Arlen Specter

Septuagenarian Twitter Flame War: Grassley Warns Specter He Never Said "Death Boards"

Brian Beutler | August 14, 2009, 2:07PM

Earlier today, I reported that Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA) planned to call his old friend Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) to admonish him that health care legislation will not result in the creation of death panels.

Well, Grassley never picked up. So Specter tweeted all about it.

And Grassley is not pleased.

And in a narrow sense, Grassley's right. He didn't use the term "death boards" or "death panels." He said "There is some fear because in the House bill, there is counseling for end-of-life. And from that standpoint, you have every right to fear.... We should not have a government program that determines if you're going to pull the plug on grandma."

But in the broader sense, Specter's got Grassley pegged.

And in the broadest sense, it's easy to imagine these guys starring in an Internet-themed sequel to Grumpier Old Men.

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (57) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (5)
Topics: Arlen Specter, Chuck Grassley, Death Panels, Health Care, Twitter

Twitter

South Carolina GOPer Who Made Racist Joke Previously Served On...Diversity Council

Eric Kleefeld | June 18, 2009, 1:04PM

Remember Rusty DePass, the South Carolina Republican activist and former state elections director who apologized yesterday after he joked on Facebook that an escaped gorilla from a local zoo was an ancestor of Michelle Obama? It turns out that he recently had another important job: Promoting racial diversity in the city of Columbia.

The State points out that DePass served a three-year term on the Greater Columbia Community Relations Council. The council's mission statement is to promote: "positive relationships within the community"; "equal opportunity and fair services for all members of the community"; and "awareness and appreciation of cultural diversity."

An administrative assistant for the council tells us that a person becomes a board member by being appointed by either the city, the county or the local Chamber of Commerce, with each group appointing ten members. It was not immediately known which group appointed DePass.

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (5) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)
Topics: Twitter

Twitter

GOP Rep. Culberson Backs Away From Comparison Between Iranian Dissidents And House GOP

Eric Kleefeld | June 18, 2009, 11:20AM

Rep. John Culberson (R-TX) has backed off from some of his Twitter posts yesterday, in which he seemingly compared the oppression of Iranian dissidents with the plight of House Republicans.

About ten hours ago, Culberson Tweeted this:

Restrictions against dissent in US House cannot be compared to restrictions imposed on Iranian population by their tyrant government

Yesterday, Culberson's take had been a bit different. "Good to see Iranian people move mountains w social media, shining sunlight on their repressive govt - Texans support their bid for freedom," he initially Tweeted. He then followed it up with: "Oppressed minorities includeHouseRepubs: We are using social media to expose repression such as last night's D clampdown shutting off amends," and then extensively posted about Nancy Pelosi shutting off Republican amendments.

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (9) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)
Topics: Twitter

Pete Hoekstra

Hoekstra Spokesman: He Wasn't Comparing Iranian Demonstrators To House Republicans -- Though They Are Similar

Eric Kleefeld | June 18, 2009, 9:53AM

Here's a fun epilogue to Rep. Pete Hoekstra's (R-MI) phenomenally entertaining Twitter post yesterday, in which he said, "Iranian twitter activity similar to what we did in House last year when Republicans were shut down in the House."

The statement generated lot of ridicule in the blogosphere, and some really funny jokes in the Twitter community.

Yesterday afternoon, Hoekstra's spokesman gave this statement to CNN:

"Congressman Hoekstra did not compare the ongoing violence in Iran to when Democrats shut down the House chamber during the energy debate last summer," said spokesman Dave Yonkman. "The two situations do share the similarity of government leadership attempting to limit debate and deliberation, and the ability of new technologies to bypass their efforts and allow for direct communication. That's the only point that he was trying to make."

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (22) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (2)
Topics: Pete Hoekstra, Twitter

Twitter

Twitter Users Heckle Hoekstra En Masse

Eric Kleefeld | June 17, 2009, 6:01PM

Earlier today, Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-MI) put up this astonishing post on Twitter, likening the oppression of the Iranian people to the plight of House Republicans:

Iranian twitter activity similar to what we did in House last year when Republicans were shut down in the House.

In the hours since, the Twitter community has responded -- with massive heckling. Here's just a small sample of some of the best ones:

ArjunJaikumar @petehoekstra i spilled some lukewarm coffee on myself just now, which is somewhat analogous to being boiled in oil

chrisbaskind @petehoekstra My neighbor stopped me to talk today. Now I know what it is like to be questioned by the Basij!

luckbfern @petehoekstra I stand in solidarity with the oppressed rich white men of Repub Party in the House. #GOPfail Allah Akbar!

Read more »

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (111) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (22)
Topics: Pete Hoekstra, Twitter

Twitter

House GOPers Tweet On Similarities Between Iranian Unrest And Oppression Of House Republicans

Eric Kleefeld | June 17, 2009, 1:33PM

Rep. John Culberson (R-TX) is posting on Twitter to praise the use of social networking media to organize against the tyrants in Iran -- and the tyrannical Democrats running the House of Representatives.

"Good to see Iranian people move mountains w social media, shining sunlight on their repressive govt - Texans support their bid for freedom," Culberson posted earlier today. He then followed it up with this: "Oppressed minorities includeHouseRepubs: We are using social media to expose repression such as last night's D clampdown shutting off amends"

Over the next few hours -- and following some ridicule in the blogosphere -- Culberson has dug in further. "Pelosi etal shut down House amendments & debate on Approps Bill to prevent conservatives from slowing down their uncontrolled spending spree," he just posted.

Read more »

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (21) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)
Topics: Pete Hoekstra, Twitter

Twitter

Top 7 Conservative New Media FAILS So Far this Year

Eric Kleefeld | June 16, 2009, 12:03PM

A fun pattern has emerged among the Republican efforts to reach out to voters through the new social-networking online media: They're failing massively, with episodes that just make them look stupid and ham-fisted, and even sometimes force them to apologize for offending people.

Michael Steele has made a big deal of reaching out to online media in the same way that Democrats have done very effectively -- cultivating what is known on his side as the "rightroots." And of course, honorable mention goes out to former Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN), who spoke of the GOP's need to compete in the "ethernet." So how's it working out for them?

In just the last few days, we had two ignominious events from just one state. A prominent South Carolina GOP activist, Rusty DePass, said on his Facebook page that Michelle Obama was a gorilla (and not in the sense of the evolutionary fact that we are all apes -- DePass actually seems to be offended by this). He kind of apologized -- but said Michelle started it.

And another South Carolina Republican operative, Mike Green, apologized for a racist Tweet against President Obama himself:

Read more »

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (72) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (5)
Topics: Twitter

Twitter

South Carolina GOP Operative Apologizes For Racist Tweet Against Obama

Eric Kleefeld | June 15, 2009, 4:17PM

Indigo Journal, a liberal blog in South Carolina, reports that GOP operative Mike Green posted a racist joke about President Obama on his Twitter account over the weekend -- and in a brief conversation with TPM, Green did not deny it. (Late Update: Green has now admitted it in a new set of Tweets, and apologized. See new section after the jump.)

Green posted this, then deleted it some time later:

JUST HEARD OBAMA IS GOING TO IMPOSE A 40% TAX ON ASPIRIN BECAUSE IT'S WHITE AND IT WORKS.

That post is not currently on Green's actual Twitter page, but Indigo Journal has what purports to be a screenshot, documenting it from when it was still up. I called Green to ask if this was true. "I don't know," said Green. "Let me give you a call back." I also asked Green if anyone else writes on his Twitter account, or if it's just him. Again, he said he would have to call back. He has not yet called back.

Read more »

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (50) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (2)
Topics: Racism, Twitter

FL-SEN

Rubio And Ally Accuse Crist Of Political Retribution In Florida Senate Race

Eric Kleefeld | June 12, 2009, 2:45PM

The Republican Senate primary in Florida, between the front-running moderate Gov. Charlie Crist and the more conservative former state House Speaker Marco Rubio is now heating up -- with a serious accusation being made of political retribution.

State Sen. Steve Oelrich is now claiming that because he endorsed Rubio, and also didn't support Crist on another initiative, Crist got back at him by vetoing a bill that Oelrich had fought for. "I'm certain the Governor's Office would deny all that, but politics being what they are, it's discouraging sometimes," he told the Gainesville Sun.

Rubio stepped in to endorse the allegation, posting this on Twitter: "Happy for State Sen. Steve Oelrich's endorsement. But sorry that it got his bill vetoed."

Crist's press secretary strongly denied the allegations to the Sun. "There's no political retribution," Ivey said. "The bill was vetoed for the reasons stated in the (veto) letter."

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (2) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)
Topics: FL-SEN, Senate '10, Twitter

Arlen Specter

Specter Tweets His <3 For Joe Sestak...Then Deletes It

Brian Beutler | June 9, 2009, 12:35PM

Yesterday, I reported that Barney Frank had raised concerns about what he called Sen. Arlen Specter's pattern of erratic behavior. That, though, was before this happened.

Vindication. According to Think Progress, the tweet has been deleted, and a subsequent tweet simply notes that Specter spoke at a labor rally with Sestak and Rep. Mike Doyle (D-PA) on Saturday. For the uninitiated, that symbol doesn't mean "less than three." It's Internetese for "heart." Which means someone at Specter's campaign office might just have a crush on his (or her) boss's rival.

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (11) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (3)
Topics: Arlen Specter, Joe Sestak, PA-SEN, Senate, Senate '10, Twitter

FL-SEN

Senate Candidate Chimes In On Today's Apple Product Updates

Eric Kleefeld | June 8, 2009, 3:57PM

Former Florida state House Speaker Marco Rubio, who is running a conservative campaign for his state's open Senate seat, has just put up this post on Twitter, commenting on today's Apple product updates:

I am for progress, but this new iPhone every 6 months is ridiculous. What new features does new one have? Can it vote in a senate race?

For the record, Rubio has indicated in previous Tweets that he is a big Mac-head: "This is an apple household. WE have iphones, MAC and Apple TV!"

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (4) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)
Topics: FL-SEN, Senate '10, Twitter

Chuck Grassley

Chuck Grassley On Twitter: Inside The Senatorial Id

Eric Kleefeld | June 8, 2009, 11:25AM

There's no shortage of Republicans loudly proclaiming that the GOP has to get up to speed using Internet technology, particularly on blogs and the ubiquitous micro-blogging service, Twitter. This isn't necessarily the easiest thing for a party whose officeholders (and voter base) are geared heavily towards the upper age ranges -- just look at Norm Coleman's advice for the GOP to compete on the "ethernet."

But there's one 75-year old U.S. Senator whose aggressive Twittering shows that sometimes the solution can have as many complications as the problem. Fifth-term Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) not only uses his handy Blackberry to Twitter almost non-stop messages, but he's even learned to do so in a whole other language -- the online vernacular of a texting thirteen-year old.

Check out this morning's message:

My carbon footprint is abt 25per cent of Al Gore. I'm greener than Al Gore. Is that enuf?

There is something endearing about the fact that Grassley, a septuagenarian U.S. Senator and truly an elder statesman of Iowa politics, so baldly puts his whims and thoughts out there for the public at large. Quite frankly, if a staffer had done this in a Senator's name, he or she would risk getting fired. But no, the Senator himself does it.

Check out some of Grassley's greatest hits, after the jump.

Read more »

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (33) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (4)
Topics: Chuck Grassley, Twitter

Health Care

Health Care Stakes Heat Up--Kennedy, Baucus Meet With Obama

Brian Beutler | June 2, 2009, 9:48AM

Last night, with the typical eloquence of a 75 year old man using Twitter, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee wrote, "The prez is meetin w Finance and Help Demo bc doesn't appear they on same page Finance working biparty HELP more partisan. Where Prez land?"

Translated roughly from the Twitterese, that means that President Obama met with Democrats from both the Finance Committee and Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee because they disagree about the direction health reform should take. Unsurprisingly, all signs indicate that the more liberal HELP Committee--chaired by Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA)--will soon introduce a fairly dramatic reform proposal, with a truly robust public insurance option. Soon thereafter, though, the Finance Committee will unveil a rather less progressive proposal of its own with the issue of the public option--how robust it will be, or whether it will be included at all--still unsettled.

Grassley's spinning this as a rift between partisans and centrists within the Democratic party, and in a way that rift really exists. But the political play here is somewhat more complicated.

Read more »

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (12) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (3)
Topics: Health Care, Max Baucus, Ted Kennedy, Twitter

Newt Gingrich

Gibbs Dismisses Gingrich Comments As "Blog Of A Former Lawmaker"

Eric Kleefeld | May 27, 2009, 1:51PM

At the White House press briefing just now, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs was asked by Chip Reid of CBS News about Newt Gingrich's Twitter comments that a "Latina woman racist" should have to withdraw from a judicial nomination, comparing Sonia Sotomayor to a hypothetical white man saying his background made him a better pick than a Latina.

"I think it is probably important for anybody involved in this debate to be exceedingly careful with the way in which they've decided to describe different aspects of this impending nomination," said Gibbs. "I think we're satisfied that when the people of America and the people of the Senate get a chance to look at more than just the blog of a former lawmaker, that they'll come to the same conclusion that the President did."

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (10) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)
Topics: Newt Gingrich, Robert Gibbs, Sonia Sotomayor, Supreme Court, Twitter

FL-SEN

Rubio Announces Support Of Jeb Bush, Jr.

Eric Kleefeld | May 27, 2009, 9:50AM

Marco Rubio, the conservative Republican Senate candidate who is challenging the establishment-backed moderate Gov. Charlie Crist, just announced the endorsement of a member of the Bush family: Jeb Bush, Jr.

Rubio posted this Tweet: "Proud to announce the endorsement of Jeb Bush Jr. He will be a great asset in our efforts to reach the next generation of GOP leadership."

Bear in mind that while the Bush family name is now generally garbage in the rest of the country, the relatively more competent Jeb Bush, Sr., still retains popularity in Florida -- especially among the conservative GOP base. The question is whether the son's support will have enough credibility with those same activists who might hearken back to his father's two terms as governor.

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (3) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (2)
Topics: FL-SEN, Senate '10, Twitter

Supreme Court

Glenn Beck: Can Messiah Obama Heal Sotomayor's Diabetes?

Eric Kleefeld | May 26, 2009, 12:01PM

You've got to love Glenn Beck. The Fox News host put this Twitter post about the Sotomayor announcement:

Does the nominee still have Diabetes? Could the Messiah heal her, or does she just not want to ask? What is protocal (sic) on miracle healings?

(Via Media Matters)

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (6) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)
Topics: Sonia Sotomayor, Supreme Court, Twitter

Sonia Sotomayor

NRSC: Obama Picks Liberal For SCOTUS

Eric Kleefeld | May 26, 2009, 9:48AM

The National Republican Senatorial Committee is right out the gate with this comment on the Sotomayor nomination, with this post on Twitter:

So, President Obama picks liberal Sonia Sotomayor for SCOTUS......more to come.

Let the fun begin!

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (4) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)
Topics: Sonia Sotomayor, Supreme Court, Twitter

Andy Stern

SEIU Ad Aimed At Obama, Schwarzenegger, To Begin Airing Wednesday

Brian Beutler | May 25, 2009, 4:45PM

Ads to run in Los Angeles and other California media markets starting Wednesday tie President Barack Obama to the recent decision by the state government to slash the wages of home health workers.

According to a source at the Service Employees International Union, the ad features Pauline Beck, an SEIU nurse who participated in a campaign event with Obama two years ago, and spoke at the Democratic National Convention, but who will now be affected by the cuts. Though the source had not seen a script of the ad (and therefore could not confirm whether, or to what extent, it implicates the administration for abandoning attempts to prevent the cuts) it's certainly meant to get Obama's attention as much as that of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and politicians in Sacramento.

Obama arrives in California for a fundraiser in L.A. on Wednesday--the same day the six-figure ad buy goes live. Earlier today, SEIU President Andy Stern announced the ads over Twitter. The organization is upset with Obama for withdrawing its threat to withhold health care-related stimulus funds from California if the state it goes through with its plans to cut home care workers' wages to $8 an hour.

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (52) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)
Topics: Andy Stern, Barack Obama, SEIU, Twitter

EFCA

Gingrich Threatens EFCA Twitterer With Lawsuit, Doesn't Understand Twitter

Brian Beutler | May 19, 2009, 11:06AM

The campaign to pass the Employee Free Choice Act has reached the Twittersphere, and, naturally, foes of organized labor, such as Newt Gingrich, are taking it all in stride.

"We are writing to demand that you immediately take down an illegal and fraudulent posting on Twitter...which falsely purports to be written by our clients and unlawfully uses the name of Messrs. [Newt] Gingrich and [Saul] Anuzis," reads a letter (PDF) from Stefan Passatino of the law firm McKenna Long & Aldridge.

The cease and desist notice comes in response to an online movement intended to convince Gingrich's Twitter followers (among others) to sign a petition in support of EFCA. Gingrich and his lawyer takes issue with the campaign, but that's possibly because the finer points of Twitter have eluded both of them.

We have recently learned that a pro-EFCA group calling itself "The Truth About EFCA.Org" and operating a website at that URL, has apparently publish the Posting on Twitter. The Posting falsely purports to have been written by Messrs. Gingrich and Anuzis and includes the Mark [ampersand] as well as the Twitter "handles" of the foregoing individuals.

Read more »

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (13) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)
Topics: EFCA, Newt Gingrich, Twitter

Arlen Specter

Sestak: We Don't Need The GOP's Benedict Arnolds

Brian Beutler | May 5, 2009, 11:21AM

Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA) hasn't been shy about criticizing Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA) for switching parties last week, but his harshest words came last night in an interview with TPMDC: "He left the fight," said the former admiral and highest ranking military man ever to serve in Congress. "In the military, we just don't leave fights."

Sestak's shot at Specter comes amid grassroots grumbling that the deal Democratic leaders struck to get Specter to defect from the GOP cost the party a shot at putting a real liberal in the seat in 2010.

"I can't figure out...why the deal was done," Sestak told me, saying he's concerned that the party was so quick to embrace Specter for reasons of "expediency," and without regard to the needs of Pennsylvania voters. "It isn't Washington's prerogative to tell us what to do," Sestak insisted.

I asked him whether he'd been on the receiving end of establishment pressure -- from people like Vice President Joe Biden and Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell -- to stay out of the race, and he insisted, "I haven't heard from anyone."

While Democrats from the While House on down might be trying to keep the Democratic primary field clear for Specter, they might not necessarily mind the fact that, for the time being, Sestak is applying pressure on Specter to move left. By keeping the door open to challenging Specter in the Democratic primary, Sestak may serve to nudge Specter further than he might otherwise have gone. Yesterday, Sestak told Greg Sargent that if Specter "doesn't demonstrate that he has shifted his position on a number of issues, I would not hesitate at all to get in" to a primary fight against him.

Read more »

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (54) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (3)
Topics: Andy Stern, Arlen Specter, Barack Obama, Democrats, EFCA, Health Care, Joe Sestak, PA-SEN, SEIU, Senate, Senate '10, Twitter

Arlen Specter

SEIU's Stern To Meet Sestak Today

Brian Beutler | May 4, 2009, 9:16AM

SEIU president Andy Stern did the unusual yesterday and broke some news on Twitter: In Twitter-esque shorthand--unnecessary, as the message came in well under the allotted 140 characters--Stern wrote, "Congressman Sestak impressive on CNN. Visiting him tomorrow."

We'll try to learn more about the meeting once it's all said and done. Keep in mind, though, that it comes a day after Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA) insisted on Meet the Press that he's not a loyal Democrat, and opposes significant aspects of the President's agenda. That outburst (unsurprisingly) hasn't done much to quiet calls from the left for Sestak to challenge Specter in the Democratic primary next year.

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (3) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)
Topics: Andy Stern, Arlen Specter, Democrats, EFCA, Joe Sestak, SEIU, Senate, Senate '10, Twitter

Tea Party

Top Conservatives On Twitter FAIL

Brian Beutler | April 30, 2009, 3:21PM

Ok, quick twitter post and then back to...serious...business. Several weeks ago, those of us who (for reasons unclear) communicate with friends, colleagues, and complete strangers on Twitter, began scratching our heads when we noticed various conservatives were ending their "tweets" with a puzzling hashtag: "#tcot".

(For the uninitiated, the "#" allows twitterers to code their messages in a way that makes them all easily accessible--all tweets appended with "#tcot" can be found by searching for the term at this website.)

What could "#tcot" mean, we thought? Teabagging Conservatives' Organizing Tool? Tremendous Collection of Ornery Tweets?

In fact, it stands for "Top Conservatives On Twitter," and it is, in a way, a perfectly accurate moniker.

Read more »

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (39) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (4)
Topics: Arlen Specter, MN-SEN, NY-20, Republicans, Tea Party, Twitter

NY-20

Tedisco Tries To Make Roadkill Of Sam Seder's Ballot

Eric Kleefeld | April 23, 2009, 5:39PM

We can now add another illustrious name to the list of absentee voters whose ballots in the NY-20 special election have been challenged by the campaign of GOP candidate Jim Tedisco: Sam Seder, the liberal talk-radio host with Air America!

Sam posted a message on Twitter yesterday: "NY20th race Tedisco challenged my absentee ballot. 4 days before the election I was jury foreman for a trial in NY20th. Challenge Fail."

The Tedisco camp had previously challenged U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand's ballot -- the person that Tedisco is seeking to replace in Congress -- and now Sam is on the list, too.

Read more »

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (23) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (2)
Topics: NY-20, Twitter

Twitter

Rep. Joe Barton: I 'Stumped' Nobel Prize Winning Scientist

Brian Beutler | April 22, 2009, 5:32PM

Oh the (rare, but occasionally exceptional) joys of Twitter. Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX)--the ranking member on the House Energy & Commerce Committee--says (tweets?) "I seemed [sic] to have baffled the Energy Sec with basic question - Where does oil come from?"

He's referring to Nobel prize winning Energy Secretary Steve Chu, and this exchange.

Read more »

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (115) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (8)
Topics: Twitter

John McCain

Did McCain Just Flip-Flop on AIG and Tweet-Flop on Its Bonuses?

Elana Schor | March 26, 2009, 2:09PM

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) was in fine flip-flopping form during a speech today at the Heritage Foundation, as the Washington Independent reports.

"The problem started when we bailed out AIG," McCain told the conservative crowd at Heritage. "I would have let AIG go bankrupt. If they have to fail, they fail."

It's been well-noted in the blogosphere that McCain originally supported bailing out AIG in September, when his presidential run was in its, er, last throes. But what's most interesting, per the Independent, is that McCain came out against "controlling the salaries and bonuses of TARP-taking executives."

But I thought McCain wanted to let AIG fail exactly because that would deny bonuses to "greedy execs"! He told us so on his Twitter feed!* Sounds like it's time for some Straight Talk ^TM on AIG executives: Do we let the company fail to deny them bonuses, or let the company fail and make no attempt to prevent them from grabbing bonuses on their way out?

*This is the first and last time Twitter will appear in any of my posts.

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (14) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)
Topics: Bailout, Executive Compensation, John McCain, Twitter

Republicans

Another GOP Congressman 'Goes Galt'

Elana Schor | March 10, 2009, 1:36PM

Dave Weigel at the Washington Independent had an excellent look last week at the growing trend of conservatives "going Galt," looking to the fantastical novels of uber-capitalist Ayn Rand for sustenance as the economy founders and President Obama's approval ratings remain high.

Now we can chalk up one more GOP convert to the Atlas Shrugged trend. Rep. Pete Hoekstra (MI), the senior Republican on the House intelligence committee, just marveled on his Twitter page: "Who is John Galt? Will more Americans know of him in 3 to 6 months? I think so!"

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (15) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)
Topics: Pete Hoekstra, Republicans, Twitter

Barack Obama

Grassley, Moynihan, Health Care and the Missed Opportunity

Matthew Cooper | March 9, 2009, 3:48PM

If you care about health care, you have to care about the Senate Finance Committee. It's the choke point for any health care legislation. Make it work there in a bipartisan way and you'll get health care. Fail there and kiss it goodbye--again.

One of the tragedies of the Clinton-era effort to reform health care is that Pat Moynihan, then the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over health care, was eager to promote some kind of health care deal with Bob Dole, the Senate minority leader at the time, who had expressed interest in finding a deal. That's why it is so encouraging at the moment that Charles Grassley, the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, is working on a health care proposal with Max Baucus, the committee's chairman.

If they can come up with something health care has a much better chance of passage. If they can't, it's hard to imagine health care passing. Such is the importanxw of the Senate Finance Committee.

So I was surprised to see last week, after the health care summit with all its bonhomie and the president's encouaging words for the Baucus-Grassley effort, this item on March 5 about the administration canceling an effort at collecting back taxes. The effort used private companies to collect back taxes and was fought heavily by the union representing Treasury workers. TIm Geithner called Grassley on Friday evening to announce that he was putting the kibosh on the program which happened to cost 60 jobs in Iowa. A source close to Grassley says he's still "very unhappy" about the cancellation although, thank goodness, Geithner, understaffed and overwhelmed, managed to make the call. Grassley would surely had been more angry if he'd read it in the papers.

Leaving aside the merits of the debt collection program, one would think that with so much at stake on health care, the administration would be going out of its way to court and soothe Grassley. Granted, Grassley is not the vindictive sort who would hold up health care because of 60 jobs in Waterloo, but a move like this can't help relations. (Some senators are more mercurial. In 1993, the Clinton administration punished Sen. Richard Shelby, then a Democrat, for not supporting it on a number of issues by moving some NASA jobs from Huntsville, AL to Houston. It was one of the factors in Shelby converting to the GOP in 1994.)

Let's hope the administration is working a charm offensive on Grassley in other ways. Grassley and Baucus are working on their bill now and hope to have some kind of mark up by June although that's not realistic, one staff member told me. So let's see where it goes from here.

For those who want to follow Grassley, I highly recommend his Twitter account. Note the entry complete with original misspellings and abbreviations: "Geithner call to tel me he's cancling 60 jobs in Wloo. No renewal of contract to collect bk taxes. Vry disapted"

Let's hope he doesn't stay dissapointed

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (11) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)
Topics: Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Health Care, Hillary Clinton, Medicare/Medicaid, Timothy Geithner, Twitter

Twitter

Is This The End For Jeff Frederick?

Eric Kleefeld | March 6, 2009, 12:21PM

Is this the end for Jeff Frederick, the colorful (and bungling) Virginia Republican Party chairman? NBC reports that state GOPers are mobilizing to try to fire him at the next state committee meeting, due to the various misfortunes the state GOP has suffered over the last year.

It will be tough, though, as the rules require a three-quarters vote to oust a chairman in midstream. However, they do appear to have some momentum, as the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that the move has been essentially endorsed by the de facto Republican nominee for governor this year.

Frederick is perhaps best known now for Twittering an announcement that a Democratic state Senator was about to switch parties and give the GOP control -- a misstep that was blamed by some for derailing the whole scheme, though the claim of any deal has been denied by the Dem legislator in question.

But Frederick's also done a lot more than that, too. Back in October, he famously compared Barack Obama to Osama bin Laden, while briefing campaign volunteers on the talking points they could employ while going door to door.

It didn't help, apparently: Not only did Barack Obama carry Virginia -- the first Democrat to do so since the 1964 LBJ landslide -- but Dems also knocked off two incumbent House Republicans and picked up another open seat, and gained a Senate seat in a landslide.

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (5) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (4)
Topics: Twitter

Republicans

Inside that Conservative Tea Party

Matthew Cooper | February 24, 2009, 1:32PM

For those of you who think that conservatives are Luddites and only liberals have really mastered the tools of the digital age, listen to what happened to me on Friday.

Sick as a dog, I was lying in bed around 6 PM with my BlackBerry watching the chat on Twitter. I'd been following Newt Gingrich for awhile and I noticed he'd been chatting with Michael P. Leahy, the founder of something called Top Conservatives on Twitter.

As I lay sneezing and wheezing, Leahy was, before my eyes, using Twitter to organize dozens of rallies across the country to protest the economic policies of the Obama administration all under the heading of a National Chicago Tea Party. The reference to the Windy City is, of course, a homage to Rick Santelli's cri de coeur. Leahy notes that other conservatives had been toying with the idea of a tea party, pre Santelli, including Michelle Malkin, Glenn Reynolds and the Managing Editor of the American Spectator J. Peter Freire. But it was Santelli's screed combined with Twitter that brought it all together so quickly.

The speed with which Leahy found people to sponsor events, design a logo,even come up with Revolutionary War reenactors was startling.

Just a week later, on Friday, conservatives will gather in about 35 cities across the country to fight what they see as profligate policies that reward irresponsibility.

I spoke with Leahy this afternoon. He was at his home near Nashville. Raised in an Irish Catholic family in Oswego, New York--he tells me that he's actually third cousins with Sen. Patrick Leahy, the Vermont Democrat--the 54-year-old went to Harvard undergrad and Stanford business school. An entrepreneur, he worked in enterprise systems and computer marketing and became a conservative in the mid 80s having grown up in a JFK-admiring home. Now he's published a few conservative tomes and devotes considerable energy to Top Conservatives on Twitter.

By now everyone knows Twitter but what's less well known is the so-called hashtag or tick tac toe symbol that often accompanies Twitter messages. It's used to identify a message so that it can be easily grouped with other like minded souls. On Sunday, for instance, I Twittered some comments about the Oscars and ended each post with "#oscars"

In the conservative world, #TCOT is the Good Housekeeping seal of approval. Karl Rove uses it regularly. So does Newt. If you want to be in the conservative dialogue that's where you go. It's now the most popular hashtag on Twitter. All of this makes Leahy an important facilitator in the conservative movement.

I'm not sure what will become of these rallies. I know I don't agree with Leahy's claim that Obama is "moving us toward European socialism." I think Hank Paulson of Goldman Sachs and the Bush administration started the government interventions and any president would have continued them in this climate. And I don't really see how tax cuts and less government will get us out of this mess. But the ability to fire up a nationwide protest movement so quickly is impressive to me and should be a reminder that liberals have no monopoly on technology and innovation.

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (24) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (4)
Topics: Bailout, Barack Obama, Republicans, Twitter

Twitter

Virginia GOP Chairman's Twitter Outreach: Massive Fail

Eric Kleefeld | February 11, 2009, 6:04PM

The Republican Party's embrace of technology, which many inside and outside the party see as essential to a political recovery, so far is working out like...well, it's not working out at all.

Yesterday the Virginia GOP came very close to taking control of the state Senate, nearly luring a Democratic Senator to switch parties and put them at a 20-20 tie, which would have been broken by the Republican Lt. Governor. Then Jeff Frederick, a state legislator and the party chairman, ruined it all by Twittering this:

Big news coming out of Senate: Apparently one dem is either switching or leaving the dem caucus. Negotiations for power sharing underway.

The Dems then read the message, quickly mobilized to talk the renegade out of it, and stopped the GOP coup before it could happen.

We usually don't cover state-level politics, but this is just too much. Really, Mr. Frederick, you don't live-blog about ongoing secret negotiations!

(Via the Not Larry Sabato blog, and National Review.)

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (23) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (2)
Topics: Twitter

Twitter

Tweeting the Inaugural

Matthew Cooper | January 19, 2009, 5:42PM

I'll be Twittering from some inaugural festivities tonight. You can follow my tweets below the fold.

Read more »

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (21) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)
Topics: Inauguration, Twitter