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babylonsister

(171,079 posts) Thu Jul 18, 2013, 09:19 AM Jul 2013

Jim DeMint back at war with Republicans

Jim DeMint back at war with Republicans

By ANNA PALMER and MANU RAJU | 7/18/13 5:01 AM EDT

Jim DeMint’s at war with Republicans — again.

The tea party firebrand who made his mark in GOP primary races across the country is now at the helm of the Heritage Foundation where its political arm is doing the same thing: holding conservatives' feet to the fire.

DeMint only joined the group earlier this year, but already Heritage’s political arm has had some early fights out of the gate that have Republican leaders both angry and frustrated – feeling like DeMint is diminishing one of the party’s most powerful intellectual engines by turning it into a group taking cheap shots at Republicans.

The tensions have spilled into the open. Heritage urged members to vote against the farm bill – dealing an embarrassing loss to Speaker John Boehner – then even urged a “no” vote on the bill that stripped out food stamps and other provisions, even though Heritage had urged House leadership to strip them out.

And in the House, the tensions are so raw that House Republicans are beginning to protest including staffers from the three-year-old political arm, Heritage Action, in weekly meetings the Heritage Foundation has hosted for decades for conservative lawmakers.

“I think Heritage Action is really hurting the foundation,” said Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, the conservative Georgia Republican. “I think they’ve lost credibility with the people that were most supportive of them.”

more...

http://www.politico.com/story/2013/07/jim-demint-back-at-war-with-republicans-94375.html?hp=t2_3

7 replies

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Jim DeMint back at war with Republicans (Original Post) babylonsister Jul 2013 OP

This is delish malaise Jul 2013 #1

k&r for exposure. n/t Laelth Jul 2013 #2

Let the war of attrition continue unabated! n2doc Jul 2013 #3

... PD Turk Jul 2013 #4

Hey Jim, it looks like to fix your problem you are going to need a teabagger in every primary corkhead Jul 2013 #5

Speaking of "Heritage Action", anyone remember this from Nov. 7, 2012? JHB Jul 2013 #6

LOL: "diminishing one of the party’s most powerful intellectual engines by turning it... JHB Jul 2013 #7

malaise

(269,157 posts)

1. This is delish

Reply to babylonsister (Original post)

Thu Jul 18, 2013, 09:22 AM

Jul 2013

Let them eat one another on TV. Come on ReTHUGs self destruct for the good of the USA!!!

Laelth

(32,017 posts)

2. k&r for exposure. n/t

Reply to babylonsister (Original post)

Thu Jul 18, 2013, 09:27 AM

Jul 2013

-Laelth

n2doc

(47,953 posts)

3. Let the war of attrition continue unabated!

Reply to babylonsister (Original post)

Thu Jul 18, 2013, 10:21 AM

Jul 2013

Hold fast, repubs! No compromise!

PD Turk

(1,289 posts)

4. ...

Reply to babylonsister (Original post)

Thu Jul 18, 2013, 10:35 AM

Jul 2013

corkhead

(6,119 posts)

5. Hey Jim, it looks like to fix your problem you are going to need a teabagger in every primary

Reply to babylonsister (Original post)

Thu Jul 18, 2013, 10:42 AM

Jul 2013

JHB

(37,161 posts)

6. Speaking of "Heritage Action", anyone remember this from Nov. 7, 2012?

Reply to babylonsister (Original post)

Thu Jul 18, 2013, 11:02 AM

Jul 2013

(i.e., the day after election day, and therefore was written and produced before then in anticipation of an Obama win):

The fellow tough-talking about being at war to save out nation and admonishing against "abandoning our posts" is Hertitage Action CEO Michael A. Needham ( http://www.linkedin.com/pub/michael-a-needham/18/25a/2a7 ).

For those who can't view his history:

Chief Executive Officer, Heritage Action for America
April 2010 – Present (3 years 4 months)
Heritage Action for America is a grassroots advocacy organization dedicated to promoting conservative values, policy priorities, and ideas.

Special Assistant, Rudy Giuliani Presidential Committee
2007 – 2008 (1 year)

The Heritage Foundation, Chief of Staff and Director The Heritage Foundation
2004 – 2007 (3 years)

Education
Stanford University Graduate School of Business
MBA, 2008 – 2010

Williams College
BA, Political Science & Economics, 2000 – 2004

What's conspicuously missing from Mr. "Stay at your post"'s resume? Military service during a time of war.

Yet another bellicose Chickenhawk Conservative activist on the Wingnut Welfare gravy train.

JHB

(37,161 posts)

7. LOL: "diminishing one of the party’s most powerful intellectual engines by turning it...

Reply to babylonsister (Original post)

Thu Jul 18, 2013, 11:17 AM

Jul 2013

...into a group taking cheap shots at Republicans"?

What's actually happening is that Heritage's pretense of being a "powerful intellectual engine" is simply being exposed as the facade that it always was. They were always a spin-tank, providing headlines and reports that supported conservative canards until you dug down into the numbers, and by then the headline version had already made the impressions. The facade is rotting out and crumbling away because expending any effort or resources on maintaining it is too compromise-y and backsliding for Heritage's Powers That Be (i.e., DeMint and HFs funders, like the Kochs).

I have my doubts, though, that Rep. Westmoreland and others who consider themselves "supporters" of HF will realize that HF's PTB consider him one of the useful idiots who don't understand what the real deal is.

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