Agent of change (And bills. And checks. Credit cards accepted too.)

It might be hard to tell ... Islamofascists, Mexicans, Terry Schaivo —  House Republicans are always jumping up and down in fits of apoplectic rage over some damned thing or another. But if the Republican loses a special election in Mississippi Tuesday, that should be just about enough to trip the pronounced House GOP angst over the edge and into full-on panic.

Newt Gingrich and some disaffected War Party ideologues (oh, that's a redundancy) are already alarmed and warning that busting out favored tricks from the old playbook — brainless warmongering, eager government-hating, calling people liberals, etc. — isn't going to work this time. GOP candidates, especially in competitive districts, have to be for something.

Or as House minority leader John Boehner put it in a memo to colleagues, "We can't win SOLELY by tying our opponents to Barack Obama and his liberal views. We also have to prove Republicans are agents of change" (WaPo).

Boehner and Co. still don't have any, you know, specifics, but they at least unveiled a motto Monday. You know how Obama's slogan is "Change we can believe in." The War Party House folks are going with "Change You Deserve" (NYT), which of course raises the questions, Why do Republicans hate Americans so much? What did Americans do to "deserve" the next batch of whatever sad, angry and pernicious policies Republicans come up with?

And speaking of Rep. Jon Porter ...

The Sun took a look at Porter and Democratic challenger Dina Titus on issues in Nevada's House CD3 race. Though an early and rather cursory overview, it's still instructive.

For instance, dusting off a talking point from, oh, 2005, Porter reiterates his commitment to staying in Iraq to "get this job done."

Porter is also against "socialized medicine." And Porter proudly boasts "I'm against amnesty."

What else do "socialized medicine" and "amnesty" have in common, besides being things that Jon Porter says he's against? They are things that virtually nobody is for. Arguably the only place that "socialized medicine" exists is in the minds of people like Porter. Likewise, there is no serious legislative effort to grant undocumented immigrants "amnesty." (One of Gleaner's recent CityLife columns, the one that hounded Robert Daskas out of the CD3 race [just kidding, mostly] reviews the myths about "socialized medicine" and "amnesty").

So to recap: Porter wants to thump his chest and say "support the troops" over and over again while standing firmly opposed to non-existent threats.

Change? Porter was reportedly going to officially file for re-election Monday, but his campaign is already stale and tiresome.

Comments

[hahahahaha!]

New GOP slogan already being marketed by anti-depressant manufacturer!

don'tgetmedown

[Michael Green]

To which Dina Titus should say, the only change we should believe in is getting rid of Jon Porter!

Uh what's amnesty?Is that the pass Gibbons gets for having an undocumented nanny in the basement?

[texexnv@gmail.com]

Off subject but I am mad as hell!

I just had some door-to-door jerk put a flyer in my door by Nevadans Against the Tax Grab.

This is such an outrageous pack of lies and garbage, I have to wonder if it is legal because it is so deceptive.

So I'd like to just throw this out for opinions: Does the Nevada DECEPTIVE TRADE PRACTICES ACT apply to political advertisements and solicitations?

I refer specificly to:
NRS 598.0925 “Deceptive trade practice” defined.

1. Except as otherwise provided in this section, a person engages in a “deceptive trade practice” when, in the course of his business or occupation, he:

(a) Makes an assertion of scientific, clinical or quantifiable fact in an advertisement which would cause a reasonable person to believe that the assertion is true....

The flyer states "..if the Tax Grab Amendment (deceptive) is aded to the constitution and casino revenues decline, the state would be forced to cut funding for health care, public safety, roads and highways, fighting wildfires, and other needs - or impose new taxes on Nevada taxpayers to make up the difference." The flyer states further "Public education in Nevada may not need additional funding."

Is this deceptive advertising or not?

[Dee Holzel]

Texex,

Around these parts we're referring to this issue as: Casino Owners v The Teachers. Guess who'll be playing Goliath in the movie.

I do not kid you: we are under seige by these "Tax Grab" people in the northern Rurals. There's actually a person from that organization stationed in Winnemucca for the next month.

In addition to him, there's also: robo-calling, live calling, mailers, and full-page advertisements.

Here's the funny thing: this has absolutely nothing to do with the rurals. The language of the petition calls for the tax to be applied only to those casinos that gross a million or more PER MONTH (hard to feel sorry for those fellas). The "Tax Grab" people acknowledged to me the only casinos that will be subjected to this tax are in Clark, Washoe, and Douglas Counties. PLUS, the language of the bill would divert the funds from the tax to the counties with the largest population.

Why are they investing so much time here? Our representatives have a long history of voting against every tax that's come their way. They can be counted on in that regard. It just doesn't make sense.

[texexnv@gmail.com]

Pooter files early for unemployment while Bimbette asks "So, Johnny, when do we get the money?"

[MikeZ]

lol! Tex. That hair on DeLay! Oy! I would use that photo in every ad if I were Dina.

I'm not sure I agree with how the Teachers are going about this. But they have spawned a multi-million dollar effort against them, and that will effect indv races in Nov.

If our fine legislators would do their jobs, we wouldn't have all this initiative drama here in the first place.

[91octane]

There is a picture of Porter signing his paperwork for re-election (you know under threat of perjury he is signing an oath to generally uphold the republican priorities, i.e. The Platform, yet he is quoted in a recent R-J article as opposing major parts of same: Could someone challenge his candidacy with the election official based on the oath and his stated opposition 'generally' to the State Republican Platform?????), and to his right is a blonde. Is that his lobbyist daughter Nicolle or a band groupie?

"Porter, working for you to keep troops in Iraq to save gasoline prices from soaring to $9 a gallon for your and his SUV!"