Robert Draper's Book: GOP's Anti-Obama Campaign Began The Night Of The Inauguration.
luvguins
2012/04/26 20:04:37
From where we have arrived now, some of us thought we knew when the GOP was being transparent about their campaign to sabotage the president when Mitch McConnell said their plan was to "make Obama a one term president" in October, 2010. However, we were way behind the GOP's nefarious plans according to Robert Draper's new book, "Do Not Ask What We Good We Do: Inside the House of Representatives". Draper, a contributor to GQ and the NY times, imbedded himself with House members in 2011 including the key players, and was surprised how forthcoming and candid they were about their mission and it's beginning.
As President Barack Obama was celebrating his inauguration at various balls, top Republican lawmakers and strategists were conjuring up ways to submarine his presidency at a private dinner in Washington.
The event -- which provides a telling revelation for how quickly the post-election climate soured -- serves as the prologue of Robert Draper's much-discussed and heavily-reported new book, "Do Not Ask What Good We Do: Inside the U.S. House of Representatives."
According to Draper, the guest list that night (which was just over 15 people in total) included Republican Reps. Eric Cantor (Va.), Kevin McCarthy (Calif.), Paul Ryan (Wis.), Pete Sessions (Texas), Jeb Hensarling (Texas), Pete Hoekstra (Mich.) and Dan Lungren (Calif.), along with Republican Sens. Jim DeMint (S.C.), Jon Kyl (Ariz.), Tom Coburn (Okla.), John Ensign (Nev.) and Bob Corker (Tenn.). The non-lawmakers present included Newt Gingrich, several years removed from his presidential campaign, and Frank Luntz, the long-time Republican wordsmith. Notably absent were Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) -- who, Draper writes, had an acrimonious relationship with Luntz.
For several hours in the Caucus Room (a high-end D.C. establishment), the book says they plotted out ways to not just win back political power, but to also put the brakes on Obama's legislative platform.
"If you act like you're the minority, you're going to stay in the minority," Draper quotes McCarthy as saying. "We've gotta challenge them on every single bill and challenge them on every single campaign."
The conversation got only more specific from there, Draper reports. Kyl suggested going after incoming Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner for failing to pay Social Security and Medicare taxes while at the International Monetary Fund. Gingrich noted that House Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) had a similar tax problem. McCarthy chimed in to declare "there's a web" before arguing that Republicans could put pressure on any Democrat who accepted campaign money from Rangel to give it back.
The dinner lasted nearly four hours. They parted company almost giddily. The Republicans had agreed on a way forward:
Go after Geithner. (And indeed Kyl did, the next day: ‘Would you answer my question rather than dancing around it—please?’)
Show united and unyielding opposition to the president’s economic policies. (Eight days later, Minority Whip Cantor would hold the House Republicans to a unanimous No against Obama’s economic stimulus plan.)
Begin attacking vulnerable Democrats on the airwaves. (The first National Republican Congressional Committee attack ads would run in less than two months.)Win the spear point of the House in 2010. Jab Obama relentlessly in 2011. Win the White House and the Senate in 2012.
"You will remember this day," Draper reports Newt Gingrich as saying on the way out. "You’ll remember this as the day the seeds of 2012 were sown."
Read More: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/25/robert-dr...
Top Opinion
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+46The "hate" machine against this President has been the worst I have ever seen. And yet he still stands tall and will win in 2012. From the likes of drug addled Rush and Nugent they just can not stop him. These GOP candidates will loose too.
Ergo, liberal = empty minded.
Put that in your bong and smoke it. ;)
I have zero tolerance for vacuious and willfully ignorant ppl who spew misinformation.
in that, I admit my weakness.
trust but verify -- Ronald Regan
and whenever I try to verify a RWNJ media story, it always goes in a circle or a spiral and ends up at the doorstep of some think tank or spokes hole like Carl Rove.
at least when i verify what i hear on the progressive radio or Current TV or MSNBC, i can trace back to facts that are substantiated... and not tinfoil crap.
but to each his own... who am i to deny anyone their illusions?
Just don't bring them to me and expect me to follow you into madness.
Ah, I see. So basically you're saying liberals are intolerant of intolerance? That's an interesting intellectual pretzel you've twisted yourself into, isn't it? LOL!
but i would rather tackle that, then try to justify profiting off of peoples misery such as conservatives advocate in our health care and prison systems.
its just less soul sucking.
Wilson showed a disrespect that hasn't been evident in politics for a century or more. The statement Obama was making proved to be true.The health care legislation that was finally passed and signed by President Obama on Mar. 23, 2010, "The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act” (HR 3590), explicitly denies any coverage or benefits to undocumented immigrants.
Earlier in that same address the Republicans openly laughed at what the president was saying.
Well, that's obviously just your opinion, not an objective fact. But you know what actually IS an object fact? That Reagan had Alzheimer's. Say, do you know what one of the major symptoms of Alzheimer's is? Yes, that's right: difficulty recalling things.
"The statement Obama was making proved to be true."
It most certainly did not. The House version of Obamacare did, in fact, explicitly bar illegal immigrants from obtaining coverage under the bill; but that's not the version that Obama ended up signing. The version Obama signed was the Senate version that was rammed through by misusing the budget reconciliation provision, and it did not contain that language about illegal immigrants. Interestingly, the Senate version also lacked the severability clause that the House version contained -- which could back to haunt the Democrats if the Supreme Court ends up ruling that the individual mandate is unconstitutional and must therefore strike down the entire law.
Didn't you read this or are you just pretending it doesn't exist ****
The health care legislation that was finally passed and signed by President Obama on Mar. 23, 2010, "The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act” (HR 3590), explicitly denies any coverage or benefits to undocumented immigrants.
Look up HR 3590 and you will find the statement Obama made was true and Joe Wilson was out of line
Introduced
Sep 17, 2009
Passed House
Oct 2009
Passed Senate
Mar 21, 2010
Signed by the President
Mar 23, 2010
Who is the Republican nominee for vice president????
Was Rathergate worse and more relentless than the birthers???
The previous republican vice-presidential nominee. You knew that, but whatever.
Whether you are a birther or not, there is no denying the document provided is a fraud. Obama has made it an issue by keeping his life under wraps except for a couple of autobiographical books. They, by the way, do not bolster his case.
9-11 and he was lucky enough to be left a good economy and a budget surplus from the previous administration. Once the US citizens started to feel the effect of his policies his support eroded.
A birther huh? Your birth certificate is a fraud. Prove it isn't if everyone involved in signing it and delivering you is dead. Romney was born in Mexico and neither of his parents were US citizens. I want to see their birth certificates so I can say they are fraudulant. See, I can do it too.
Everybody can make claims and a lot of them are just looking for any reason possible to discredit the president. See you are still pushing the birther thing 4 yrs later. Rathergate started and finished relatively quick.