The Northeastern Firewall

by Stuart Shapiro

For two decades, Democrats bemoaned the GOP dominance of the south.  Well, the natural corollary of this dominance is now bearing fruit as the Democrats are similarly predominant in the northeast (and the Pacific coast).  EJ Dionne points out that the northeastern dominance may save the House for the Democrats:

A Pew Research Center survey released last week underscored stark regional disparities that could shape the outcome. The survey found that while Democrats trail Republicans by three points among all registered voters in the South, they are ahead of the GOP by nine points in the Northeast.…

More Party Of No: Sen. Jim DeMint Says He’ll Block All Legislation He Doesn’t Clear

South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint says he’ll put a hold on all legislation not cleared by his office.

Any senator can place a hold to block legislation – and overcoming that would require the Senate to take time-consuming steps to invoke cloture, which would require 60 votes.

With the Senate slated to adjourn Thursday untiil after the elections, DeMint’s stance could mean trouble for Democrats if the two parties don’t quickly agree on a stopgap spending measure to keep the government operating past Sept. 30. And that could mean the demise of a slew of other stalled and largely non-controversial …

In Lieu Of Poor Republican Fundraising, Corporations And Millionaires Flooding GOP With Money

Outside groups with corporate interests have flooded Republican races in 15 states with $30 million, compared with $5 million from groups supporting Democratic candidates.

The most significant players in the advertising assault on Senate Democratic candidates are the affiliated American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS, launched under the direction of former Bush administration political operative Karl Rove, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Together, the three groups account for about $13 million in ad spending.

…

The GOP is getting additional help from some groups that don’t even weigh in directly in congressional races. Americans for Prosperity, a conservative group started …

ABC Reports Rahm Emanuel Likely To Leave White House this Week

Jake Tapper and Sunlen Miller are reporting that White House officials are preparing for a Friday announcement that Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel is leaving to explore a run for mayor of Chicago.

White House officials expect that President Obama will also name an interim chief of staff, perhaps senior adviser Pete Rouse, at the announcement.

Sources close to Emanuel cautioned that he has yet to pull that last trigger on the decision.

In April, Emanuel told Charlie Rose, “One day I would like to run for mayor of the city of Chicago. … That’s always been an aspiration of …

Mike Pence Wins Race To The Bottom

by Stuart Shapiro

Matt Yglesias savages Indiana Congressman Mike Pence for his seemingly ignorant response to a question on selling health insurance across state lines.   Pence, who was the recent winner of the “Values Voter Straw Poll” and is being increasingly talked about as a potential 2012 presidential contender, claimed not to understand the idea of the “race to the bottom” in the health insurance market.

Yglesias explains:

This is pretty easy to understand. If you regulate something at the state level, but allow it to be sold on a nationwide basis, then sellers will all migrate to the …

Hate Me If You Want To; Love Me If You Can

From: ray
Sent: Tuesday, September 14, 2010 11:07 PM
To: Alan; Bill O’Reilly
Subject: Bill give us a break get rid of colmes

alan is just a cheap shot shameful send him back to the radio

crawley is great alan learn from crawley

Yes, Crawley is so great that maybe you’ll eventually appreciate her enough to get her name right.

From: Marylin 
Sent: Tuesday, September 14, 2010 12:19 AM
To: Alan
Subject: Reading a list of the people who died in service

What is wrong with you? …you show no class and act like a 13 year old.  You like …

On Monday’s Radio Show…

• Former Reagan Budget Director David Stockman tells Alan why he believes we can’t afford to extend Bush’s upper-income tax cuts.

• An empty “Pledge”? Alan questions how John Boehner can expect to solve America’s problems when he’s not ready to discuss solutions.

• If the GOP is the party of values, why is one Republican gubernatorial candidate candidate with a love child given a free pass? Alan examines the hypocrisy.…

Anti Abortion Activist Randall Terry Instructs You How To Hold A Press Conference To Tear The Quran

Publicity-seeker Randall Terry is instructing other publicity-seeking Islam-haters how to set up a press conference to tear the Quran. And you have to do it soon.  After all, The Muslims Are Coming!

“To my fellow Tea Party activists, listen to me: you’re about to see instructions on how to get into real battles, not just in front of our computers, not just blogging, but to go to the public square like Samuel Adams and like other great patriots did,” Terry says in the video.

The video is part of Terry’s campaign for anti-Islam activists to rip passages of the …

Oklahoma GOP Reps Have To Stop Sharia Law In U.S. Because “We Are At War With them”

Oklahoma will have State Question 755 on the November 2 ballot, also known as the “Save Our State” constitutional amendment. If enacted this would prevent Oklahoma courts from making decisions based on Sharia law (via Think Progress).

Rep. Cory Williams (D-OK), who was one of the 12 lawmakers to oppose the measure, said, “If I was a Muslim Oklahoman, I would be offended by my religion being singled out.” Ironically, to defend against such claims, Republican lawmakers insist that the bill protects the courts from being “hijacked” by the people we are “at war” with.

Republican Rex Duncan (right) …

FactCheck.org: GOP “Pledge To America” Wrong On Facts

FactCheck.org looked at the Republican Pledge to America and discovered it doesn’t have its facts straight (h/t Mediaite).

More Signs Of GOP Civil War

by Stuart Shapiro

Republicans are trying to keep a lid on an explosive intra-party battle.  I’ve previously speculated that a failure by the GOP to take over Congress in November will blow the lid away and lead to a battle royale for control of the party.  In the wake of the recent back-and- forth between Lisa Murkowski and Jim DeMint, I wonder whether even a victory will stave off the battle?  First, Murkowski:

Murkowski…suggested that [South Carolina Senator Jim] DeMint – who has repeatedly supported Tea Party-backed candidates over establishment picks this election cycle – may be waging a …