" About two dozen individuals, couples or corporations have given $1 million or more to Republican super PACs this year, an exclusive club empowered by the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision and other rulings to pool their money into federal political committees and pour it directly into this year’s presidential campaign.

" Collectively, their contributions have totaled more than $50 million this cycle, making them easily the most influential and powerful political donors in politics today. They have relatively few Democratic counterparts so far, with most of the leading liberal donors from past years giving relatively small amounts — or not at all — to the Democratic super PACs. "

" Using the Tea Party’s database of organizations (online at TeaPartyPatriots.org), the scholars dispute the group’s claim that the growth of their movement is a direct response to increased government debt and higher taxes. Fetner and King told conference attendees that the facts reveal the opposite: lower-taxed counties have a greater propensity to give rise to Tea Party organizations. "

" The conservative gay rights group, GOProud, was banned this year, but two prominent white nationalists were allowed to appear on a panel opposing multiculturalism.

" And they were hardly sent packing. Iowa Republican Rep. Steve King of Iowa fawned over Peter Brimelow, founder of the white nationalist site VDARE, saying, “I read your books!” Tomorrow, white nationalist Bob Vandervoort is scheduled to appear alongside two other Republican members of Congress. "

" Fallows responds:

"...Newt Gingrich knows exactly what he is doing when he calls Obama the "food stamp" president, just as Ronald Reagan knew exactly what he was doing when talking about "welfare Cadillacs." There are lots of other ways to make the point about economic hard times -- entirely apart from which person and which policies are to blame for today's mammoth joblessness, and apart from the fact that Congress sets food stamp policies. You could call him the "pink slip president," the "foreclosure president," the "Walmart president," the "Wall Street president," the "Citibank president," the "bailout president," or any of a dozen other images that convey distress. You decide to go with "the food stamp president," and you're doing it on purpose.

" If Joe Lieberman had been elected, I would be wary of attacks on his economic policy that called him "the cunning, tight-fisted president." If Henry Cisneros had or Ken Salazar does, I would notice arguments about ineffectiveness phrased as "the mañana administration." If Gary Locke were in office, then "the Manchurian candidate" jokes that had been used on John Huntsman would have a different edge. And so on. "

" Romney's claim that his experience at Bain Capital somehow qualified him to run a country's economy has always been a joke. Romney can't make money off America via the Bain model unless he runs for the leader of another country, buys America, fires a large percentage of the American workforce, reneges on American pensions and health plans, then somehow flips America to some dipshit country while he and every other vampire he works with stands around trying to count on their swollen, diabetic white-guy fingers the number of lives they've just destroyed. "

I enjoy seeing the hypothesis that family-tight circle of obligation => functional sociopath.

" As they become more political, however, think tanks — especially the newer and more advocacy-oriented institutions founded in the past decade or so — risk becoming both more conventional and less valuable. At a moment when we have too much noise in politics and too few constructive ideas, these institutions may simply become part of the intellectual echo chamber of our politics, rather than providing alternative sources of policy analysis and intellectual innovation. "

" Well, well, Tea-Party supporters. Looks like you don't actually like the Tea Party anymore.

" At least that's what the Pew Research Center suggested this week, when it found, surprisingly, that poll respondents are souring on both the Tea Party and the Republican Party in congressional districts represented by members of the House Tea Party Caucus. Pay close attention to the findings on the right: "

" "I'm so scared of this anti-Wall Street effort. I'm frightened to death," said Frank Luntz, a Republican strategist and one of the nation's foremost experts on crafting the perfect political message. "They're having an impact on what the American people think of capitalism."

" Luntz offered tips on how Republicans could discuss the grievances of the Occupiers, and help the governors better handle all these new questions from constituents about "income inequality" and "paying your fair share." "

" It should have been evident to clear-eyed observers that the Republican Party is becoming less and less like a traditional political party in a representative democracy and becoming more like an apocalyptic cult, or one of the intensely ideological authoritarian parties of 20th century Europe. This trend has several implications, none of them pleasant. "

" “Jon Huntsman is a passionate supporter of stem cell research which is leading to new discoveries that will improve and lengthen the lives of many Americans,” Miller said.

" “He supports federal funding for lines that have a demonstrated history of success — adult stem cells, non-embryonic stem-cells and certain types of embryonic stem cell research. Gov. Huntsman opposes federal funding for new lines that would do harm to embryos,” Miller added. "

RT @ebertchicago: The Holy War of Michelle Bachman: A devastating article in Rolling Stone.

" "They've gotten more involved in the party," said Norm Pawlewski, a lobbyist for the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition. "I've seen a change in the kind of people who are volunteering — and not only volunteering but working." "

" Here in Iowa, whose caucuses next winter will open the campaign, social and religious conservatives are pressing the likely candidates on issues like same-sex marriage and abortion rather than on jobs, the budget deficit and other economic concerns that leaders of both parties expect to dominate the general election. "

" As Minnesota governor from 2003 until this past January, he slashed a $4.3 billion budget deficit without raising taxes and has been a staunch voice against abortion and embryonic stem cell research. "

" For one thing, public opinion on abortion seems frozen in amber: Notably, in sharp contrast with issues like gay marriage, there's no evidence of generational change. But the main reason for the GOP's focus on restricting and ultimately outlawing abortion is simply that the Right-to-Life movement has worked very hard for many years to make itself perhaps the most impossible-to-ignore, dangerous-to-diss faction in Republican politics, particularly at the presidential level. "

" In California the Republican Party recently issued the following propaganda in its bid to destroy public employee unions. ... The document is full of lies and distortions, like the notion that existing laws protect public employees, "

" This weekend, Rep. Ron Paul won the straw poll at this year’s CPAC the second consecutive year. However, when he was interviewed about victory during America’s Newsroom on Fox News, yesterday, they aired the clip of his announced win in 2010 in which there is a significantly higher amount of booing from the crowd. "

" They participated in a debate today sponsored in part by the pro-life group Susan B. Anthony List and pro-life advocates have been closely watching whether current chairman Michael Steele will run the GOP for another election cycle or whether one of four other candidates will replace him. "

Candidate who decried miscegenation and wrote for a white separatist mag got 38% in his NY district.

"A new portrait of the health industry landscape has begun to take shape, with some of those major players shifting their dollars from the very Democrats who passed the law they seemingly endorsed at the White House. "