fantapolitica
humorous look at Italian politics (bilingual)Monday, March 14, 2011
Wisconsin continues to outdo Italy in fantapolitica.
The Republican Majority of the Wisconsin Senate has deprived the Democratic Senators of their votes. Can they do that ?
Politico outdoes itself
Jonathan Chait quotes and gently criticizes. Edited down his post is much less diplomatic.
Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen argue that the Tea Party redefined the purpose of the GOP as opposition to spending:The Republican Party is undergoing a messy but unmistakable 20-month transformation from fanatically anti-Obama to fanatically anti-spending ...
[skip]
Here's is the one part of the article proposing a defined policy change:Even Ralph Reed, the Republican operative most tapped in to evangelicals, reflected the new GOP mindset when he gave this surprising wish list for the next presidential race: “In a perfect world, I’d like to hear the Republican nominee run on a platform that takes the capital gains tax to zero over five years.” ...
So an article putatively about the GOP redefining itself as an anti-spending party has one actual programmatic detail, and it's: a zeroing out of the capital gains tax. In the name of appealing to swing voters -- who, in fact, oppose tax cuts for the rich. Meet the new boss...
I think that Allen and VandeHei really don't care about the difference between cutting taxes and cutting spending. Politico is influential, but, what's worse, they used to be presented as reporters by the Washington Post. Clearly any interest in actual policy is considered liberal bias over there.
I can't top this. Also I'm pleased that my native country is following in the glorious political tradition of my country of residence (although 25 is a bit old by Papi's standards).
Jim Newell reports
Wisconsin Senator’s Wife, Maid Support His Recall
Jim Newell — Wisconsin State Sen. Randy Hopper, a close Republican ally of Gov. Scott Walker, is among the eight senators that activists will try to recall for supporting the infamous "budget repair bill" to weaken public sector unions. So this weekend, some protesters marched to his house — yikes! — to have a chat. But his wife answered the door and told the protesters that Hopper lives with his 25-year-old girlfriend now, and a divorce is underway.
Not surprisingly, his wife said she would join Team Recall and sign the petition. The (ex-)family's maid, apparently, had already signed it.
