Payroll Tax Cut

Why The GOP's Payroll Tax Cut Cave Is An Even Bigger Deal Than You Think

Brian Beutler | February 13, 2012, 4:40PM

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and President Barack Obama

The GOP's accession to reality on the payroll tax cut is being cast as a key victory for Democrats and President Obama. Republicans caved, the payroll tax will almost certainly be renewed, and the economy won't take a tough hit just as the recovery's beginning to accelerate.

But it also reveals a flaw -- a potentially huge flaw -- in the conservative movement's generational strategy to roll back the federal safety net.

These might sound like two wildly disparate issues, but they're actually variations on a years-long theme. And the outcome of the payroll tax debacle bodes poorly for the GOP on the rest of their long-run goals.

Here's why.

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Conservatives

Survey Shocker: Conservatives, Liberals Enjoy Different TV Shows

David Taintor | December 7, 2011, 5:20AM

Conservatives and liberals may disagree on politics and policy, but at the end of the day, we all like to kick back to the same TV shows, right?

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Gay Marriage

Behind A Major Law Firm's Decision To Ditch Its Defense Of DOMA

Brian Beutler | April 25, 2011, 5:33PM

When the Atlanta-based law firm King & Spalding announced on April 18 that it would represent the Republican-controlled House of Representatives and defend the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act, it apparently didn't realize what a mess it had made for itself.

Exactly one week later, the firm reversed its decision, prompting a high-profile partner -- former Solicitor General Paul Clement -- to resign publicly, and House Speaker John Boehner's staff to issue a statement criticizing the firm for "its careless disregard for its responsibilities to the House in this constitutional matter."

As public relations debacles go, this was a doozy. But the firm must have calculated that the alternative would have been worse. In the intervening week, a series of public and behind-the-scenes developments made it clear that the firm would suffer recriminations for defending what many of its top clients and future recruits -- not to mention gay rights advocates -- consider to be an anti-gay law.

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Mitt Romney

Poll: Romney Top GOP Prez Choice For Conservatives, Tea Partiers

Jon Terbush | March 24, 2011, 1:19PM

Mitt Romney

A new Pew poll of Republican adults shows that Mitt Romney is the top choice among voters who identify with the Tea Party to win the Republican presidential nomination.

In addition, the poll showed Romney tied with Mike Huckabee as the top choice among conservative voters, a crucial demographic in Republican primaries, and one which Romney has previously struggled to court. When combined with Romney's strong performance with more moderate Republicans, the survey shows the former Massachusetts Governor with a broad support base.

Pew's poll, it should be noted, has a very small sample size of just 260 Republicans, and a high 7.5% margin of error.

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Islam

Only Majority Of Conservatives And Tea Partiers Think Muslims More Prone To Violence

Jon Terbush | March 10, 2011, 11:45AM

As Rep. Peter King's (R-NY) hearings on the radicalization of American muslims get underway, a new Pew poll of American adults finds that conservatives and Tea Party sympathizers are the only two political demographics of which a majority believe Islam, more so than any other religion, encourages violence.

Overall, Americans are split fairly evenly on the question. Yet the stark ideological divide reveals how sharply the issue breaks down along party lines, with far more people on the right -- and particularly to the far right -- viewing Islam as a violent religion.

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Progressives

New Report Ranks 'Most Liberal', 'Most Conservative' Members of Congress

Evan McMorris-Santoro | February 25, 2011, 9:40AM

Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)

Democratic Senators Sherrod Brown (OH), Barbara Mikulski (MD) and Harry Reid (NV) were among "the most liberal" Senators last year, according to new rankings by National Journal. Republican Sens. John McCain (AZ), Jim DeMint (SC) and John Thune (SD) were among the most conservative.

National Journal is out with its annual congressional voting record rankings, which track the voting patterns of the 535 members of the House and Senate. The takeaway? Congress in 2010 was the most polarized it has been in close to 30 years. Parties in Congress are increasingly working in "virtual lockstep," which the magazine's political guru, Ron Brownstein described as the "decline of individualism in Congress" and the rise of a "a more top-down, parliamentary-style institution."

But there are still members on both sides who represent the outer edge of the party's ideological leanings. Here are National Journal's top conservative and liberal leaders in each chamber.

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