Thanks, Smitty. Patience is essential – but I can’t help but fantasize about a aggressive GOP that would take the fight to the enemy – like turning Jack Aubrey loose with an Aegis cruiser.

Having served on two Ticonderoga-class cruisers, it was important to keep the sail-power metaphor underway.

My guess is that your decreasing-confidence points list stops at #3.

The GOP will probably have a slim Senate majority, but it won’t “control the Senate.” Even if it holds 60+ seats, it won’t hold 60 “party line in all cases” cloture votes.

Point #5 is just silly. Predicting that the Tea Party will “continue” to influence the GOP along federalist lines implies that it has done so in the past (it hasn’t) or that it will start to do so shortly (a prediction unsupported by any past performance).

To that point, I wrote this post:
http://washingtonrebel.typepad.com/washington_rebel/2010/09/i-have-but-one-life-to-give.html

There is more to be done that just one or two election cycles here.

@Kn@appster,
I protest! The Tea Party got a “Build the damn fence” out of John McCain. What about YouCut?
Good posturing is crucial to back health.
In other words, your criticism is spot on.

@Kn@appster:

Don’t forget what happened to Utah Senator Bob Bennett. Whether it was an influence of the “federalist” persuasion, I don’t know, but anti-incumbent? Oh, yeah!. It seems the Tea Party strategy across the country is “Bore from within” into the grass-roots GOP apparatus. Maybe we’ll know we’ve succeeded when some leftist Joe McCarthy launches a crusade to ferret out all the tea partiers who have infiltrated the government.

Smitty,

By using all this technical Naval Barnacular, you have illustrated a greater part of the problem than perhaps you even know. The Navy blasts from a miles away or bombs from overhead. But it takes the Marines and the Army to land, take, and hold the territory.

I love the smell of political napalm in the morning!

The Tea Party will continue to influence the GOP along Federalist lines through the 2012 election.

I tend to agree that the Tea Party thing may well hit its apex in Nov/10.

However, the Federalist revolution will not drop dead same date, as a bunch of Governors, led by Perry/TX and Brewer/AZ, are going to become even more obstreperous in the 2011-2012 period.

State budgets cannot afford more Statism. It’s all about the money, honey.

The tea party can’t do much about the rino factor in certain states. That is just reality. They like Snowe and Collins in Maine. That is what they are looking for. It is a numbers game. You get the numbers you need and a strong leader to keep the herd together. That is what Pelosi did and it got healthcare passed. The tea party needs to learn that lesson.

Knapp’s critique is actually dead on.

I fully expect Leadership to go marching down to K-Street and start feeding at the Trough. If you don’t think that McConnell and Boehner aren’t in it for the swag, then you forget why we got our butts kicked out in 2006.

That’s why we need to keep the pressure on and keep kicking out the Colonel Blimps.

One of the things that may be different is the long running but still continuing Global Financial Crisis. This may prevent a “return to normalcy” that allows the normal swag frenzy that would take place after a Republican takeover.

BTW, one of the saving graces of the Movement Conservatives as a class is that we hate the Republican Party Leadership. The Libs will almost always rally round their leaders.

One beachhead at a time. We must be in this for the long haul. But I suspect the Tea Party people (if not actual groups) will continue to be a factor through 2012.

IMHO – the worst thing that could happen would be to take the Senate this year. We will have a difficult enough time keeping Boehner in line, having McConnell in the majority would be a boon to an Obama re-election bid.

Jack et al,

I was being very particular in my use of words.

So, I think, was Smitty.

Words mean things. What “federalism” means is debatable, but I’d point out:

1) The framers specifically and intentionally — there’s no doubt about it, the anti-federalists blasted them for it during the ratification debates — left out of the Constitution any federal power whatsoever to regulate immigration (and Congress didn’t exercise such a power until 1882, after an activist Reconstruction-era Supreme Court “discovered” that power in 1875). “Build the damn fence” is an anti-federalist sentiment.

Tea Party support of the Arizona Know-Nothing Appeasement Act, while disgusting, is federalist in overall character, but the main argument made for it (“the federal government isn’t doing its job — you know, that immigration job found nowhere in the Constitution”) is anti-federalist.

2) Nullification (for example, of ObamaCare, as recently passed in Missouri by popular vote and elsewhere by legislatures) is a great idea … and it originated with the Jeffersonian democratic anti-federalists.

For good or ill, the Tea Party movement’s evolving ideology has a few coincidentally federalist elements, but is not discernibly federalist in overall character. Its two main elements seem to be:

1) A dog’s breakfast of items that tickle the flighty fancies of an enduring American right-populism; and

2) Ae laundry list of political priorities that the GOP, through astroturf orgs like “Tea Party Express” managed to scatter like dog turds over the surface of the movement before it was strong enough to resist being co-opted.

Why is Tea Party support for Arizona disgusting?

Come November, the GOP will also own the overall disapproval of Congress, and the responsibility of turning the economy around. Which is to say that the partyline “No” will no longer work and the GOP will have to come up with actual solutions. As we all well know, the GOP is incapable of real solutions. So this may be a boon for OBAMA 2012.

@Kn@appster:

Thanks for the clarification. I’ll admit I’m confused about what “Federalism” means, if it doesn’t recognize that the Constitution, and thus the federal government, was created by the States. There have certainly been many pressures over the past 1 1/2 centuries to push power to the federal government, but particularly with the internet, a dispersed, local government is feasible.

For my part, I want the federal government restricted to those actual enumerated powers defined in the Constitution. My home town (Oklahoma City) is booming. The unemployment rate (6% for 2009) actually declined in the past quarter. You can hardly drive a mile or two without seeing new construction or refurbishment. Downtown is thriving with businesses, residents and entertainment all doing well and growing. We are in the main hard working, entrepreneurial and generous people, and it is beyond frustrating we are ensnared in all this statist BS imposed from Washington.

I hope to see Nullification used big time to thwart the statists. If it leads to confrontation, so be it.

The hypocrisy and/or ignorance is astounding…

For my part, I want the federal government restricted to those actual enumerated powers defined in the Constitution. My home town (Oklahoma City) is booming. The unemployment rate (6% for 2009) actually declined in the past quarter. You can hardly drive a mile or two without seeing new construction or refurbishment. Downtown is thriving with businesses, residents and entertainment all doing well and growing. We are in the main hard working, entrepreneurial and generous people, and it is beyond frustrating we are ensnared in all this statist BS imposed from Washington.

This has noting to do with the stimulus programs and federal support…

Just some examples:

Plans gain momentum to use Oklahoma City’s stimulus funds

April 1, 2009

This portion of the package will be devoted to improving transportation infrastructure that will benefit more than 30 municipalities in central Oklahoma.

The pie has been baked, so put aside the arguments behind the strategy and motivation for the bill, and consider the real beneficiaries. Local governments need the funding, and will spend it wisely and quickly.

For the past few weeks, elected officials and staff representing nearly every municipality in the region have met to conceive a unified process to efficiently implement the funding. Criteria established at the federal level made meeting the deadline a challenge. Priority was placed on projects that were “shovel ready,” meaning they could be ready to go by summer.

Discussions were spirited, but I’m proud to say that our region came together, compromised and reached an agreement that fits the needs of all of the communities involved. We feel like we have a plan that will allow our cities to start rebuilding our roads as soon as possible.

http://newsok.com/plans-gain-momentum-to-use-oklahoma-citys-stimulus-funds/article/3357822#ixzz0yi9Dfofh

Stimulus Money Puts Nearly 1,000 Oklahomans to Work

Aug 27, 2010

OKLAHOMA CITY — In a time when it’s tough to find a job, a stimulus program encourages companies to hire new employees. Almost 900 Oklahomans got back into the workforce thanks to a program.

Kingfisher Cookers is one of 150 companies that hired people through the program. The Department of Human Services created it and it’s called Subsidized Employment Program. The federal government agreed to fund it with $12 million stimulus dollars.

“I think it’s an excellent use of stimulus dollars. I feel like this is a program that actually does what the economic stimulus dollars were intended to do,” said Paulette Bushers, D.H.S. Programs Field Representative.

Hmm…

Coordinators at D.H.S. were hoping Congress would extend funding for programs like this, but that didn’t happen. So, there’s no more stimulus money available for this program.

The hypocrisy and/or ignorance is astounding…

For my part, I want the federal government restricted to those actual enumerated powers defined in the Constitution. My home town (Oklahoma City) is booming. The unemployment rate (6% for 2009) actually declined in the past quarter. You can hardly drive a mile or two without seeing new construction or refurbishment. Downtown is thriving with businesses, residents and entertainment all doing well and growing. We are in the main hard working, entrepreneurial and generous people, and it is beyond frustrating we are ensnared in all this statist BS imposed from Washington.

This has noting to do with the stimulus programs and federal support…

Just some examples:

Plans gain momentum to use Oklahoma City’s stimulus funds

April 1, 2009

This portion of the package will be devoted to improving transportation infrastructure that will benefit more than 30 municipalities in central Oklahoma.

The pie has been baked, so put aside the arguments behind the strategy and motivation for the bill, and consider the real beneficiaries. Local governments need the funding, and will spend it wisely and quickly.

For the past few weeks, elected officials and staff representing nearly every municipality in the region have met to conceive a unified process to efficiently implement the funding. Criteria established at the federal level made meeting the deadline a challenge. Priority was placed on projects that were “shovel ready,” meaning they could be ready to go by summer.

Discussions were spirited, but I’m proud to say that our region came together, compromised and reached an agreement that fits the needs of all of the communities involved. We feel like we have a plan that will allow our cities to start rebuilding our roads as soon as possible.

http://newsok.com/plans-gain-momentum-to-use-oklahoma-citys-stimulus-funds/article/3357822#ixzz0yi9Dfofh

Stimulus Money Puts Nearly 1,000 Oklahomans to Work

Aug 27, 2010

OKLAHOMA CITY — In a time when it’s tough to find a job, a stimulus program encourages companies to hire new employees. Almost 900 Oklahomans got back into the workforce thanks to a program.

Kingfisher Cookers is one of 150 companies that hired people through the program. The Department of Human Services created it and it’s called Subsidized Employment Program. The federal government agreed to fund it with $12 million stimulus dollars.

“I think it’s an excellent use of stimulus dollars. I feel like this is a program that actually does what the economic stimulus dollars were intended to do,” said Paulette Bushers, D.H.S. Programs Field Representative.

Hmm…

Coordinators at D.H.S. were hoping Congress would extend funding for programs like this, but that didn’t happen. So, there’s no more stimulus money available for this program.

Ref. 18

http://www.news9.com/global/story.asp?s=12933999

***

This sums it up (emphasis mine):

Stimulus Money Helps Oklahoma Budget
Sun Sep 05, 2010

The federal government, according to the report, spent $37.5 billion in Oklahoma, which is an 18 percent increase from 2008. Oklahoma ranked just below the national average in the amount of domestic spending it received from the federal government.

The increase has been attributed to American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Oklahoma has been described by the Tax Foundation as a “receiver” state, which means it gets more from the federal government than it pays in federal taxes. In 2004, for example, Oklahoma received $1.48 for every dollar it spent in federal taxes, according to a report by the organization. In 1994, Oklahoma received $1.28 per dollar so the trend has been for the state to increase how much it receives from the federal government.

The point here is that Oklahoma continues its reliance on the same federal government so many of its conservative citizens criticize and protest. Given the current budget crisis, this state would have been in terrible financial shape without the recent federal stimulus money. Also, think about all the years the state essentially took money from taxpayers in places like New York and Massachusetts, which are donor states. What if Oklahoma had just broken even on its federal taxes? Can you imagine what this place would have been like then?

Worth repeating this classic, unintended gem of a humor by Jack Okie:

“For my part, I want the federal government restricted to those actual enumerated powers defined in the Constitution. My home town (Oklahoma City) is booming. The unemployment rate (6% for 2009) actually declined in the past quarter. You can hardly drive a mile or two without seeing new construction or refurbishment. Downtown is thriving with businesses, residents and entertainment all doing well and growing. We are in the main hard working, entrepreneurial and generous people, and it is beyond frustrating we are ensnared in all this statist BS imposed from Washington.”

@Kn@ppster,
Didn’t realize you’re a capital punishment proponent.
My understanding of the AZ law is that it’s concurrent with existing federal legislation, heavily supported by AZ citizens, and hasn’t led to any abuses, with which abuses I would expect the Propaganda Media to flog everyone not threatening them with violence.
But perhaps I’m not current.

Smitty, that’s my understanding too.

OT, I thought gg was banned for clogging the comment section with unreadable copy/paste bullshit. So why am I still seeing that all over the place?

Smitty,

You write:

“Didn’t realize you’re a capital punishment proponent.”

Actually, I’m not — except at the scene of the crime, by the victim or someone acting on the victim’s immediate behalf. I was just letting off a little steam there.

“My understanding of the AZ law is that it’s concurrent with existing federal legislation”

Your understanding is incorrect. Since Congress has no constitutional authority to regulate immigration, any laws it’s passed to that effect are void (see Madison v. Marbury).

“heavily supported by AZ citizens”

I’ve heard that claim, but haven’t looked into it. The number I’ve heard is 70%. I haven’t bothered to look into the claim, for two reasons:

1) I’m not, and never have been, much of a majoritarian; and

2) I’ve spent enough time in Arizona and like the people I know there enough to not want to know if 70% of them are fascists and/or morons.

“and hasn’t led to any abuses”

The introduction of the legislation was an abuse.

The passage of the legislation was an abuse.

The governor’s signature of the legislation was an an abuse.

The threat of enforcement of the legislation is an abuse.

Any actual enforcement of the legislation is an abuse.

Like I said, I only favor the death penalty at the scene of the crime, by the victim or someone acting on immediate behalf of the victim. Victimization includes imperious demands for “your papers.”

And yet, out here in the real world, we have a Federal Government that does regulate immigration, and a state, Arizona, that wrote a law allowing their law enforcement to enforce Federal immigration law.

I’m sure in the fantasy land of Libertarian Principleville it’s perfectly alright to allow unlimited immigration. Out here the real world, not so much.

Randy,

Apparently you wouldn’t know the real world if it snuck up behind you and smacked you across the ass with a bass fiddle.

Hint: In the real world, unlimited immigration is a fact, any deranged fantasies of yours as to your power to “allow” or “not allow” it notwithstanding.