don't want him to handle the books, what do they want him to do? Sit around and look black?
Yes. This proposal sounds like an attempt to make him a figurehead so they can avoid the embarrassment of firing the first African-American RNC chair after three months on the job. (And I have to say it's reasonably clever -- redefining the leader's job when it would be too destructive to dump him is a time-tested organizational ploy.)
April 29, 2009 2:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
lol @ repubs advocating competitive bidding
April 29, 2009 1:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
If the Republicans want to change the Democrats' name they should start with their own. I suggest the following:
The Whigs
or
The National Republican Workers Party
April 29, 2009 2:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is a strange thing, you have to admit the resolution to rename the Democratic Party the "Democrat Socialist Party" is pretty F-ing stupid.
On the other hand, Steele's comment that the 'malls are just packed' was equally F-ing stupid. I have to admit, it is a thrill to see the Repulic Party tearing each other apart.
Arlen Spectar acknowledges that he couldn't get elected as a Republican.
And George W. is working on his memoirs...
April 29, 2009 2:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's scary that a complete tool like Steele actually looks SANE compared to his fellow "call them the Democrat Socialist Party" RNC dimwits. At least you'll all get a good workout wandering in the desert for the next 40 years.
April 29, 2009 4:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think the Onion got it partially wrong when their headline referring to Obama proclaimed, "Black man gets worst job in the world". Wrong black man, wrong job, right headline.
April 29, 2009 4:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
I love Michael Steele.
April 29, 2009 4:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
They have enough signatures to rename the Democratic party. Whoopee for them. They haven't had the courtesy to call it by the correct name for a year. Why haven't any of the commentators who have the repubs on their shows ever made an issue of this? I'm tired of it.
April 29, 2009 6:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
I posted that the republican idea to rename the democrats to the Democratic Socialist Party sounded like it was put forward by 14 year old boys.
Then my blog started getting angry letters from 14 year old boys and I was forced to make a retraction.
Don't mess with 14 year old boys. They write all of the viruses.
May 1, 2009 2:01 AM | Reply | Permalink