Moderate Republicans Are Revolting

Tax hikes and immigration reform on the table, triggering a 'GOP civil war'

Obama's victory and GOP Senate losses have fired up moderate Republicans - and inspired some previously doctrinaire Republicans like John Boehner into a newfound embrace of compromise.

"We have nobody to blame but ourselves when it comes to losing Hispanics," said Sen. Lindsay Graham this weekend, promising to work on a bipartisan immigration bill. "I intend to tear this wall down and pass an immigration reform bill that's an American solution to an American problem."

Immigration reform should be on the table, adds John Boehner - as part of a buffet of compromises that may include raising tax revenues and giving up on Obamacare's repeal.

"It won't kill the country if we raise taxes a little bit on millionaires. It really won't, I don't think," said William Kristol, taking a less-than-conservative stance to fiscal cliff negotiations, which was echoed by GOP Sen. Saxby Chambliss.

This wave of moderation could spell civil war with conservatives the Republican party. Tea Party knives are already out for Boehner, with hundreds of Twitterers calling for his ouster as House Speaker.

Would you be happy to see moderate Republicans have more say in the GOP?

[Real4WheelDrv]

I wanna say it first...they sure are!!!! Muahaha the obvious joke has been stolen! Your thunder is mine! Well except for Thunderchicken, ya just can't fight tasty poultry.

[Real4WheelDrv]

Incidentally thunder are you a mac and cheese fan? I've got a tasty recipe from a cookbook I tried with my gf a few days ago that I can give you.

[Thunderchicken]

@Real4WheelDrv

Thank you. I enjoy cooking and have been thinking about coming up with one.(I need to do a spaghetti sauce too.) I'll shoot you my alias address after I look it up.(I use it so little I forgot it again.) If you wish, I'll reciprocate with a white chile that has never failed to draw compliments.

[Denizen_Kate]

@Thunderchicken - Mmm ... Men in the kitchen ... as I told my son once, no woman has ever shot a man while he was cooking or cleaning. What time is dinner? ;-)

[Thunderchicken]

@Denizen_Kate

I cook in self defense. My wife took after her mom. ;-)

[Real4WheelDrv]

@Thunderchicken Sounds good, also if you have any good brown rice or bean recipes send em over. Trying to get cholesterol down.

[Kptpredsfan]

Ive said for years that Sen. Graham is one of the smartest people in the Senate today! That is EXACTLY the type of people that the GOP needs to come to the front. Hopefully his own state party won't hang him out to dry again.

[fact-check]

Please show me Senator Graham's ACT/SAT scores and cumulative grade average from the state college he attended, or else I'll never be able to believe he "is one of the smartest people in the Senate today."

There are four currently serving Senators with Doctoral Degrees, 19 with Master's Degrees, and 3 were Rhodes Scholars. Graduates for the University of South Carolina who did not even receive a Summa cum Laude are hardly worthy of such high praise.

[LGRepublican]

@fact-check Since you're checking facts, being "smart" goes way beyond the world of academia and degrees. Some of the most Intelligent people I know have a great deal of common sense and street smarts, knowing when to hold them and when to fold them so to speak.. The reverse is also true, some of the dumbest people I know have impressive educational resumes. By your standards those senators with doctorates are "smarter" than Bill Gates. Most of us would beg to differ.

[MRMacrum]

@LGRepublican _ You know I really hate to admit that I agree what with me being a lily livered low down liberal and all. But that would not be fair to you or me. Absolutely a college degree or high SAT scores is no indication of true intelligence.

[fact-check]

@LGRepublican: Yeah, we should all get behind Senator Lindsey and his support for the USA PATRIOT Act, NDAA2012, extrajudicial execution of American citizens without charges or a trial, military intervention in the internal affairs of other soveriegn nations, and curtailment of our Freedom of Speech. It's not like he's just another statist of limited intelligence who graduated from a state college, and is now seeking to consolidate power and authority into a vastly expanded government in direct contradiction to the best interests of his constituents... because he says he's a Republican.

[LGRepublican]

That depends on the definition of moderate. If moderate means taking a more libertarian position on social issues, then by all means yes. If moderate means being big government spending "lite", then H#LL NO!

[martydotcom]

Guess that's working out real well. Lost five out of the last six national elections. Couldn't defeat 8%+ unemployment incumbent, lost seats in senate and Hr in a year you should have cleaned Dems clock. You think it's the moderates like former Sen Luger caused the GOP defeat or purists like Jim Demint and Ron Paul!? Was your message wrong, a bad candidate? A good candidate destroyed from within??
You think Caine's 999, Bachmann's looney tunes, Perry's ( this guy's a gov.???) or. Newt's personal destroy Romney attack adv. killed Romney before he got out of the gate and destroyed the GOP brand ?( thank Sheldon Adelson for funding Newt.)
Pure libertarianism will remain an impotent sound byte the way the GOP brand is selling itself

[kirbstomp1]

Your right, so why don't the republicans mold to libertarians on social issues and I might return to the republican party. Not trying to be rude but I highly doubt the republican base is as smart as you in understanding that if you don't change your platform, well without a stable platform you have no where to stand is all I got to say.

[Clbraz78]

There are many things they need to revisit. What is sad is the smoke and mirrors along with the two step won this election.

[Sonny]

"smoke & mirrors"?...No---what is smoke & mirrors is what romney & ryan wanted to do to this country...The republican party seems to be THE only people in the room who think that by cutting all taxes and crippling revenue that, that will somehow "increase revenue". How silly is that!?!? No that kind of stuff is all "smoke & mirrors"....And nobody wants any of it!

[Clbraz78]

@Sonny I'm not here to argue with anyone. Have a nice day :)

[Sonny]

@Clbraz78 Nobody is "arguing"...just giving the readers the other side of the coin...Have a nice day as well.

[Clbraz78]

@Sonny sorry. I get tired of arguing and was just expecting it. My bad.

[Neo_NtheMatrix]

I say to any Republican who does not believe in the conservative values that built America: GET OUT OF THE PARTY!

Contrary to what many people will say, Romney did not lose the race from being too conservative. He lost the race because he failed to convince the base that he was sufficiently conservative. Many people stayed home, especially after the third debate where Romney just echoed everything obama said. Conservatives felt there wasn't much difference between the two and just didn't show up at the polls. Had we had a real conservative, trust me, things would be much different. America is hungering for practical conservatism. Don't our children at least deserve that? I'm adamantly against compromising with the liberals on failure. Let's stand our ground and DEMAND success!

[PayThatCEO]

Right now, there is a lot of talk about the evils of "capitalism". But it is not really accurate to say that we live in a capitalist system. Rather, what we have in the United States today, and what most of the world is living under, is much more accurately described as "corporatism".

Under corporatism, most wealth and power is concentrated in the hands of giant corporations and big government is used as a tool by these corporations to consolidate wealth and power even further. In a corporatist system, the wealth and power of individuals and small businesses is dwarfed by the overwhelming dominance of the corporations. Eventually, the corporations end up owning almost everything and they end up dominating nearly every aspect of society. As you will see below, this very accurately describes the United States of America today. Corporatism is killing this country, and it is not what our founding fathers intended.

The following is the definition of "corporatism" from the Merriam-Webster dictionary....

the organization of a society into industrial and professional corporations serving as organs of political representation and exercising control over persons and activities within their jurisdiction.

Corporatism is actually not too different from socialism or communism. They are all "collectivist" economic systems. Under corporatism, wealth and power are even more highly concentrated than they are under socialism or communism, and the truth is that none of them are "egalitarian" economic systems. Under all collectivist systems, a small elite almost always enjoys most of the benefits while most of the rest of the population suffers.

Our founding fathers never intended for us to have a collectivist system.

Instead, they intended for us to enjoy a capitalist system where true competition and the free enterprise system would allow individuals and small businesses to thrive.

In an article that was posted earlier this year on Addicting Info, Stephen D. Foster Jr. detailed how our founding fathers actually felt about corporations....

The East India Company was the largest corporation of its day and its dominance of trade angered the colonists so much, that they dumped the tea products it had on a ship into Boston Harbor which today is universally known as the Boston Tea Party. At the time, in Britain, large corporations funded elections generously and its stock was owned by nearly everyone in parliament. The founding fathers did not think much of these corporations that had great wealth and great influence in government. And that is precisely why they put restrictions upon them after the government was organized under the Constitution.

After the nation’s founding, corporations were granted charters by the state as they are today. Unlike today, however, corporations were only permitted to exist 20 or 30 years and could only deal in one commodity, could not hold stock in other companies, and their property holdings were limited to what they needed to accomplish their business goals. And perhaps the most important facet of all this is that most states in the early days of the nation had laws on the books that made any political contribution by corporations a criminal offense.

Our founding fathers would have never approved of any form of collectivism. They understood that all great concentrations of wealth and power represent a significant threat to the freedoms and liberties of average citizens.

[SpookyThreeTwo]

since when was this country founded on conservative values? This country was built on the notion that people need to be protected from tyranny. If we had a true conservative running this country, we'd be screwed. Starting wars with anyone that had commodities of value ... evoking Christian values in laws ... privatizing everything.

you want to make this country great again? start by eliminating political parties. these senators are just realizing that in order to get anything done, you need not agree with everything, but you need to compromise. that's smart politics (if there ever was such a thing)

[fact-check]

This, from an American who is planning on retreating to Canada, rather than standing in defense of the values of which they whine on about... endlessly. LOL

[MRMacrum]

Neo - Say you are right. Say that the GOP had fielded a harder core Right Wing candidate than Romney who obviously moved towards the middle after the nomination. His movement towards the center coincided with his rise in the polls. I doubt a hard line Right winger would have enjoyed the same rise. Your man/woman would have ended up losing anyway. The extreme Right which you call conservative is most definitely a minority in this country. If you do not believe that, you are fooling yourself and setting yourself up for more disappointment in future elections.

[Bleeding_Blue]

You and those like you are whats killing the Republican party, and until those like you change your attitudes, the GOP will not hold the white house. The only people who agree with Neo Conservatives, are Neo Conservatives. This despite your refusal to admit it, is what cost Romney. You feed at the buffet table of Limbaugh, and Fox News, and are to blind to see they're intentionally destroying the Republican party. You can't seem to grasp that you are nothing but business to them, and business is good for them when the Democratic party holds the White House. Reagan was the last of the good Republican leaders, and in todays GOP, he wouldn't even be considered as a Candidate. This is the failure of your party, wake up and see the light for once. Or keep being the "Happy Meal Neo Conservative" and watch as your party dies. Read this article, and see how Rush, and Faux News is manipulating you.

http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2012/11/why-r...

[PayThatCEO]

You know what their problem is? They just can't be satisfied. They want more, more, more, more, more, more. They want things THEIR way. They are like spoiled rotten children. Selfish. They are paranoid. They hate everyone else. They are the most unhappy people I have ever seen in my life.

Maybe, just maybe, if they stopped being so miserable they'd learn that life really isn't so bad.

[George_BayArea]

Nobody wins when the country is divided! something will be done to reunited our great country we need to let our elected officials do their work, Democrats and Republicans will come to a agreement to get the solutions we need in the economy, immigration reform and to create more jobs and with that let's move forward if anyone is not up a solution don't be part of the problem look around, are we turning into a dying Rome? Enough with the selfish ambitions and start today right now, one side of our country cannot move without his other side. Let's get things done and cut the BS.

[fact-check]

Senator Lindsey Graham is a MODERATE? HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!

Only in your dreams.

[Pack7]

I would be more happy if moderate Democrats had more say in their party. The Democrats are ruled by leftist radicals who will never compromise on anything. They are socialist/Marxists who do not know the meaning of compromise. They are taking this Nation down a path of destruction. Obama is not good for this Nation and you will soon find that out.

[fact-check]

A majority of members within the Democratic Party worked with their Republican colleagues to reduce the power of progressive voices withing their party during the recent redistricting process. One key result of this collusion, was the intentional creation of a situation forcing Dennis Kucinich (voted against USA PATRIOT Act, and authored impeachment papers against Dick Cheney) or Marcy Kaptur (outspoken critic of the 2008 bank bailout as featured in Micheal Moore's Capitalism: A Love Story) out of office.

To suggest that the Congressional Progressives Caucus has ANY control over the direction of the Democratic Party, clearly indicates a basis of knowledge completely founded upon the disinformation of the mainstream media... and lacking any credibility.

[MRMacrum]

LOL! Maybe you were alive during the 1960s and 1970s but I am guessing you weren't. Back then the Democrats had allowed their fringe to drive their message. The Dixiecrats bailed and joined forces with the GOP and opening the door for St Ronnie to move into the Whitehouse. The Democrats have learned and many of their radical factions have split off and formed other parties. The party that pushes the more moderate position usually appeals to most of America. Right now, it is the Democrats.

[Pack7]

@fact-check
The Democrats own the Main Stream Media. You are completely wrong on re-districting. In Illinois we lost three good Republican Congressmen due to the gerrymandering of their districts that resulted in the election of three left wing Democrats. I personally like Dennis Kucinich but do not always agree with him. The reason I like him is for his honesty. Something the radical Democrat Party sorely lacks.

[Pack7]

@MRMacrum
What are all these radical parties that you claim? If they all split off it looks like all the radicals came together to vote for the great imposter that now occupies the White House. The first Presidential election I ever voted in was for Johnson. I voted for that crook and am extremely sorry for it, the same way I voted for slick Willie "Bubba" Clinton and am extremely sorry for that also. While Republicans are no angels, they pale in comparison to the crookedness of this bunch currently in the White House. We need a solid third party to ward off these two outdated, crooked, radical parties that we now have. I will gladly join any third party movement, especially to rid the White House of creeps like we have in there now.

[MRMacrum]

@Pack7 - Guess we disagree. But I will say you had LBJ pegged.

[jessejaymes]

I think BOTH the Dem and GOP moderates should revolt and take back their parties. I have no real interest in the never ending "social issue wars" nor do I have a the slightest intention of allow some religion to dictate how I act. Both extremist sides which have hijacked the real GOP and Dems should start their own party. And let's get tied up in the lies about which party spends the most OK? The both spend like it was free money (which to them it is.)

[WasteWater]

It's about time Republicans started doing something.

[MRMacrum]

For the sake of this country I would most definitely like to see the moderates of the Right have more clout.

[rquigl03]

I love this sudden running to the middle by Republicans. Sean Hannity and Lindsay Graham suddenly touting “sensible” immigration reform when they were both resolutely against giving any kind of legal status to those who are already here and constantly talking about Hispanics like they’re all dirty brown people, Kristol and Chambliss suddenly saying it’s ok to tax millionaires when they fought so hard to incite a “class war” and try and convince people that “job creators” shouldn’t be punished for being so successful, Boehner, who just days before in his speech touting Republican control of the house, said that Obama’s win did not give him a mandate to raise taxes on anyone (including the rich) is suddenly open to the idea, etc. It’s almost laughable. Anyone who falls for this sudden moderation is an idiot of the highest order. They’re saying what they need to. Anyone else noticing that Mitch McConnell is not on this bandwagon of sudden moderation? It’s because he’s up for re-election in two years. They can run to middle all they want but the most right-wing, conspiracy theory, Glenn Beck nutjobs still control the primaries for Republicans, which means we’re still going to get the legitimate rape and we hate immigrant candidates that we have in the past. Unless they make a serious effort to take back their party from this bunch of yahoos and put up REAL moderates who’ll get the center base to the primary polls, their party is still doomed to failure.

[RobertJHarsh]

You know what....I just changed my mind. Bring on the fiscal cliff. Whatever Obama has in store for us will be far worse than letting all the cuts expire. I think the GOP should just stay home for the next two years and let it all fall apart. And then in 2014 when unemployment is around 15-20% and the gimmedat programs are defunded and the underclass starts going hungry, people will vote for GOP to fix it.

[DARSB]

Jonathan Martin at Politico has a great piece this morning about the age divide in the GOP.

[MongoAPillager]

Moderate Republicans Are Revolting?i agree with this statement

[MRMacrum]

Just a note on the title of this subject. "Moderate Republicans are Revolting" Hmm. I wonder how many Right Wingers here looked at the title and said to themselves, "Yes, Yes they are. And disgusting too."

[woodtick57]

You don't think that was a personal joke by the left-leaning editors of Politix?

[MRMacrum]

@woodtick57 - I don't care. I just thought it was funny.

[woodtick57]

@MRMacrum yes it was. it was even funnier when i thhought of it from te editor's point of view...

[Zazziness]

Moderate Republicans were very agitated after Obama won the last time and promised all sorts of common sense policy changes and very wise shifts from extremism to moderation within the party. Then Fox News formed The Tea Party and that was the last we heard about reason, common sense or moderate reform from the Republicans. If they are going to try again to return to sanity, I think that would be great.

[Denizen_Kate]

Exactly. Shed the Tea Party and get back to what used to be mainstream Republicanism.

[DARSB]

Count du Money: "Sire, the peasants are revolting!"

King Louie: "They certainly are."

(History of the World, Part I)

[wild_turkey6]

Yes. I voted for Gary Johnson as a wayof showing my displeasure in the direction the GOP was heading. It looked like they are taking notice that alot of us are frustrated with this direction.