{"id":2525,"date":"2002-06-10T13:03:01","date_gmt":"2002-06-10T18:03:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/?p=2525"},"modified":"2002-06-10T13:03:01","modified_gmt":"2002-06-10T18:03:01","slug":"goofiness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2002\/06\/10\/goofiness.html","title":{"rendered":"Goofiness"},"content":{"rendered":"

Republican activists are compiling dossiers of lobbyists to identify which ones are Republicans, which are Democrats, and how they have been making personal contributions to candidates in the past. The idea is to pressure groups looking for largesse in Washington to only hire Republicans<\/a> for their top spots.<\/p>\n

Is that just the goofiest thing you’ve ever heard of? I mean, where do I begin?<\/p>\n

Like GOP stonewalling on judicial appointments when it was Clinton in the White House and the Republicans in charge of Congress, this can only backfire into an endless spiral of Partisan Correctness. Is anyone in the GOP thinking of how the Democrats will act the next time they’re on top? Are they so blind to think that the Democrats will never again control Congress? Hell, Democrats own the Senate — will this same data be used to exclude Republican lobbyists from those hallowed halls?<\/p>\n

Stupid, stupid, stupid. (And I’d say the same thing if it were the Democrats doing it, which they will.)<\/p>\n

Or consider what it really means. Lobbyists come to Congress to lobby for a cause. Now, you’d think that the nature of the cause itself would control whether the GOP (or the Dems) would want to hear from that particular special interest constituency. The political affiliation of the guy sitting there promising Big Contributions in exchange for This Little Piece of Legislation We’d Like to See Passed would seem to be as unimportant as, say, their eye color or what church they go to, if any.<\/p>\n

Now, all of the sudden, we have a litmus test. Lobbying groups will have to make sure that they send over GOP glad-handers to visit with GOP pols, and Democratic reps to meet with Democratic pols. Trade groups will be busy firing all their executive heads each time the party politics shift. <\/p>\n

Hell, half those folks are former Congressmen themselves, or else worked for Congressmen. Are the pols who are welcoming this data thinking ahead to where they might be working (or getting fired from) in a decade or two?<\/p>\n

If someone from the Industrial Widgets Association wants to talk about raising tariffs on imported Widgets, access to Senators, Congressmen, or the President ought not rely on whether the guy or gal gave money to Gore or Bush, but on (if we want to play hardball politics) whether the IWA <\/i>did.<\/p>\n

Stupid, stupid, stupid.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Republican activists are compiling dossiers of lobbyists to identify which ones are Republicans, which are Democrats, and how they have been making personal contributions to candidates in the past. 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in the House","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 31-Jan-08 8:52am","format":false,"excerpt":"While I've not been wowed by the performance of the Dems in Congress to date (I really dislike the Democratic leadership, and, hampered by GOP obstructions in the Senate, they've...","rel":"","context":"In "Elections 2008"","block_context":{"text":"Elections 2008","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law\/elections-2008"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":136828,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2018\/06\/23\/george-will-is-voting-for-democrats-in-congress-this-fall.html","url_meta":{"origin":2525,"position":1},"title":"George Will is voting for Democrats in Congress this fall","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 23-Jun-18 4:27pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Will is often too in love with his own voice, and I disagree profoundly with him on so many policy matters, which he casts out like pearls before swine, giving erudite essays that tend toward heartlessness.But apparently he's finally had enough.\u275d Amid the carnage of Republican misrule in Washington, there\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":31548,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/11\/30\/gop-finally-finds-a-house-committee-chair-for-a-woman.html","url_meta":{"origin":2525,"position":2},"title":"GOP finally finds a House committee chair for a woman","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 30-Nov-12 4:48pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Doesn't sound like a trivial job, to be honest, but it's also hardly something you associate with headlines, career advancement, fame, or prominent House leadership.\u00a0Reshared post from +Talking Points MemoDemocrats snicker as Republicans finally appoint a female committee chair: Embedded Link Dems, Progressives Snicker As House GOP Finally Appoints Female\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":42442,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/06\/08\/political-platform-zaniness.html","url_meta":{"origin":2525,"position":3},"title":"Political Platform Zaniness","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 8-Jun-14 2:36pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Courtesy of the Texas GOP.Granted, political platforms tend to be, any more, fairly fringe ivory tower ideals that nobody thinks will happen (or even particular want to have happen). \u00a0But this bunch of proposals can essentially be summed up as \"we need to use our God-given guns to drive off\u2026","rel":"","context":"In 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