Priebus: Spendthrift or Spigot?

Critic of Steele Drops Bid to Replace Him
Gentry Collins, a former political director of the Republican National Committee who resigned in November after delivering a scathing condemnation of the party’s fund-raising practices, said Sunday that he was withdrawing his candidacy to succeed Michael Steele as chairman of the Republican Party. Mr. Collins announced his decision on Sunday evening in an e-mail to members of the Republican National Committee. He did not offer an Endorsement of any of the five remaining Candidates, who are sc...

RNC sees deep red for 2012 budget
The next chairman of the Republican National Committee will face a money-raising challenge of historic proportions. The unreleased official Budget of the RNC reveals that the Republican Party's national governing body and premier Fundraising apparatus begins the 2011-12 Presidential Election cycle more than $20 million in the hole. "A record for any year in the past 30 years," Maria Cino, a Candidate for the RNC chairmanship and a former deputy transportation secretary, told The Washington Times...

Former Steele Aide Gentry Collins Quits RNC Chairmanship Race
On the eve of Monday's debate for the chairmanship of the Republican National Committee, one of the Candidates has now dropped out: Former RNC political director Gentry Collins who quit his post in November, and publicly attacked Incumbent Chairman Michael Steele in a scathing letter. Collins launched his RNC chair bid shortly afterward, but ultimately garnered the public support of only three committee members so far, out of a pool of 168 voters. In quitting the race, though, Collins did take...

Gentry Collins Quits RNC Race
Yahoo! Buzz The race for chairman of the Republican National Committee narrowed to five Candidates Sunday as the committee’s former political director, Gentry Collins , pulled out. Mr. Collins was national political director until November, when he resigned with a withering attack on Chairman Michael Steele . Mr. Steele is now challenged by four others in his bid for a Second Term. Mr. Collins said in an email Sunday that he believes that any of the other four would be a good choice to lea...

Michael Steele critic exits RNC chairmanship race
Former Republican National Committee political director Gentry Collins dropped out of the race for RNC chairman late Sunday night. He was one of embattled Chairman Michael Steele's biggest critics. He announced his decision in an email to supporters. "It is after much consideration and thought that I announce my withdrawal from the race for chairman of the RNC. I believe that there are several qualified Candidates in the race for chairman, each of whom would do a fine job leading the committee...

Steele critic exits RNC chairman race
Former Republican National Committee political director Gentry Collins dropped out of the race for RNC chairman late Sunday night. He was one of embattled Chairman Michael Steele's biggest critics. He announced his decision in an email to supporters. "It is after much consideration and thought that I announce my withdrawal from the race for chairman of the RNC. I believe that there are several qualified Candidates in the race for chairman, each of whom would do a fine job leading the committee...

The Best Laid Plans...
Get alerts when there is a new article that might interest you. As legend has it, British Prime Minister Harold Macmillian was once asked what he most feared, to which he responded, "Events, dear boy, events." That, essentially, is the point that the enigmatic but always insightful "Karl," who regularly blogs at HotAir's GreenRoom, made in response to my item last week about Hispanics and the supposed "emerging Democratic majority," which has by now become the Godot of political-demographic tren...

RNC faces $20 million debt in 2011
The next chairman of the Republican National Committee will face a money-raising challenge of historic proportions. The unreleased official Budget of the RNC reveals that the Republican party's national governing body and premier fund-raising apparatus begins the 2011-2012 Presidential Election cycle more than $20 million in the hole. "A record for any year in the past 30 years," RNC chairman Candidate and former Deputy U.S. Transportation Secretary Maria Cino told The Washington Times The budge...

Priebus Faces Attacks As Front-Runner
Wisconsin Republican Party chairman Reince Priebus has taken a clear lead in his bid to lead the Republican National Committee, as rivals react by questioning his record and his judgment. Priebus has scored 27 public Endorsements so far, nearly a third of the 85 votes he would need to win the chairmanship outright. That easily outpaces his three nearest rivals, Incumbent chairman Michael Steele (15), former Michigan Party chairman Saul Anuzis (11) and former Ambassador Ann Wagner (11). Now, RNC ...

Contracts Draw Fire Over Ties to Christie
Source: Wall Street Journal Contracts Draw Fire Over Ties to Christie By LISA FLEISHER New Jersey Democrats demanded Thursday the state cancel hundreds of millions of dollars in state contracts to companies that donated to a pro-Gov. Chris Christie Advocacy Group. The group, called Reform Jersey Now, said Wednesday it raised about $624,000 to push several of Mr. Christie's top priorities through advertising, direct mail and recorded calls. ........................................................

The right to own a weapon protects our freedom
Add up all the hunters in just a handful of states, and come to a striking conclusion, that the Second Amendment is alive and well. The purpose of our right to Bear Arms is to protect us from the Government. When Government tries to take our guns they take our protection and make themselves have superiority. Every dictator took the guns as one of the first measures of Tyranny. We need to defend the second amendment. Never give up our right to bear arms. The state of Wisconsin has gone an entire ...

Terry Moulton headlines Republican return to majority
"I think my main priority is going to be an attempt to try and turn the business climate around in the state," Moulton said to me during a reception for Bernier's in-district Oath of Office on January 30th. "We need to create a tax climate and a regulatory climate that is conducive to keeping businesses here and attracting businesses into our state and I think that's going to be the Governor's goal and that's my goal - to straighten out our economy and to get rid of this anti-business climate th...

Collins Drops Out Of RNC Race
Former Republican National Committee political director Gentry Collins will end his bid to become the next chairman of the party, he said late Sunday night. Collins, who resigned from his position in November with a letter offering a scathing commentary on Incumbent chairman Michael Steele's leadership, said he has entered the race to provide an alternative to Steele's leadership. But the entry of other qualified Candidates helped Collins toward an exit. Collins' candidacy itself was seen as a p...

Exit Collins
The first of Michael Steele's challengers, and one who did him quite a bit of damage, just dropped out. Gentry Collins offered no clear reason, but his bid hadn't taken off, hampered in part by the ill will left by his public Resignation from the RNC. In an email, he had warm words for all four of Steele's other challengers, and took credit for Steele's weakness:

2011 - The year of Catch-22
Over this same time frame, the Real GDP of the U.S. has increased approximately $350 billion, and is still below the level reached in the 4th Quarter of 2007. U.S. politicians and Ben Bernanke spent almost $1.8 Trillion, or 13% of GDP, in one year to create a miniscule 2.7% increase in GDP. This is reported as a recovery by the mainstream Corporate Media mouthpieces. On September 18, 2008 the American Financial System came within hours of a total meltdown, caused by Wall Street mega-banks and ...

Lindsey Graham Threatens US Default Unless Social Security Cut
Shorter Lindsey Graham : “This is a stickup. Gimme your granny’s purse and her Medicare card, or I’ll blow up Wall Street.” Via the good folks at Crooks and Liars, Lindsey Graham said on today’s Meet the Press that Congress shouldn’t vote to raise the Debt ceiling unless it gets cuts in Medicare and Social Security. GREGORY: Let me break a few of those things down because it’s important, the level of detail. Let me start with this. You talk about the b...

State Parks Crumbling Amid Recession
Chris Blank of the AP writes about maintenance delays at State Parks due to lack of funds: At State Parks across the nation, this is the toll of the deepening Budget Crisis and years of financial neglect: crumbling roads, faltering roofs, deteriorating restrooms. Electrical and sewer systems are beginning to give out, too, as are scores of park buildings, some of them built by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression. In a few places, aging bridges have been detoured and tun...

WALL STREET JOURNAL: The Liberal Reckoning of 2010: The year voters saw the lefts unvarnished age
Wall Street Journal: The Liberal Reckoning of 2010: The year voters saw the left’s unvarnished agenda and said no. “Never has a Congress done so much and been so despised for it.” Hey, 13% of Americans still approve. ...

The occasionally relevant metric
THE OCCASIONALLY RELEVANT METRIC.... For about the first two months after President Obama was inaugurated, the economic crisis was extremely severe. Growth was in a tailspin; the country was hemorrhaging jobs; and Wall Street indexes were dropping sharply. On that last point, Republicans thought they'd found a compelling talking point. By the spring of 2009, a variety of Conservatives said declines in major indexes were necessarily evidence that the White House's economic policies were a mess,...

So Many Children, So Many Pills, So Much Profit
This article in the Pharmaceutical Daily (also known as the Wall Street Journal) turned some pill bottles last week: “So Young and So Many Pills: More than 25% of kids and teens in the U.S. take prescriptions on a regular basis.” Frightening and pathetic, but hardly news. I almost never see TV commercials except for when I am at the gym. And I note there is a consistent airing of gay-happy-overjoyed-energetic-lovely people twirling their dance partner, skipping along the beach,

Kaine to stay on as Democratic National Committee Chairman
UPDATED: Del. Gear resigns from House of Delegates on eve of 2011 session EPA accepts Va. Chesapeake Bay plan as agency lays out clean-up roadmap James P. Moran Jr. What Is Right for Virginia? Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine said Sunday that he plans to stay at the helm of the national party another two years because that's where President Obama wants him to serve. "My agreement with the president is I was going to do what he wants me to do," Kaine said on CNN's "State of the Un...

Collins drops RNC bid
Former Republican National Committee political director Gentry Collins dropped his bid to become chairman of the RNC Sunday night, explaining in an interview that members of the committee preferred to have one of their own lead the party. Collins won the support of only three members of the 168-member committee and it was clear that he faced long odds heading into the final weeks before the party holds its vote for chairman. Continue Reading Text Size - + reset Politico 44 The Iowa native r...

Guest Post: 2011 - The Year Of Catch 22
2011 - The Year Of Catch 22 As I began to think about what might happen in 2011, the classic Joseph Heller novel Catch 22 kept entering my mind. Am I sane for thinking such a thing, or am I so insane that asking this question proves that I’m too rational to even think such a thing? In the novel, the “Catch 22″ is that “anyone who wants to get out of combat duty isn’t really crazy”. Hence, pilots who request a fitness evaluation are sane, and therefore must f...

Updating The RNC Chairman's Race Whip Count
Nearly half the voting members of Republican National Committee have declared their support for one of the six contenders seeking the chairmanship, and with just over two weeks to go the race has a clear front-runner, Wisconsin Republican Party chairman Reince Priebus. Still, Priebus has about a third of the 85 votes he would need to win, meaning any of the contenders have a path to victory. Expect several more members to make public their commitments after a public forum featuring all six candi...

Debt ceiling quickly emerges as number one issue in early 2011 (Video)
In approximately three months the United States government will default on its Debt obligations if the Congress does nothing.  Currently the Debt Limit is set at $14.294 Trillion.  The federal Debt is currently at $13.871 trillion and rising by about four billion each day.  Only Congress can authorize a Debt ceiling increase.  As a testy exchange between elected Democrats and Republicans on "Face the Nation" illustrated, the fight over the Debt ceiling is already dominated th...