My favorite quote from the old comic strip Calvin and Hoobes reads, "the surest sign that there is intelligent life in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us."
I would suspect that leading oldschool GOPers are as yet unwilling to throw the TP under the bus. So long as their behavior doesn't cost them a majority I imagine they will still be seen as useful. A Kissinger Republican is nothing if not pragmatic.
The unfortunate answer is, indefinitely. And because of our system of regularly scheduled elections - coupled with our notoriously short memories - obstructionism is fairly easy to get away with. All you really have to do is keeping enough distance between your action and the next election and you can generally minimize the fallout. Of course, this is a new kind of obstructionism. The last time the GOP acted like this they were in the minority. It remains to be seen how voters will react to the majority party acting this irrationally.
On the contrary, Obama's "performance," probably counts for very little. In the state/business relationship access is advantage. Businesses that "invest" in a political contest are going to back the horse that is most likely to win. For all his faults and political failings, there is very little evidence that the Republicans have anyone in the race that could beat Obama. The President's lead in fundraising is probably more reflective of the GOPs lackluster field than it is a measure of how corrupt his policies are.
I think the comparison is not entirely inappropriate. Both groups were willing to use "counterconstitutional" means to achieve their ends. Its just the ends that differ. Tea Partiers, rather than being secessionists want to destroy the federal government's ability to govern in order to return power to the states. Allowing the government to default on its debt really isn't a threat to them as it would only expedite what they're after. Ruining the economy is just fine as long as it ruins the federal government too.
My favorite quote from the old comic strip Calvin and Hoobes reads, "the surest sign that there is intelligent life in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us."
I would suspect that leading oldschool GOPers are as yet unwilling to throw the TP under the bus. So long as their behavior doesn't cost them a majority I imagine they will still be seen as useful. A Kissinger Republican is nothing if not pragmatic.
The unfortunate answer is, indefinitely. And because of our system of regularly scheduled elections - coupled with our notoriously short memories - obstructionism is fairly easy to get away with. All you really have to do is keeping enough distance between your action and the next election and you can generally minimize the fallout. Of course, this is a new kind of obstructionism. The last time the GOP acted like this they were in the minority. It remains to be seen how voters will react to the majority party acting this irrationally.
Fortunately for them they never had to suffer through Milton Friedman.
On the contrary, Obama's "performance," probably counts for very little. In the state/business relationship access is advantage. Businesses that "invest" in a political contest are going to back the horse that is most likely to win. For all his faults and political failings, there is very little evidence that the Republicans have anyone in the race that could beat Obama. The President's lead in fundraising is probably more reflective of the GOPs lackluster field than it is a measure of how corrupt his policies are.
I think the comparison is not entirely inappropriate. Both groups were willing to use "counterconstitutional" means to achieve their ends. Its just the ends that differ. Tea Partiers, rather than being secessionists want to destroy the federal government's ability to govern in order to return power to the states. Allowing the government to default on its debt really isn't a threat to them as it would only expedite what they're after. Ruining the economy is just fine as long as it ruins the federal government too.
While I agree that a carbon tax is a better idea, I can certainly think of several ideas that are worse than cap and trade.