Tort reform

Tenth Amendment Zealots Block GOP's Medical Malpractice Reform

Sahil Kapur | January 20, 2012, 5:25AM

John Boehner

Whatever happened to medical malpractice reform? The cause has long been a high priority for Republicans, yet legislation on the issue hasn't even made it to the floor of a GOP-dominated House in over a year. What gives?

It's not for a lack of effort. The answer is that states' rights advocates within the House GOP caucus have split from top Republicans on the lynchpin issue of whether the federal government should limit the amount that malpractice victims can sue doctors in a particular case, forcing party elders to shelve the bill.

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Barack Obama

Republicans Yuck It Up When Obama Says He's Not For Class Warfare

Ryan J. Reilly | September 8, 2011, 9:10PM

The Republican side of the House floor burst into laughter during President Barack Obama's big jobs speech on Thursday when he said his plan "isn't class warfare."

They also didn't take to kindly when President Obama name-dropped billionaire Warren Buffet, who he said "pays a lower tax rate than even his secretary -- an outrage he has asked us to fix."

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Default

Who's Really Responsible For U.S. Debt Downgrade

Brian Beutler | August 17, 2011, 10:00AM

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN)

This article was updated at 10:00am Eastern on August 17, 2011 to include additional names pointed out by TPM readers.

Now that Standard & Poors has confirmed that the chorus of default doubters in the GOP was part of what spooked them into downgrading the U.S. credit rating, Republicans will do all they can to pretend that they never questioned the risk of missing payment obligations, or allowing borrowing authority to lapse. But they sure did! Here's a long, partial timeline of influential Republicans either vouchsafing default, or downplaying the consequences of passing the August 2 deadline without raising the debt limit.

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Debt Ceiling

After Triggering Downgrade, Debt Default Skeptics Try To Run From Their Records -- But They Can't

Brian Beutler | August 12, 2011, 10:16AM

Standard & Poors has a specific justification for downgrading the U.S. bond rating, and it's deadly for Republicans. It wasn't just that Congress showed itself to be reckless and dysfunctional, or that the GOP shows no sign of ever ending their anti-tax jihad. It's that for a period of weeks, some lawmakers (read: Republicans) were quite literally shrugging off the risks of blowing past the August 2 deadline, running out of borrowing authority, and missing payment obligations.

"[P]eople in the political arena were even talking about a potential default," said Joydeep Mukherji, senior directior at S&P. "That a country even has such voices, albeit a minority, is something notable," he added. "This kind of rhetoric is not common amongst AAA sovereigns."

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Debt Ceiling

Hope For Boehner? Some House Conservatives Closing Ranks On Debt Limit Bill

Brian Beutler | July 27, 2011, 11:26AM

On Tuesday, conservative Republican Study Committee chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) predicted defeat for House Speaker John Boehner's (R-OH) plan to raise the debt limit.

"I am confident as of this morning that there are not 218 Republicans in support of the plan," he said.

He was counting on the opposition of dozens of House conservatives who have in the past pledged not to raise the debt limit on terms that compromising with Democrats would require.

Twenty-four hours later, after taking a beating from the GOP establishment and party leadership, and after watching Democrats grow more and more confident in their ability to split the Republican coalition, those conservatives are reconsidering their rebellion.

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Debt Ceiling

GOP Demand Obama Protect Seniors From Default, Won't Name What To Cut Instead

Benjy Sarlin | July 14, 2011, 2:46PM

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX)

Republican lawmakers are pushing President Obama to put seniors, troops, and bondholders at the front of the line should Congress fail to raise the debt ceiling. The rest? Well, that's up to him.

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Michele Bachmann

GOP Masks Infighting By Claiming Democrats Are Holding Debt Limit Hostage

Brian Beutler | July 13, 2011, 1:35PM

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN)

Republican leaders and their conservative members don't agree on much these days. They're particularly at odds over the wisdom of using the national debt limit as leverage to force the country in a conservative direction. Conservatives are still gung ho about the idea. Their leaders balked at it yesterday.

[TPM SLIDESHOW: Debt Negotiations At The White House]

This creates an uncomfortable, public tension, for the party, as its top dogs politely try to smother their rank and file members, who think defaulting on the debt is either no big deal or not really going to happen -- who argue that they can force deep spending cuts one way or another by refusing to raise the debt limit. Either Obama caves, and accepts their far-reaching cuts, or the Treasury department will have to start cutting services and payments to meet the borrowing statute.

But they're of a single mind about one thing -- pretty much the only thing holding the party together: Whatever happens to the debt limit, it's President Obama, not the GOP, holding U.S. creditworthiness -- and thus the entire economy -- hostage.

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Ron Paul

Rep. Paul Says McConnell Debt Plan Is D.O.A.

Susan Crabtree | July 12, 2011, 7:56PM

Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX)

Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) just announced he's foregoing a run for re-eleection to focus full-time on his long-shot bid for the GOP nomination so maybe he's feeling a little emboldened. Then again, Paul is rarely afraid to state it like is.

[TPM SLIDESHOW: Debt Negotiations At The White House]

Paul was the only GOP House member TPM found Tuesday afternoon willing to take a firm stand against Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-KY) plan to hand the White House full authority to raise the debt ceiling with Congress only able to disapprove with a two-thirds vote. Conservative groups, Tea Party members outside Congress and activists are reportedly incensed over McConell's fall back plan.

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Birth Certificate

The GOP Reacts: We Never Cared About The Birth Certificate -- But It's About Time Already!

Benjy Sarlin | April 28, 2011, 8:56AM

Former candidate for Vice President Sarah Palin

It's been a full day since the White House released President Obama's long form birth certificate, and prominent Republicans are coalescing around a few recurring notes in their reaction.

Responses for the most part fall into two broad, sometimes overlapping, themes in which Republicans either accuse President Obama of taking too long to put the birther nonsense to bed or suggest he's exploiting the issue by even addressing it.

While speculation around Obama's legitimacy occurs almost exclusively in conservative circles -- reaching a high point in recent weeks amid Donald Trump's birther campaign -- a number of mostly mainstream Republicans characterized Obama's statement as a smokescreen that distracts from various other topics.The most oft-quoted example came from Sarah Palin who tweeted: "Now, don't let the WH distract you w/the birth crt from what Bernanke says today. Stay focused, eh?" referring to a rare press conference from the Federal Reserve chairman.

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Louie Gohmert

Gohmert: The Birth Certificate Proves We Need A Federal Birther Law

Evan McMorris-Santoro | April 27, 2011, 6:21PM

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX)

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) welcomed the release of President Obama's long-form birth certificate on Wednesday, after suffering what he said had been "arrogant condescension" from Obama's supporters. And he said the redundant proof that Obama was indeed born where everyone knew he was born shows that Congress really needs to pass a law requiring presidential candidates to produce their birth certificates.

"It is truly distressing that the administration would wait so long to release such an important piece of documentation, when such a simple act was all it required," Gohmert said in a statement. "In my mind, a critically important action we could take in Congress is to eliminate similar controversies arising in future elections."

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Health Care

Gohmert: Libya Attacks Are False Flag For Obama To Call Up Private Army Created By Health Care Law

Brian Beutler | March 31, 2011, 2:46PM

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX)

Thanks to Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX), one of the most widely debunked, and far-out conspiracy theories about the health care law found its way into the Congressional Record late Wednesday -- with a twist.

This comes via Political Correction -- a project of Media Matters.

From Gohmert's floor speech Wednesday night:

It's a bad bill. And then when you find out that the prior Congress not only passed that 2,800 page bill with all kinds of things in it, including a new president's commissioned officer corps and non-commissioned officer corps. Do we really need that? I wondered when I read that in the bill. But then when you find out we're being sent to Libya to use our treasure and American lives there, maybe there's intention to so deplete the military that we're going to need that presidential reserve officer commissioned corps and non-commissioned corps that the president can call up on a moment's notice involuntarily, according to the Obamacare bill.

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Bill Maher

Bill Maher To Tea Partiers: 'The Founding Fathers Would Have Hated Your Guts' (VIDEO)

David Taintor | January 17, 2011, 11:24AM

Bill Maher

Bill Maher has some tough words for the tea party: "the founding fathers would have hated your guts."

And Maher thinks tea partiers would have hated the founding fathers, too.

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Louie Gohmert

Gohmert: 'Guns Are The Great Equalizer' (VIDEO)

Jillian Rayfield | January 14, 2011, 5:57PM

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX), who is proposing a bill to allow members of Congress to carry guns in the Capitol and D.C., explained today: "Saying guns are the problem is like saying spoons are what make people fat. Maybe we'll need to regulate the size of spoons."

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Louie Gohmert

Gohmert: FBI Mum On Loughner's Politics To Avoid Embarrassing Obama's Constituents

Jillian Rayfield | January 12, 2011, 3:16PM

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX)

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) complained today that the FBI is not releasing details on suspected Tucson shooter Jared Loughner's politics, and suggested that it's because his politics may turn out to be liberal: "it may be embarrassing to some of the current administration's constituents, and, heaven help us, we wouldn't want to embarrass any of the president's constituents."

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Congress

On The Floor: Ten Great Moments From Congress In 2010 (VIDEO)

Eric Kleefeld | December 27, 2010, 8:33AM

As the year comes to a close, and we look ahead to all the wild and wacky things that are sure to happen in the new Republican-controlled House and only narrowly Democratic-controlled Senate, let's take a look back at the past year. A whole lot of amazing and memorable moments happened not only on the campaign trail, but on the two Congressional floors in the Capitol itself.

We've gathered together 10 unforgettable moments from the House and Senate in 2010. Some of them are great -- while others are just so bad that they're good.

But all of them give some perspective on the people who have been running our government, or who are about to have even more power next year. So sit back, relax, and laugh -- because it's better than crying.

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Don't Ask, Don't Tell

Blame The Lame Duck: Republicans Find A New Reason For 'No' Votes

Jillian Rayfield | December 23, 2010, 8:37AM

This year's lame duck Congress has been described as the most productive since World War II, with the passage of a tax cuts deal, a repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, ratification of the new START treaty, and the passage of a bill to provide health care to 9/11 first responders.

But despite the Democrats' legislative victories, and even some bipartisan support, many top Republicans this week have been offering up the lame duck session itself as the latest sacrifice on the "Party of No" altar...

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Stimulus

Paul Ryan Says No More Tax Cut Stimulus, Either

Brian Beutler | December 2, 2010, 12:20PM

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI)

With Republicans set to take control of the House next year, some Democrats on the Hill and in the administration had been hoping that the parties could agree on the sort of stimulus that Republicans typically like: tax breaks. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) says: Don't count on it.

"I don't think so...that's like cash for clunkers, rebates, payroll holidays -- those don't work," Ryan told me after a Christian Science Monitor breakfast roundtable with reporters this morning. "They don't work to grow the economy. they lose a lot of money, they give you an artificial sugar high in the quarter in which they take place, and then they go right back down."

There's a strong consensus among economists that the key to growth is to inject demand into the economy, either by spending or giving people money to spend through tax credits, rebates, etc. Some Republicans do support measures like this. But according to Ryan, they're the minority within the party.

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Tea Party Caucus

House Tea Party Caucus Members Requested Over $1 Billion In Earmarks

Eric Kleefeld | December 2, 2010, 10:40AM

Hmm, something seems odd about the House Tea Party Caucus -- the group founded to promote cuts in government spending. As National Journal reports, a new study finds that the caucus' 52 members requested a total of more than $1 billion in this past Congress.

According to a Hotline review of records compiled by Citizens Against Government Waste, the 52 members of the caucus, which pledges to cut spending and reduce the size of government, requested a total of 764 earmarks valued at $1,049,783,150 during Fiscal Year 2010, the last year for which records are available.

"It's disturbing to see the Tea Party Caucus requested that much in earmarks. This is their time to put up or shut up, to be blunt," said David Williams, vice president for policy at Citizens Against Government Waste. "There's going to be a huge backlash if they continue to request earmarks."

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Republicans

Rep. Louie Gohmert: 'Yes We Can' Shut Down The Government (VIDEO)

Jillian Rayfield | November 16, 2010, 1:04PM

Rep. Louis Gohmert (R-TX)

Rep. Louie Gohmert co-opted President Obama's old campaign slogan to talk about shutting down the government yesterday, saying that "if it takes a shutdown of government to stop the runaway spending, we owe that to our children."

"If you can't get it under control, then we just stop government 'til you realize, you know, 'yes we can,'" said Gohmert.

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Tea Party

5 Constitutional Amendments That Constitution-Loving Tea Partiers Would Change

Brian Beutler | October 28, 2010, 8:41AM

A Tea Party Rally in Washington DC.

Earlier this week, we looked at many of the various (and popular) long-existing laws that tea parters and their leaders think are actually unconstitutional. They run the gamut from Social Security to civil rights to abolition of the Department of Education and on and on.

But despite all the talk about "returning" to the Constitution, don't confuse tea partiers with Constitutional purists, who happen to read the document in a conservative way. True, about half of the changes they want to make to the social fabric result from a peculiar interpretation of the Constitution as it exists. The other half, though, would actually require Congress and the states to change it altogether.

Here's how tea party candidates and organizers would amend the Constitution.

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Terror Babies

Anderson Cooper Grills Shouting GOPer Louie Gohmert On 'Terror Babies' Conspiracy (VIDEO)

Eric Kleefeld | August 13, 2010, 9:17AM

Oh, wow. Last night, Anderson Cooper hosted none other than Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX), the main propagator in Congress of the "terror babies" conspiracy theory -- an alleged diabolical 20- to 30-year plot by terrorists to have babies born in the United States, then taken abroad and trained as terrorists before eventually returning here as U.S. citizens (thanks to birthright citizenship) to commit heinous crimes.

Gohmert previously went to the House floor in June and warned about this evil plan, saying he had heard about it from an unnamed former FBI agent. Then on Wednesday night this week, Cooper hosted an actual former FBI official, who explained that there are no reports of this at all.

Cooper brought Gohmert on last night, and began by asking him whether he had even called the FBI agent. And from there, it turned into a nice one-way shouting match -- that is, Gohmert yelling at Cooper repeatedly. At one point Gohmert did admit that he did not check with the FBI itself: "No, I didn't talk to them, because the point is: when we did the research, we found the hole existed."

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Louie Gohmert

Gohmert On Terrorist Babies Theory: 'It's Not Just A Theory' (VIDEO)

Rachel Slajda | July 2, 2010, 2:12PM

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX)

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) wants you to know about the national security threat written into the Constitution: Terrorist babies.

Last week, we told you that Gohmert warned America that the 14th Amendment -- which guarantees that anyone born in the U.S. is a citizen -- was allowing terrorist women to come to the U.S., have a baby, and:

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Louie Gohmert

Gohmert: There's A Diabolical 30-Year Plot To Have Terrorist Babies Born In U.S.! (VIDEO)

Eric Kleefeld | June 25, 2010, 3:04PM

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX)

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) went to the House floor Thursday night, to warn of a diabolical terrorist plot -- with a 20-30 year timeline.

The plot involves arranging for a child to be born in the United States -- then training them in an isolated environment abroad, ready to dispatch them back here to commit violence after a quick two or three decades.

"I talked to a retired FBI agent who said that one of the things they were looking at were terrorist cells overseas who had figured out how to game our system. And it appeared they would have young women, who became pregnant, would get them into the United States to have a baby," said Gohmert. "They wouldn't even have to pay anything for the baby. And then they would turn back where they could be raised and coddled as future terrorists. And then one day, twenty, thirty years down the road, they can be sent in to help destroy our way of life. 'Cause they figured out how stupid we are being in this country to allow our enemies to game our system, hurt our economy, get set up in a position to destroy our way of life."

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Birther

The Back Bench: Right-Wing GOPers You Don't Know...But Should

Jillian Rayfield | April 21, 2010, 8:49AM

Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX)

Birthers, militias, Tea Partiers -- it's hard to keep track of all the fringe groups that have popped up across the nation. But what to do when the extreme ideas of some of these groups bleed into the politics of public officeholders?

We've rounded up some of the right-wing House GOP members who may not have the national presence (or charisma) of a Michele Bachmann or a Steve King, but who certainly share their penchant for appealing to the outer limits of the political stratosphere...

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Health Care

Dems Scrutinize Business, GOP Claims That Health Care Will Cost Corporations Millions

Brian Beutler | March 29, 2010, 1:20PM

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA)

The ink on the health care law President Obama signed last week hadn't even dried when Republicans and business reporters picked up on a striking claim from some of the nation's biggest corporations. The legislation, they say, will cost them hundreds of millions of dollars this year, thanks to the elimination of a major tax deduction -- but that's a claim the Democrats aren't taking at face value.

Republicans instantly glommed on, using figures released by the companies as part of their ongoing efforts to portray the bill as a jobs killer. "[W]e heard from Caterpillar this week; $100 million it's going to cost them just this year," warned Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) on the House floor Sunday--one of several House Republicans to attack the bill for hurting employers.

There are a couple of problems, though.

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Louie Gohmert

Gohmert: Fight Health Care Bill By Repealing Popular Election Of Senators (VIDEO)

Eric Kleefeld | March 23, 2010, 2:21PM

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX)

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) is calling for a strong re-assertion of states rights against Congress -- in the form of a Constitutional amendment to eliminate the direct popular election of Senators, and go back to the pre-17th Amendment setup of state legislatures appointing them.

"Ever since the safeguard of State legislatures electing U.S. Senators was removed by the 17th Amendment in 1913, there has been no check or balance on the Federal power grab for the last 97 years," Gohmert said in a press release, calling for a constitutional convention of the states. "Article V requires a minimum of 34 states to request a Convention which in this case, would be an Amendment Convention for only ONE amendment."

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Abortion

Gohmert: I Didn't Call Stupak 'Baby Killer'

Brian Beutler | March 22, 2010, 10:28AM

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX)

We may be able to scratch one more suspect off the list of potential culprits: Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) says he's not the Republican who shouted "baby killer" at Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI), during a debate about abortion on the House floor last night.

"I have no idea who yelled it because they were seated behind me and the House was packed," Gohmert said, according to the Lufkin Daily News. "Whoever said it was obviously upset, but it was inappropriate for them to yell that."

Gohmert sits in the same area where the taunt is reported to have emerged, and has a distinctive Texan accent, as Rep. John Campbell (R-CA) says the culprit had. In fact, a number of readers emailed TPM after the incident, certain, based on the accent, that it was Gohmert. He says that's not so.

Barack Obama

Obama To Meet House GOPers At Their Retreat

Eric Kleefeld | January 29, 2010, 11:45AM

Rep. Steve King (R-IA) and Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) preview a "Declaration of Health Care Independence" at a Capitol Hill press conference.

President Obama is scheduled to speak to the House Republican retreat in about a half-hour, an occasion that has the potential for some fun on-camera moments.

As The Hill reports, Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) has brought with him a poster-sized copy of the "Declaration of Health Care Independence," a petition championed by Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN). The petition borrows language from America's two key founding documents, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, to attack the Democrats on health care.

Gohmert hopes to collect signatures on the super-sized petition from his House colleagues -- and maybe even Obama. So let's pay close attention to Obama's upcoming address to the GOPers, and whether Gohmert will actually try it.

Capitol Hill Tea Party

Gohmert: 'Truth Will March On'

Rachel Slajda | November 5, 2009, 1:37PM

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) at the Capitol Hill tea party

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) took the microphone to explain how Americans got their freedoms, the freedom that health care reform will take away.

"When I was born I didn't deserve to be born in this country," he said, and he didn't deserve the rights guaranteed in the Constitution.

"I got those unalienable rights because people went before me and went before you and fought for them," he said.

"Read the bill," he yelled to wild cheers. "And then truth will march on."

Louie Gohmert

Debating Hate Crimes, Gohmert Rambles On About Bestiality, Sex With Corpses, Voting For A Black Man

Christina Bellantoni | October 7, 2009, 6:24PM

See it to believe it - here's Rep. Louie Gohmert, on the House floor yesterday, offering his assessment of the "wide open" definition of sexual orientation.

Gohmert (R-TX) rambles about being "oriented toward animals, bestiality" ... "oriented toward corpses, toward children."

"There are all kinds of perversions, what most of us would call perversions, some would say it sounds like fun, but most of us would say were perversions and there have been laws against them," said Gohmert, last known for holding the "What bill" sign during President Obama's September speech to a joint session of Congress.

This was during a debate that started about Don't Ask, Don't Tell and then veered into a debate on hate crimes.

Watch our clip to the end, when Gohmert talks about racism and tells his colleagues he voted for Alan Keyes.

DNC spokesman Hari Sevugan quipped, "It looks like Rick Santorum just picked up his first endorsement of 2012."

Joe Wilson

New GOP Meme On Joe Wilson: Obama Started It!

Eric Kleefeld | September 16, 2009, 11:36AM

Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC)

An interesting new pattern has emerged from some Republicans. Both during and after yesterday's House admonishment of Rep. Joe Wilson's (R-SC) outburst of "You lie!" during President Obama's speech to Congress, GOP House members have been emerging to say that it was Obama who started the breach of decorum.

• After the vote was taken, Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) declared on the House floor that Obama had insulted Congress, by saying that his opponents were lying about his health care proposals. "He comes in here talking about a lie ... He says we're making wild claims," said Gohmert. "That's no way to act when you're invited into somebody else's house."

It's interesting to see Gohmert take such a sudden interest in the gentlemanly etiquette of the House, considering how he too was heckling Obama during the speech -- albeit through the silent display of a sign, rather than shouting out:

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