How the Teabaggers are Shaping Public Policy

[Clio the Leo]

Reminder: Plouffe holds Vote 2010 Online Strategy Session Monday at 4:30pm EDT
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=433x285506

Internal GOP wars shaping policies nationwide
By Charles Babington
Associated Press Writer / May 3, 2010

WASHINGTON—Internal GOP politics are profoundly affecting major policies such as immigration, health care and deficit spending, as elected Republicans shift right to fend off challengers in primary elections.

The moves may leave a lasting imprint on society long after flashy political events, such as Florida Gov. Charlie Crist's decision to abandon the GOP in hopes of winning a Senate seat, are minor memories. They show that conservative movements such as the tea party phenomenon are influencing the nation well ahead of the November elections.

Efforts to overhaul the nation's immigration laws were in hibernation until Arizona's governor, a Republican facing a challenge from her party's right, signed a new law requiring state and local authorities to question people about immigration status if there's reason to suspect they're in the country illegally.

The Arizona action sent shockwaves around the country. President Barack Obama said the new law will prompt police harassment of U.S. citizens who appear Hispanic. Senate Democrats on Thursday scrambled to propose a less draconian rewrite of U.S. immigration laws.

Passing it this year seems doubtful, but the federal government may respond in other ways. Obama said a failure to act will "leave the door open to a patchwork of actions at the state and local level that are inconsistent and, as we have seen recently, often misguided."

On health care, the fiercely debated new law almost surely would have been different -- and would have enjoyed broader support -- if Republican Sen. Charles Grassley had not feared a serious challenge from staunch conservatives in the Iowa GOP primary.

Grassley spent months in 2009 negotiating with Democrats on a bipartisan health bill, putting Obama's plans far behind schedule. In the end, Grassley denounced the Democratic-drafted legislation, helping fuel a long, bitterly divisive debate.

Ralph Neas, head of the liberal National Coalition on Health Care, said there was a real chance for a bipartisan compromise in mid-2009, but it collapsed in August when Grassley met "substantial pressure from the far right in the Iowa Republican Party."

<snip>

GOP intraparty warfare has shaped other policies as well. Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the party's 2008 presidential nominee, has influenced several congressional actions by shifting to the right to combat a primary challenge from former Rep. J.D. Hayworth, an outspoken conservative.

Once a champion of a moderate, bipartisan approach to immigration, McCain now backs the tough new Arizona law. Once among the several Republicans who called for a muscular, bipartisan commission to propose ways to reduce the deficit, McCain and the others withdrew their support this year. Obama was forced to appoint a commission with less clout than a congressionally created panel would have.

In Arizona, the potential threat to Republican Gov. Jan Brewer's re-election bid from her party's right wing was scarcely noted outside her state until she signed the new immigration law.

Brewer initially didn't say whether she would sign the legislation. But she had already angered many conservative voters by pushing a sales tax increase. Republicans planning to contest her for the gubernatorial nomination practically dared her to veto the immigration bill.

"She really did need to sign this immigration bill into law" to save her re-election hopes, said Fred Solop, chairman of political science at Northern Arizona University.

But Brewer's solution to her problem has just passed it back to the White House and Congress, making it harder for the president, lawmakers and the nation's voters to ignore.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2010/05/03/internal_gop_wars_shaping_policies_nationwide/

[OHdem10]

1. The teabaggers have been shaping policy for years. Over the

last decade, how often have you heard a pundit comment,
"THE CONSERVATIVES" will not like this or something to
that effect. Believe me they have not been talking just
about Conservative legislators. Where do you think the
"Center Right Mantra" comes from??? "The CONSERVATIVES"
came out into the open in the form of Tea Partiers.
TeaParty Activists are White, Protest, Above Average
Income and better educated and Male. Effective Activists
have had years of experience below the radar. Naturally
they will do everything to shape policy to their liking.

Where is the Left???

[randr]

2. The Teabaggers are the final nail in the repug coffin

As more and more republican office holders kiss the asses of these loud and obnoxious people they are failing to see that they are neglecting the moderate central part of their party. As Obama's presidency continues to succeed and begins to address the issues that the teabaggers themselves are bringing to the surface, more and more of the moderate, intelligent, and non-racially biased people will see that the country is moving in the right direction.
Politicians like Crist see the writing on the wall.