Michele Bachmann’s fundraiser with AZGOP has ties to convicted sex offender Mark Spinks

CLICK ON THE PHOTO TO SEE LARGER!

When Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, brings her tea party to Scottsdale on Saturday, she needs to be on the lookout for Stranger Danger and Captain America.

Neither Bachmann nor her aides utilized a simple GOOGLE search in an effort to scrutinize all of the crimes and illegal/immoral acts committed by both past and present officials of the Arizona Republican Party and her host committee.

One guy would have stood out (no pun intended).

Ahwatukee’s Mark Spinks is now a $1,000 per month “party consultant” to Chairman Tom Morrissey and the AZGOP.

Spinks, the newest AZGOP “Chairman’s Pet” likes to get naked in front of women – without their permission. He even has the criminal record to prove it.

Between October 2005 and April 2006, the Phoenix Police Department charged Ahwatukee’s failed congressional candidate, Mark Spinks, with NINE counts of criminal INDECENT EXPOSURE. Indecent exposure is a sex crime according to Arizona Revised Statute 13-1402.

In April 2006, Spinks pleaded guilty to one count of indecent exposure. The other eight charges against Spinks were dropped by the Phoenix Municipal Court. He served a 30 day suspended jail sentence and completed three years of probation.

Spinks joins crooked but conservative Constantin Querard’s Grassroots Partners, Teresa Martinez and Phil Mason as vendors on the AZGOP’s February 2011 FEC finance report.

Just a few weeks ago, Spinks and his “Arizona Liberty Project” group hosted Congressman Trent Franks at a Reagan Day Dinner & fundraiser in Ahwatukee.

According to March 2011 FEC records, Mark Spinks and Teresa Martinez are the respective chairman and treasurer of the newly founded “Arizona Liberty Project PAC”.

In a seriously disgusting move, the Arizona Liberty Project recruited members of local Teenage Republicans groups to serve the Reagan Day Dinner menu to the guests - as waiters and waitresses.

Not ONE teenager, boy or girl, should EVER be recruited or coerced into servitude by Spinks, Martinez, or their affiliated ALP PAC. It is beyond conscionable that this was allowed to happen.

Kids, women and especially Congresswomen…….stay away. Stay very far away.

Ind Exposure Pub Rec

FIESTA BOWL SCANDAL: WHAT SEEING RED & A.P.G NEGLECTED TO TELL YOU

Yesterday, our 'pals' over at the Peeing Red Blog wrote an article called "AZ’s Fiesta Bowl scandal: Grant Woods merits his own “woody award”

Our favorite 'Fake Newspaper', A m e r i c a n P o s t – G a z e t t e posted the story as well.

I agree on one thing:  If Grant Woods covered up the investigation of the Fiesta Bowl, then he should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. 

They didn't cover the whole story! Their 'boss', Senate President Russell Pearce was involved, but of course, they forgot to tell you that:

"In October 2005, for example, the bowl spent $18,454 on a weekend trip to Chicago for state Sen. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, and several other lawmakers, including Democrats, some of whom brought family members or friends as guests. They attended a University of Michigan football game.

 
The report says the business agenda for that trip consisted of a one-hour presentation by Big Ten Conference officials on Arizona's bowl impact.

 
Pearce, other lawmakers and lobbyists were joined by family members on a similar trip to Boston in October 2008 at a cost of more than $65,000. According to the report, they attended a dinner presentation on "BCS Football: An Economic Engine for Arizona." They also saw Boston College play Virginia Tech.

 
Fiesta Bowl records contain no evidence that any lawmaker reimbursed the airfare, hotel costs or other expenses from those junkets."

 
A chart in the report shows Fiesta Bowl reimbursements totaling $6,486 for football tickets purchased on behalf of Pearce to games like the Navy-Air Force matchup. Then-Tempe City Councilman Ben Arredondo received tickets worth $6,240, including $4,000 worth of tickets for the 2009 Super Bowl, the report says.

 
Arredondo could not be reached for comment Tuesday. Pearce declined comment but said as he walked away from TV reporters that he "never took anything they didn't offer everybody."

 
Pearce's financial-disclosure statements for a four-year period, from 2008 through 2011, show Pearce disclosed a gift from the Insight Bowl on his 2008 disclosure, covering a period from May 2007 through May 2008, and listed the recipients as "me and my wife." The same entry appears on Pearce's disclosure forms from 2009 through 2011, but the item is scratched out. There is no other detailed accounting of the tickets or trips, and the Secretary of State's Office could not immediately provide Pearce's disclosure forms before 2008.

 

Another Peeing Red Politician was involved also:

Another fundraiser was scheduled in 2006 on behalf of former U.S. Rep. J.D. Hayworth, R-Ariz.

 
Kelly Keogh, a Fiesta Bowl administrative aide, provided investigators with a planning e-mail sent to her by Junker. Under the subject, "Hayworth Fundraiser," Junker allegedly instructed: "DO NOT send any emails frm (sic) office. U and I will discuss shortly."

 
Keogh said board members rather than bowl employees were asked to send invitations to the Hayworth event. As volunteers, board members could do so without violating IRS requirements for non-profits. Similar arrangements were made for a fundraiser for Scottsdale Mayor Jim Lane to get around IRS rules, according to employees in the report

SOURCE: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/03/30/20110330fiesta-bowl-executives-gifts.html#ixzz1I99IgRrl


This Fiesta Bowl Scandal is a mess! I happened to watch HBO's award winning show "Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel" last night.


The entire show was dedicated to College Sports and the corruption that has engulfed the NCAA.


This makes the Fiesta Bowl stuff look like 'child's play'!

College Sports Part One

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE VIDEO!




Moral of the Story:



"People who live in glass houses should not throw stones"

Congressman Flake: So Just How Broke Are We?

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE



Contact: Genevieve Frye Rozansky
March 29, 2011




So Just How Broke Are We?




Washington, D.C. - Republican Congressman Jeff Flake, who represents Arizona’s Sixth District, today illustrated the size and scope of the growing national debt.


The Bronx Zoo announced on Saturday to a dismayed public that a 20-inch female Egyptian Cobra snake had gotten loose. After only a few days, chatter over the missing snake has reached a fever pitch. The snake now has its own Twitter handle @BronxZoosCobra.


Between 1999 and 2009, more than 7 million people came to visit the Zoo’s gorilla exhibit alone; an average of 1,918 daily. The U.S. is so broke that based on this number of adult visitors each day at $16 for each adult ticket, the Bronx Zoo would have to turn over its profits for 456 million days in order to pay down our massive $14 trillion debt.

“Can’t we just get Harry Potter to call the snake home?” said Flake.

Along with Senators McCain and Rubio, Congressman Flake introduced in the 112th Congress the Debt Buy-Down Act, which allows taxpayers to designate up to 10 percent of their federal income tax liability to reduce the national debt. The bill then requires Congress to reduce federal spending by that amount. More information on the Debt Buy-Down Act can be found here.


###

RedState Morning Briefing For March 31, 2011

1. Joanne Kloppenburg Is Bothered By Outside Money Spent in Judicial Elections, Except for the $3 Million in Outside Money Being Spent to Elect Her



2. Ten Reflections On Libya


3. According to Dick Durbin, Presidents Should NOT Come To Congress Before Going to War


4. AARP Investigation Reveals Obamacare Will Enrich Non-Profit Seniors Lobby



5. Lies, Damned Lies and DOI Press Releases


6. Organized Labor or Organized Thugs? AFSCME Openly Threatens WI Businesses
—————————————————
1. Joanne Kloppenburg Is Bothered By Outside Money Spent in Judicial Elections, Except for the $3 Million in Outside Money Being Spent to Elect Her


We have covered extensively how the liberals in Wisconsin are trying to overturn the results of last year’s elections by funding a massive campaign to oust conservative Justice David Prosser in favor of liberal assistant AG Joanne Kloppenburg. One of the things we have covered extensively is that Kloppenburg is the beneficiary of a massive $3 million advertising campaign sponsored by outside Democrat and union groups who hope that she will overturn the recent legislation on collective bargaining for public employees. These groups are running sleazy and malicious ads which Kloppenburg herself sees no problem with and feels for some reason that she cannot denounce.


Please click here for the rest of the post.



2. Ten Reflections On Libya


In war, a questionable decision made swiftly is often better than a good one made too late. At least Sarah Palin, who supported a no-fly zone weeks before Obama, understood this. If anything, Obama’s reliance on the humanitarian argument (Benghazi will be flattened) suggests that he was more inclined to back the rebels as their chances of victory diminished. I am left with the creeping suspicion that Obama isn’t anti-war so much as he’s uncomfortable with American victory.


Please click here for the rest of the post.






3. According to Dick Durbin, Presidents Should NOT Come To Congress Before Going to War


From the “say or do anything to defend your man” file, Dick Durbin just ingratiated himself to the American anti-war left with a doozie of a tale on the floor of the United States Senate.


According to Dick Durbin, a man who once called American soldiers nazis, Presidents George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush broke precedent by going to Congress before initiating hostilities.


Please click here for the rest of the post.






4. AARP Investigation Reveals Obamacare Will Enrich Non-Profit Seniors Lobby


An 18-month congressional investigation into AARP reveals that the organization stands to make more than $1 billion over the next 10 years from Obamacare, a law the seniors lobby supported despite opposition among its core constituency.


AARP, which operates as a tax-exempt organization in Washington, would profit from an increase in its insurance business, specifically from the sale of Medicare products to older Americans. The lucrative business has already transformed AARP into an insurance powerhouse. If it were a for-profit business, AARP would rank as the sixth-largest insurance company in America with profits of $427 million in 2009.


Please click here for the rest of the post.






5. Lies, Damned Lies and DOI Press Releases


In an effort to deflect blame for high gasoline prices away from the Obama Administration, the Department of the Interior today released a report which purports to show that the oil and gas industry, not DOI or BOEMRE, is guilty of dragging its feet on offshore energy exploration and development. This, in spite of a 10 month regulatory moratorium/permatorium that has brought new well drilling to a near standstill, and the first year-long offshore lease sale hiatus since 1958.


This is propaganda, pure and simple. Interior’s career staff certainly knows better, but for the time being they find it expedient to facilitate the Obama/Salazar green jihad against the American oil and gas industry. As a result, the report is one which bolsters Democratic talking points while twisting reality.


Please click here for the rest of the post.






6. Organized Labor or Organized Thugs? AFSCME Openly Threatens WI Businesses


Well, that didn’t take long. Union threats that were somewhat isolated a couple of weeks ago are now gaining in popularity among union bosses in Wisconsin. Business owners are now receiving threatening letters telling them that, if they don’t support government-sector unions, their businesses will be boycotted.


Please click here for the rest of the post.




Sincerely yours,


Erick Erickson
Editor, RedState.com

DAMNED IF YOU DO, DAMNED IF YOU DON'T By Robert Arail

The Washington Post Morning Fix: Obama’s opportunity in Libya

washingtonpost.com/thefix



Obama's opportunity in Libya


By Aaron Blake and Chris Cillizza


The first two weeks of U.S. involvement in Libya haven’t gone great for President Obama. And the news got worse Wednesday when it was reported that Moammar Gaddafi’s forces had beaten back the rebel forces in a key clash.


And while early indications are that Obama is losing the American public on this issue, the good news for Obama is that not all that many people are paying attention.


New Pew poll numbers show that just 15 percent of people said they followed the situation in Libya more closely than any other story last week. That’s in spite of the fact that 41 percent of the new coverage focused on the conflict there.


Meanwhile, 57 percent of people said they followed the earthquake and tsunami fallout in Japan more closely than any other story, even though it was only 15 percent of the news coverage.


Half the public said they were following the situation in Japan “very closely,” while only 33 percent were that focused on Libya. And that Libya numbers is still less than those who say they followed news about the economy “very closely.”


Part of the problem with Libya is that it’s a country few Americans know much about, and the situation there is very muddled. Japan, on the other hand, is a known commodity, and a natural disaster and nuclear threat is something that connects at a more visceral level.


And that’s key to the politics here. It means many Americans are only starting to tune in to Libya, and that means they’re still forming their opinions.


For Obama, that’s the good news. A Quinnipiac poll released Wednesday showed the president’s approval rating dropping to 42 percent, with voters opposing U.S. involvement in Libya by a 47 percent-to-41 percent margin.


Similarly, a Gallup poll released Wednesday showed just 52 percent of people think Obama is a “strong and decisive leader.” That’s down from when Obama was in the 60s earlier in his presidency.


Most polling has shown that Americans remain unclear about precisely what the mission in Libya is. Obama tried to clarify things in his speech Monday night, but there’s plenty of work to be done on that front.


Part of the hesitance to support the mission is undoubtedly war fatigue. With the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan still very relevant today, another conflict is a hard sell.


Here’s why it can still work.


The first — and best — solution for Obama is if Gaddafi were to step aside. All of a sudden, Obama can claim victory, and whatever preceded that victory becomes less important.


Second, while Americans aren’t terribly clear on the endgame in Libya and may oppose the general concept of “U.S. involvement,” strong majorities in the Quinnipiac poll favor using cruise missiles to take down Libya’s air defense and using the U.S. military to protect Libyan civilians. Meanwhile, a plurality says military force should not be used to depose Gaddafi.


All three elements are essentially Obama’s foreign policy in Libya.


As that becomes clearer to the American people, Obama has a chance to turn things around. The conditions on the ground matter, first and foremost, but so does the American public’s willingness to support the commander in chief.


They’ve still got open minds.






Barbour mum on Huckabee endorsement: Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R) is being coy about reports that he’s reached out to former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee about an endorsement in case Huckabee doesn’t run for president.


“Neil, if you don’t run for president, I’d like to have your support,” Barbour told Fox News’s Neil Cavuto. “If I end up running, of course I want to get everybody’s support who’s not running.”


Barbour and Huckabee are longtime friends, so an endorsement wouldn’t be terribly surprising if Huckabee doesn’t run.


The contact between the two camps was first reported by Politico’s Jonathan Martin.






GOP poll shows Sherrod Brown in mid-40s: The potential GOP field to face Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) in 2012 isn’t lighting the world on fire yet, but a new poll suggests there’s an opportunity for whoever runs.


The poll, conducted by GOP pollster Strategic National last week, shows Brown stuck in the mid-40s in matchups with former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, state Treasurer Josh Mandel and Rep. Pat Tiberi.


Brown still leads each of them by double digits, but that’s at least partly because none of the three Republicans is well-known. None of the three have name IDs in the 50s.


Browns leads Blackwell 45 percent to 32 percent, Mandel 44 percent to 21 percent and Tiberi 46 percent to 21 percent.


The slightly better-known Blackwell, who ran for governor in 2006, leads both Tiberi and Mandel in a prospective head-to-head primary matchup. Reports have indicated Mandel is leaning towards running, while Blackwell has started indicated interest in recent days.






Fixbits:

• Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s approval rating is at 66 percent — near an all-time high — in a new Gallup poll.

• Americans are increasingly pessimistic about the state of the economy, but they aren’t taking it out on Obama, according to a new AP-GfK poll.

• A state House committee in Arkansas has cleared a congressional redistricting plan.

• Barbour is going to Tallahassee to meet with Florida state legislators.

• Republicans hold a slight lead on the generic ballot in new Quinnipiac polling numbers, 40 percent to 37 percent.

Must-reads:

• “President Obama calls for one-third cut to oil imports” — Steven Mufson, Washington Post

• “Ex-aide: Religion biggest hurdle to Romney nomination” — Beth Reinhard, National Journal

• “An Arizona Senate race waits to see if Giffords emerges to run” — Marc Lacey, New York Times

• “On jobs, where is Obama?” — Mitt Romney, USA Today

• “Black voters key in debate over new Virginia map” — Kyle Trygstad, CQ-Roll Call

Jeff Flake for Senate Campaign Rally

Come join Congressman Jeff Flake as he holds a Campaign Rally!

Time:   Friday, April 8 · 10:30am - 11:30am

-------------------------------
Location:  Shope's IGA
1940 S. Arizona Blvd
Coolidge, AZ

-------------------------------
More Info:  Join Congressman Jeff Flake as he criss-crosses the state of Arizona. He'll be at Shope's IGA as part of a campaign tour of the state to kick off his US Senate campaign.

Paid for by Jeff Flake for Senate, Inc.

NET RIGHT DAILY Must Reads for March 30, 2011

To view in your web browser, click here.

• Entitled to entitlements

• Sen. Marco Rubio: Why I won't vote to raise the debt limit

• Message to Republicans: Show us the cuts

• Sowell: An incoherent Libya policy

• Cantor says 'time is up' on the budget

• The political leadership crisis

• House Republicans move to wind down Fannie and Freddie

• Barone: The Tea Party must continue to make it's case

• Mooney for moochers

• Obama's approval hits new low

Read more at NetRightDaily.com.

RedState Morning Briefing For March 30, 2011

1. Barack Obama Is Now Admitting Some of the Libyan Rebels May Not Be Friendly


2. On Intervention and Opposition to the Libyan Engagement



3. Liberals Continue All-Out Wisconsin Assault


4. Winning the Battle and Losing the War


5. Hey Senator Schumer, Who are the Real Extremists?



6. Wisconsin AFL-CIO Holds Joint Rally with Planned Parenthood


7. On Ethanol, Conservatives Should Stand With Tom Coburn



8. The FAA Reauthorization and Reform Act & What Has Union Bosses in a Panic


—————————————————


1. Barack Obama Is Now Admitting Some of the Libyan Rebels May Not Be Friendly


This is so insane it makes my head hurt.


In an interview with NBC News and another with CBS News, Barack Obama is finally admitting some of the rebels we are helping in Libya may not be friendly to the United States.


Please click here for the rest of the post.




2. On Intervention and Opposition to the Libyan Engagement


Using the same rationale George W. Bush used to go into Iraq, Barack Obama has now gone into Libya.


It seems that the world is upside down. Suddenly Republicans are concerned about going into a Middle Eastern country and Democrats are gung-ho neocon warmongers.


The situation, of course, is not that simple.


Please click here for the rest of the post.






3. Liberals Continue All-Out Wisconsin Assault


Having failed to protect their place at the government teat by bravely running away during the legislative session, Wisconsin liberals have apparently decided to win the fight by trying to remove conservatives from the Wisconsin Supreme Court, which will presumably soon decide on whether the law stripping the public unions of collective bargaining power was properly passed. In the crosshairs right now is purportedly conservative Justice David Prosser. Now, Prosser has already been the subject of shenanigans from the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s liberal members - background on that is here. The gist of that particular case is that one of the Court’s liberal members accidentally-on-purpose leaked to the media that Prosser called one of the Court’s liberal Justices a “total b*tch” in a closed-door session about an ethics complaint concerning one of the Court’s other Justices.


Please click here for the rest of the post.






4. Winning the Battle and Losing the War


Republicans have, of late, gotten very good at winning battles while losing wars. Look no further than Wisconsin. While the GOP got its legislative victory, the left is now intent on going gangbusters over recall efforts.


But before they even get there, the left is going after Justice David Prosser on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Leon has a good write up on this, but the nutshell here is very important — David Prosser is all that stands between the Wisconsin Supreme Court flipping to the left.


Do what you can to help re-elect David Prosser or the battle we just won will be thrown out by the Wisconsin Supreme Court. It is that simple.


But there is more.


The GOP is not taking the recall threat in Wisconsin seriously. We’ve diverted our attention elsewhere and we need to gear back up. You need to pull out your credit cards and checkbooks and give every penny you can to the Wisconsin GOP right now.


Yes, you must.


Please click here for the rest of the post.






5. Hey Senator Schumer, Who are the Real Extremists?


As the Democrats continue to bankrupt the nation with crushing debt, and stymie Republican attempts to balance the budget, we were beginning to wonder if they had their own plan to achieve budget solvency. The New York Times just revealed their monumental plan for the future of our fiscal stability. Drum roll……Labeling Republicans and tea partiers as extremists!


Please click here for the rest of the post.






6. Wisconsin AFL-CIO Holds Joint Rally with Planned Parenthood


Maybe if you’ve been a union member for some time, you’ve been able to avoid some level of discomfort over your union dues going to the political campaigns of Democrats. Maybe you’re a hard-working conscientious person who can rationalize this by saying that, after all, the Democrats are more pro-union than Republicans, generally speaking. Maybe you were able to swallow your irritation at the massive union support for Obamacare despite knowing full well that Obamacare was likely to eliminate many working class jobs as companies could not afford to afford the mandate. Now, on the other hand, the Wisconsin AFL-CIO has gone one step farther to stand in defense of an organization - Planned Parenthood - that has nothing whatsoever to do with union or working issues. That’s right: from now on you (or at least your union dues) are now in favor of taxpayer funding for abortion.


Please click here for the rest of the post.






7. On Ethanol, Conservatives Should Stand With Tom Coburn


Tom Coburn, Ben Cardin, Charles Koch (yes, *that* Charles Koch), and others, want to end the ethanol subsidy. Grover Norquist who is as wrong on ethanol as he is on FedEx v. UPS and matters relating to Jihad, declares it to be a tax increase to get rid of the ethanol subsidy.


In a letter to Norquist, Coburn defends ending the subsidy.


Please click here for the rest of the post.






8. The FAA Reauthorization and Reform Act & What Has Union Bosses in a Panic


On Monday, the International Association of Machinists won an election to represent 2,900 employees at AirTran. The union (the same union calling for airline re-regulation) won despite the fact that 1,906 (nearly 66%) of AirTran’s employees did not vote for unionization. In fact, 36% of the employees did not vote at all. The union’s victory is a good example of how President Obama’s union appointments at the National Mediation Board have changed 75 years worth of precedence in order to favor unions. It is also a good example of why the fight over the FAA Reauthorization and Reform Act of 2011 is important and why the LaTourette/Costello Amendment to H.R. 658 should be defeated (again).


Please click here for the rest of the post.




Sincerely yours,


Erick Erickson
Editor, RedState.com

The Washington Post Morning Fix: Who wins in a government shutdown

washingtonpost.com/thefix


Who wins in a government showdown


By Chris Cillizza and Aaron Blake


Talk of a government shutdown, on hold for weeks, is starting to heat up again. And so is the debate over which side would win politically in a shutdown scenario.


Former Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean said Tuesday he would be “quietly rooting for” a shutdown if he was still at the helm of the DNC. “I know who’s going to get blamed – we’ve been down this road before,” Dean added in a reference to the 1995 government shutdown.


Meanwhile South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint (R), a leader of the tea party movement in Congress, offered up a warning to his own party about the dangers of shying away from a shutdown in an interview with National Review; “I just hope that we are not so afraid of a government shutdown that we are not willing to make the right decisions,” he said. “That is what the tea party is for.”


With major figures in both parties now openly discussing the possibility, it’s clear that the next nine days will be filled with as much political posturing as policy debate, as both sides prepare for the political cataclysm of a government shutdown.


But which side is in better position to win?


Democrats, as epitomized by Dean’s comments, believe the 1995 shutdown(s) — the federal government actually closed its door on two separate occasions — prove that the president enters any standoff with an edge.


In the 1995 shutdown, President Bill Clinton used the bully pulpit to cast himself as the adult in the room, working to make sure people got back to work. House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R), on the other hand, was painted into a corner — caricatured as an ideologue unconcerned about average people. Clinton won, as most people point to the government shutdown as the start of a political comeback that carried him to a second term a year later.


That analogy is imperfect, however, for one major reason: Gingrich was a high profile and divisive figure nationally — not to mention within his own party — and Clinton took advantage of that fact to the hilt. Current House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) is nowhere near as well known or disliked, making it harder to villainize him or turn a government shutdown into a personality battle between the president and the speaker.


And, while conservatives like DeMint focus on the importance of holding the line on budget cuts in order to stay true to the tea party element of the GOP that helped deliver across-the-board victories in 2010, there is also evidence that Republicans hold the high ground on the budget debate with electorally critical independents.


In a survey conducted by Democracy Corps, a liberal polling consortium, in 50 competitive House districts currently held by Republicans, a majority of independents (53 percent) favor the GOP plan to cut $61 billion from domestic programs this year. Just 38 percent of independents oppose that idea.


Asked whether they were more concerned that Republicans would go too far in making cuts or that Democrats wouldn’t go far enough, 57 percent of independents were more concerned about Democrats not cutting enough, while 35 percent were more worried about the GOP cutting too much.


Of course, those numbers — and all polling on the possibility of a government shutdown — exists in a vacuum. Until the government actually shuts down and the battle to lay blame begins, it’s impossible to game out the political consequences.


And, the fact that House Republican leaders are reaching out to conservative House Democrats about the possibility of securing their votes for a budget deal — an acknowledgment they may lose a significant part of the tea party base for any compromise — suggests that the GOP doesn’t want to risk the unpredictable politics of a shutdown against an adversary like Obama.


It’s that fear of the unknown — politicians, as a rule, do not love the unknown — that we’ve long believed would ultimately lead to a compromise on the budget. But, with both sides beginning the shutdown spin wars in earnest, it might be time to reconsider that notion.






DCCC chair and members pays full dues: Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Steve Israel (N.Y.) recently complained to the New York Times about House members who don’t pay their dues.


Now he’s trying to lead by example. Along with DCCC recruiting chairwoman Allyson Schwartz (Pa.), Israel announced at a members’ dinner Tuesday night that they are paying their dues in full — for the entire cycle — this month.


Together that’s $450,000 for the committee. Israel and Schwartz join Reps. Henry Cuellar (Texas) and Dutch Ruppersberger (Md.), the only other Democrats so far to pay all their dues. They’re hoping to get more lawmakers to pay up in the next few days, so it will count towards their first quarter numbers.


The DCCC has a lot of money to raise: the committee is was $17.3 in debt at the end of February.






Obama praises Kaine, Rangel: On a trip to New York for two party events, Obama had kind words for both DNC Chairman Tim Kaine and ethically embattled New York Rep. Charlie Rangel (D).


“We are in the district of somebody who helped us to deliver on a historic legislative session over the last couple of years and has been a leader here for a very long time,” Obama told supporters at Harlem’s Studio Museum. “He doesn’t like to remember how long it’s been — but Congressman Charlie Rangel is in the house.”


The president, meanwhile, seemed to hint at a Kaine run for Senate in Virginia.


“Since he happened to be a really great governor for the Commonwealth of Virginia, I suspect that, should he choose to do so, he would also be an outstanding senator from the Commonwealth of Virginia,” Obama said. “But whatever decisions he makes, I just want everybody here to know that he has done an outstanding job for me and an outstanding job for the country. And so I could not be prouder of him.”






Santorum on daughter’s illness: Former senator Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), who canceled a trip to Iowa last weekend over a family emergency, tells the AP his youngest daughter’s health pulls him in both directions regarding a potential presidential campaign.


Two-year-old Isabella has trisomy 18, or Edwards syndrome — a condition that in the vast majority of cases causes death within a year. He said that, on the one hand, he wants to spend as much time with her as possible; on the other, he wants to “fight for people, for children like Bella.”


Santorum says he’ll make a decision in the next few months. He’s trying to figure out if he can raise enough money for a serious campaign while also caring for his seven children.






Fixbits:

• Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) looks like she’s got a backup plan in case this whole running-for-president thing doesn’t work out. She has filed for reelection to her House seat.

• Former Minnesota state GOP chairman Ron Carey, who was a top aide to Bachmann last year, is supporting former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty , and he took a shot at Bachmann by adding: “I don’t want to have an emotionally filled endeavor only to get 35 percent [of the vote] in November.” Former Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) chooses Pawlenty too.

• Pawlenty says his past support for cap and trade was a “mistake” and “stupid.”

• “Sarah Palin’s Alaska,” the TV shows starring the former Alaska governor and her family, got a $1.2 million production credit from a law Palin signed in 2008.

• Former senator Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) suggests social security is losing solvency because of legalized abortion.

• Political insiders are starting to believe in Pawlenty and Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour in the 2012 GOP presidential field, according to National Journal poll. Mike Huckabee and Newt Gingrich, meanwhile, have seen their stock among insiders fall.

• Democrat Ann McLane Kuster is in for a second run against Rep. Charlie Bass (R-N.H.).

• Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wis.) told constituents at a town hall that his $174,000 congressional salary doesn’t allow him to live “high off the hog.”

• Pizza magnate Herman Cain, who stirred the Southern Republican Leadership Conference last year with an impassioned speech, will return to the newly re-named Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans.

Must-reads:

• “Interview with RomneyCare author Jonathan Gruber” — Jennifer Rubin, Washington Post

• “How big GOP 2012 field could boil down to three” — Linda Feldmann, Christian Science Monitor

• “Huck keeps the 2012 field guessing” — Christian Heinze, The Hill