House Republicans agree to meet with random person

[ProSense]

House Republicans agree to meet with random person

blue aardvark

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First Read

The House GOP would probably get a lot closer to possessing a clue if they picked a random citizen each month and let them talk to them for an hour.

Who decided that a 13 year old - that is the age when Grover conceived his "no taxes" pledge - should have the ear of an entire political party?

A GOP aide close to the "Theme Team" tells NBC News that Norquist is invited to speak to them once a year. He will be on hand this week to talk about tax policy and the best way to message it etc.

A "random person" speaks to the Theme Team once a year? On a not-very-random topic.

The Republican Party needs to choose between loyalty to Grover Norquist, and to America. Oh, and not that it really needs repeating, but John Boehner is a liar.

Daily Kos: Fissures in the Republicans' anti-tax dam might be opening

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More evidence of that fracturing is in a nugget from a New York Times story ferreted out by Greg Sargent, indicating that two Republican senators, Susan Collins (ME) and Pat Roberts (KS), would be open to the idea of some tax increases on the very wealthy. Greg:

Let’s not overstate this. There’s no chance that a significant number of Republicans will drop their opposition to the surtax. But the fact that these Senators are looking for ways around their party’s lockstep opposition to high end tax hikes could signal which way public opinion is heading. Note that Collins is adopting the Dem framing of the issue, acknowledging that not extending the payroll tax cut would constitute a tax hike on working people that would be harmful to the recovery.

You also can't trust Susan Collins to do the right thing on a regular basis. We've certainly heard reasonable statements from her in the past only to see her vote in lockstep with leadership. But if there is going to be a crack in the Republicans' tax dam, it will likely start with her.

But more important, this is a reflection of the reality that being so consistently and so blatantly on the side of the 1 percent is a growing problem for Republicans. A year ago, Democrats capitulated on extending the Bush tax cuts in order to get some help for the middle class—an extension of unemployment benefits. This year, largely thanks to Occupy forcing the nation to focus on income inequality, the calculus has changed entirely. Now, as Greg says, when Democrats force the stark choice on Republicans between protecting wealthy constituents versus "a huge number of their working constituents," they've got a lot more leverage. Now they need to keep using it.

"Random person" to the rescue!

[FSogol]

1. Republican Speaker, John Boehner is a liar is an oxymoron.

Or should that be oxymoran?

[louis-t]

2. Repugs should be asked every day:

"Who is more important to you, Grover Norquist or thw American public?"