Republicans Said President Obama Would Raise Taxes Sky High
It never happened. Income taxes for over 95% of Americans remained the same or lower than they were before Obama was elected. The only people whose income taxes increased were those who make more than $400,000 per year, and their taxes rose only 3%. For most Americans, taxes are still lower now than they were under Reagan.
Republicans Said President Obama Would Be Terrible For The Economy
Although he inherited the worst economy since the Great Depression, President Obama presided over the longest continuous period of uninterrupted job growth in American history. More jobs were created under President Obama than under both Bush Presidents combined. The stock market repeatedly set new records during Obamas presidency.
Obama inherited a much worse recession than the one Ronald Reagan dealt with, yet Obama ended that recession in less than half the time it took Reagan. During his eight years in office, our economy had a net increase of 11 million new jobs despite the loss of more than 4 million jobs during Obamas first year when he was trying to pull us out of the Bush Recession. Despite Republican attempts to stop all progress, President Obama oversaw the greatest economic turnaround in over 75 years without any help from Republicans.
This chart shows the unemployment rate through 2013 and 2014 based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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Former Republican Voter After Capitol Riot: ‘i Want No Association With This Party Anymore’
Like so many Republicans, Im sick and tired of talking about saving a party that shows few signs of wanting redemption, which makes it increasingly hard to hold on to the tattered remnants of a once-proud party. Indeed, since the insurrection more than 30,000 Republican voters have dropped their affiliation with the GOP, with many echoing the words of former Secretary of State Colin Powell, I can no longer call myself a fellow Republican.
Despite my own pessimisms about the Grand Old Party, I believe its salvation can still be found in our guiding principles, which do not include putting kids in cages, spewing lies and conspiracies and fermenting deadly insurrections. For those Republicans who remain behind, its time to refocus on what it means to be a Republican. While former President Donald Trump spent four years trying to reshape as much of the Republican Party into his image as possible and, failing that, setting the rest on fire, I agree with Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., who said, There is a real split for the future of the party, and that epic battle has commenced. Bring it on!
My fellow Republicans must stop playing stupid.
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The Real And Far Scarier Reason Republicans Think Biden Is Illegitimate
Many conservatives dont think the 2020 election was stolen. But they believe democracy itself has betrayed America, by allowing the wrong people to take charge
regardlessregardless
Earlier this month, Team Trump claimed in court that their efforts to nullify Joe Bidens victory could not possibly have been fraudulent or be described as a criminal conspiracy, because those in and around the White House had merely been acting on the basis of sincerely held suspicions.
This sparked the latest round in the never-ending debate over whether or not Republicans actually believe that the election was stolen from them. Politically, it is important to push back against the opportunistic ways in which Republicans up and down the country have been using the big lie. But if we are trying to understand what is animating the rights rapidly accelerating radicalization against democracy, binary assumptions of Republicans as either true believers or power-hungry cynics are not very helpful and actually obscure more than they illuminate. In some fundamental way, Republicans are both. What we really need to grapple with is why so many Republicans are convinced the outcome of the election was illegitimate regardless of whether or not there were specific procedural irregularities.
Americans Not Only Divided But Baffled By What Motivates Their Opponents
By Eric Plutzer and Michael Berkman
As it became clear that Democrats would win control of the U.S. House of Representatives, pundits immediately began explaining the Blue Wave. Some said it was rooted in concerns that President Trump was leading the nation into dangerous territory others pointed to alarm about health care, or compassion for citizens of color and refugees. But Republican voters were having none of this, according to a recent Penn State Mood of the Nation Poll.
The nationally representative poll of 1,000 citizens included 307 voters who cast votes for Republican Congressional candidates in the midterm elections. We asked them, In your opinion, how many citizens voting for the Democrats did so because they sincerely believe that the Democratic party is best for the country?
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Former Republican Voter After Capitol Riot: I Want No Association With This Party Anymore
Like so many Republicans, Im sick and tired of talking about saving a party that shows few signs of wanting redemption, which makes it increasingly hard to hold on to the tattered remnants of a once-proud party. Indeed, since the insurrection more than 30,000 Republican voters have dropped their affiliation with the GOP, with many echoing the words of former Secretary of State Colin Powell, I can no longer call myself a fellow Republican.
Despite my own pessimisms about the Grand Old Party, I believe its salvation can still be found in our guiding principles, which do not include putting kids in cages, spewing lies and conspiracies and fermenting deadly insurrections. For those Republicans who remain behind, its time to refocus on what it means to be a Republican. While former President Donald Trump spent four years trying to reshape as much of the Republican Party into his image as possible and, failing that, setting the rest on fire, I agree with Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., who said, There is a real split for the future of the party, and that epic battle has commenced. Bring it on!
My fellow Republicans must stop playing stupid.
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Republicans Said That If President Obama Was Reelected The Price Of Gasoline Would Rise To $545 A Gallon By January 2015
In fact, Senator Mike Lee of Utah said if Obama was reelected, the price of gas would reach $6.60 a gallon. Newt Gingrich, who was running for president in 2012, said Obamas energy policies, EPA regulations, and failure to approve the XL pipeline would result in $10.00 a gallon gasoline.
Of course, these predictions were laughably wrong. Instead of $5.45 per gallon or $10.00 per gallon, the price of gas in January 2015, was $1.89, less than half of the all-time high of $4.15 a gallon under President Bush.
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Winning Votes Is Better Than Suppressing Them
In 2020, many of the precincts with the most immigrants moved most strongly to Trump. In Chicago, the precincts with the most people of Mexican descent delivered 45 percent more votes to Trump in 2020 than in 2016. Yet these Republican-leaning new voters figure high among those most negatively affected by Republican-sponsored voter suppression.
State-level Republican officials have sought to reduce the number of early-voting days. They hope that by cramming more voting into Election Day itself, they can lengthen voting queues and discourage minority voters. Almost everywhere in the country, minorities must wait longer to vote than whites urban and suburban voters must wait longer than rural voters.
So its natural to assume that by further extending the lines on Election Day, Republicans can gain an even greater advantage.
Natural, but wrong.
Texas is notorious for the waiting time at some of its polling sites, where lines can stretch for hours. Latino voters in urban areas, such as Greater Houstons Harris County, have faced some of the longest waits. Harris County is 44 percent Latino, and those voters rallied to the Republican party in 2020. Of Harriss 299 majority-Hispanic precincts, more than 90 percent moved toward Trump between 2016 and 2020, some precincts by more than 30 points.
Democrats Think Many Republicans Sincere And Point To Policy
Democrats, however, were somewhat more generous in their answers. More than four in ten Democratic voters felt that most Republican voters had the countrys best interests at heart . And many tried their best to answer from the others perspective. A 45-year-old male voter from Ohio imagined that as a Republican, he was motivated by Republicans harsh stance on immigration standing up for the 2nd Amendment promised tax cuts. A 30-year-old woman from Colorado felt that Republican votes reflected the desires to stop abortion stop gay marriage from ruining our country and give us our coal jobs back.
Other Democrats felt that their opponents were mostly motivated by the GOPs opposition to Obamacare, lower taxes and to support a party that reduced unemployment.
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At This Point All We Can Do Is Vote With Our Feet
Some have left the party and registered as independents. That approach is principled, but given the current structure of our elections, makes it increasingly difficult for these sane voices to have any real influence.
Some have left and joined the Democratic Party. That is all well and good, if you feel a connection to the ideals of policies of that party, or feel that its leadership reflects your values. But weve seen what happens when the left holds political power unchecked. This country works best with a diversity of views.
Some are talking about new parties, like the Serve America Movement, and about reforming our primaries that entrench polarization. I truly hope they get traction, and we can move beyond a hyperpolarized two-party system.
In the meantime, Im leaving the Republican Party. I had hope back in February that we could correct course. Especially after Jan. 6, a return to sanity seemed necessary, maybe inevitable. But after months of meeting with folks on the ground, watching the news and seeing the 2022 GOP primaries unfold, Im less optimistic.
One of the few remaining tools to influence the Republican Party is to sever ties. So I urge remaining Republicans who stand for truth and democracy to vote with their feet, and leave.
Robert Gonzalez is a lawyer and tech executive living in Tucson. Reach him at [email protected] on Twitter: @robertgon33.
Republicans Are Making 4 Key Mistakes
Misperceptions and rage are blinding Republicansand their voter-suppression measures may backfire.
About the author: David Frum is a staff writer at The Atlantic.
Its not only Georgia.
In every state where Republicans control a chamber of the legislature, bills to restrict voting are advancing fast. Arizona and Texas Republicans have acted especially aggressively to choke off unwanted voters in time for 2022.
Arizona Republicans propose to reduce the number of days for early voting. They want to purge voter rolls of people who missed the previous election. They want to cut off mail-in balloting five days before Election Day. And they want to require that affidavits of identity accompany any ballot that is mailed in.
Texas Republicans are pushing a bill to limit early voting, prohibit drive-through voting, limit the number of ballot drop-off locations, and restrict local officials ability to publicize voting by mail.
Arizona and Texas have the most at stake both of these formerly solid Red states are now suddenly competitive. But in other states, too, Republicans are reacting to defeats in 2018 and 2020 by attempting to reshape the future electorate to their partisan advantage.
Leave aside, for the moment, the clamor about whether these laws are fair or democratic. Lets look at them instead from the point of view of practical politicians. Will they deliver the intended results?
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About The Republican Accountability Pac
The Republican Accountability PAC is run by Republicans, former Republicans, and conservatives who are fighting back against Donald Trumpâs takeover of the GOP. We stand against any candidate who downplays the January 6 insurrection, lies about the 2020 election, or threatens our democracy.
RAPAC wants to elect responsible people who are not going to tell lies, spread conspiracy theories, or undermine our institutions. We will seek to hold todayâs GOP accountable and defeat candidates at all levels of government that choose loyalty to Trump over their duty to the country.
Republican Accountability PAC
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Republicans Confront Unexpected Online Money Slowdown
In an otherwise favorable political climate, small-dollar donations have dropped for Republicans, making the party more reliant on megadonors to compete.
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This article is part of ourMidterms 2022 Daily Briefing
Online fund-raising has slowed across much of the Republican Party in recent months, an unusual pullback of small donors that has set off a mad rush among Republican political operatives to understand why and reverse the sudden decline before it damages the partys chances this fall.
Small-dollar donations typically increase as an election nears. But just the opposite has happened in recent months across a wide range of Republican entities, including every major party committee and former President Donald J. Trumps political operation.
The total amount donated online fell by more than 12 percent across all federal Republican campaigns and committees in the second quarter compared with the first quarter, according to an analysis of federal records from WinRed, the main online Republican donation-processing portal.
More alarming for Republicans: Democratic contributions surged at the same time. Total federal donations on ActBlue, the Democratic counterpart, jumped by more than 21 percent.
Those Who Tell The Truth Are Ousted
In Washington, D.C., we witnessed House Republicans push out Rep. Liz Cheney from her position of leadership solely for telling the truth that there was no credible evidence of fraud in the 2020 election, and that the terrorist attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6 should be investigated by Congress.
More recently, Rep. Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio, a rising GOP star in any other era, was forced to announce his retirement, fearing for the safety of his family.
While I still hope for a reasonable, sane, principled Republican Party, Im no longer hopeful that it can be achieved by working within. Im not optimistic for the reelection prospects for folks like Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, or for the prospects of those in Republican primaries who do not embrace the Big Lie.
And even if they win, their ability to do good remains severely constricted by the vast majority of Republicans in D.C. who embrace lies.
So where do we go from here?
Im not sure.
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Republicans Claim That Raising The Minimum Wage Would Kill Jobs And Hurt The Economy
There is far more evidence to the contrary. Cities and states that have higher minimum wages tend to have better rates of job creation and economic growth.
Detailed analyses show that job losses due to increases in the minimum wage are almost negligible compared to the economic benefits of higher wages. Previous increases in the minimum wage have never resulted in the dire consequences that Republicans have predicted.
Republicans have accused President Obama of cutting defense spending to the bone. This chart of 2014 discretionary spending firmly disproves that argument.
Senate Intergovernmental Operations Committee Plans First Public Hearing Of Election Investigation
The Senate Intergovernmental Operations Committee plans to hold the first public hearing of its investigation into the 2020 General Election and the 2021 Primary Election on Thursday, September 9, at the Capitol Building in Harrisburg, according to Committee Chairman Senator Cris Dush .
The Senate Intergovernmental Operations Committee has created a special webpage for Pennsylvania residents to submit sworn testimony regarding problems they have personally experienced with the states election system, according to Committee Chair Senator Cris Dush .
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What Joe Biden Got Dead Wrong About Republicans
Analysis by Chris Cillizza, CNN Editor-at-large
One of Joe Biden’s core beliefs during, and even after, the 2020 presidential election was that Republicans, on the whole, weren’t half bad.
The Point: Biden thought that the Trump wing of the Republican Party would wither after the 2020 election. Instead, the Trump wing has become the Republican Party.
Senate Republicans Use Filibuster To Kill Jan 6 Commission
Only six Republicans joined Democrats in a procedural vote.
Senate Republicans block Capitol riots commission
In a remarkable political moment, Republicans on Friday blocked the Senate from moving forward on a bill that would establish a bipartisan, independent commission to investigate the Jan. 6 assault by Trump supporters on the U.S. Capitol.
Six Republicans joined Democrats in the 54-35 vote, but that fell six votes short of the 60 needed to start debate on establishing a commission which then, normally, would require only a simple majority to pass in a final vote.
Out of fear or fealty to Donald Trump, the Republican minority just prevented the American people from getting the full truth about January 6, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said right after the vote.
Senate Republicans chose to defend the big lie because they believe anything that might upset Donald Trump could hurt them politically, he said.
The Senate leader reminded GOP senators they all lived the horrors of January 6.
I was no further than 30 feet from those white supremacist hooligans. Do my Republican colleagues remember that day?
Do my Republican colleagues remember the savage mob calling for the execution of Mike Pence the makeshift gallows outside the Capitol? Men with bulletproof vests and zip ties, breaking into the Senate gallery and rifling through your desks. Police officers crushed between doorways? he said.
Not so today, he concluded.
No Republican spoke.
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