DeMint to leave Senate; 2014 now even more interesting

Just when it looked like Georgia’s 2014 GOP primary might attract the most national attention, with Sen. Saxby Chambliss facing a likely challenge from his right, South Carolina upped the ante significantly. Jim DeMint, the Palmetto State’s arch-conservative senator, said today he is resigning his seat to take over as leader of the Heritage Foundation.

Initial reports are that South Carolina law calls for the governor to appoint DeMint’s replacement, who would then stand for election in 2014. The state’s other senator, Lindsey Graham, is also up for re-election that year and there’s speculation that he’ll also be challenged by another Republican. That could make for quite a twin-bill in South Carolina’s 2014 GOP primary — not to mention that Gov. Nikki Haley faces some dissension from within her own ranks and might not cruise to re-election herself. Graham and even Chambliss might be breathing a little easier this morning, knowing the activists’ attention and money will now be spread around a little more widely.

Meanwhile, all eyes will be on Haley for her choice as DeMint’s replacement. DeMint is renowned as one of the Senate’s most conservative members and a leader for the tea-party senators elected since 2010. While the Senate will remain under Democratic control for at least two more years, the difference between a replacement as ideologically firm as DeMint and one closer to Graham could loom large — particularly given Democrats’ threatened reform of the filibuster.

– By Kyle Wingfield

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248 comments Add your comment

Politico

December 6th, 2012
8:19 pm

@@

You cry and whine for crying and whinings sake..

If that is your life

So be it

Politico

December 6th, 2012
8:22 pm

@@

Besides your whining, your boy is whining… Go change his diaper and have a great weekend

@@

December 6th, 2012
8:24 pm

Politico:

Pointing out your silly bravado isn’t coming to someone’s defense. It’s merely pointing our your silliness. Has he challenged you to a sweat fest at the gym?

@@

December 6th, 2012
8:31 pm

…have a great weekend

You too.

Again, bs. I couldn’t care less how your weekend goes.

@@

December 6th, 2012
8:35 pm

Whoa!

Jeff Jacoby has written an article at The Boston Globe about Grant’s General Order #11. I wonder if josef’s seen it.

Politico

December 6th, 2012
8:36 pm

@@

Your selective condemnation and biased bs is noted..

It is all good go play mommy for him and let me know when you have anything of substance and fact to discuss

@@

December 6th, 2012
8:38 pm

Politico:

If he’s challenged you to a sweat fest at the gym, I’ll call him silly just to satisfy your need.

Fair enough?

Politico

December 6th, 2012
8:41 pm

@@

How Christian?

You must be evangelical

@@

December 6th, 2012
8:49 pm

You must be evangelical

Although, I have no problem with those who choose the evangelical path, I’d have to know what one is before I could be one. Since I don’t, I’m thinkin’ not.

ODD OWL

December 6th, 2012
8:51 pm

The Republican party is in total meltdown… First DeMint quite, then small Dick Armery stole $8 million from freedom Work and high tailed it out of town… Karl Rove has been fired by Fox Fantasy News… Who’s next, Mean Mitch McConnell… He cannot win re-election against Ashley Judd… Wow, wipe out… President Obama and the Democrats are large and in charge… Boehner is trapped between a rock and a hard place… I guess McConnell forgot that he was filibustering his own bill… Go figure !!!

Politico

December 6th, 2012
8:52 pm

@@

And Tibs thanks you for being his mommy

Take care

Linda

December 6th, 2012
8:55 pm

It seems to me that the conservatives on this blog have all been united about the fiscal cliff, the deficit & the debt. It’s the Democrats on this blog that are divided.

There’s 2 types of Democrats on this blog: the Moderates & the Progressives. It’s easy to tell the difference.

The Moderate Democrats seem to agree with the conservatives that the fiscal cliff needs to avoided & that the deficit & debt need to be addressed. The Moderate Democrats & conservatives on this blog disagree only on HOW to fix the problems.

The Progressives seem to disagree with both the conservatives & the Moderate Democrats that the deficits & debt are not a problem & that they need to increase. They will not touch Medicare, etc.

Most of the conservatives & the Moderate Democrats are clueless about the progressives’ agenda.

The progressive presidents were Wilson, FDR, Johnson & now Obama.

There is not a doubt in my mind that the progressives’ agenda is to destroy the USA, i.e. the “transformation of America,” from the free enterprise system to socialism with deficits, debt, nationalization/federalism, economic & social justice, universal health care, unemployment, record numbers of people on govt. assistance as their sole source of income, etc. They must destroy America in order to rebuild it.

There have been numerous books written for decades on the progressive agenda. Their goal is within sight & no, you will not hear this on FOX News.

@@

December 6th, 2012
8:56 pm

Okay! I looked it up…evangelical. While a believer, I’m not a street preacher. I leave that to those better suited for the task.

I adhere to the “dusting off of sandals” command.

@@

December 6th, 2012
8:58 pm

Take care

Of you!!??!!

Done.

schnirt

Politico

December 6th, 2012
9:07 pm

@@

You great Christian?

Keep up what you do, especially on the national political front…

Tibs will have clean diaper and full bottle and you will feel better about yourself..

Aren’t ypu special

Hahahahahahahahaha

Hopeful

December 6th, 2012
10:13 pm

Jim you have my blessing may God be with you!!

ODD OWL

December 6th, 2012
10:25 pm

The socialist Republicans are the ones who ran up the debt and created the deficit… Since 1981 the rebel Republicans ran up $16 trillion worth of debt and Bush/Cheney left President Obama a $1.5 trillion yearly deficit… The Republicans seem to be the socialists… There is only one wing of the Democrat party, the Obama Democrats… Hillary = 2016

Linda

December 6th, 2012
10:50 pm

Poor Odd @ 10:25, You have no idea where you are, i.e. on a conservative blog. How do you expect conservatives will remotely believe your lies?

Wipe Out

December 7th, 2012
12:17 am

Linda

Even conservatives do not believe your lies…..

You are something else. Keep up the not so great work.

ODD OWL

December 7th, 2012
12:22 am

@ Linda 10:50…. Tis Tis Tis… I guess Albert Einstein was right when he said; “The only thing in the world more dangerous than ignorance is arrogance.” Arrogance is ignorance matured… Share the wealth, tax the rich, pay down the debt…

Jack ®

December 7th, 2012
5:57 am

I noticed that someone earlier mentioned the Affordable Care Act. I suggest it be read before anyone sings its praises: Epecially those of you who have fifty or more employees.

Jack ®

December 7th, 2012
6:01 am

I wish I’d said that, Linda.

CC

December 7th, 2012
7:54 am

Today is Pearl Harbor Day. 2,403 people were killed, 18 U. S. ships were either sunk or damaged and over 100 aircraft were destroyed at Hickam Field on this date in 1941 in the Japanese attack on Pearl. America went to war in defense of our nation and the freedoms we cherished. The price paid by Americans in this effort was paid by ALL Americans, military and civilian.

The majority of American voters would now give away freely what generations of Americans fought in many wars to preserve.

Today is both a historic and a sad day . . .

Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed

December 7th, 2012
8:02 am

Can any of the libs on here explain why President Incompetent insists on raising the rates of the top 2% but not addressing the loopholes and deductions side of things in order to raise revenues?

If you simply raise the rates, the rich will simply do what the always (and rightly) do, which is to find ways to save taxes through different deductions. In other words, you’re not going to get another dime from the rich because their effective rate will never change.

If you address the deductions and loopholes, as the GOP wants, you limit the ways the rich can avoid paying their actual rate, thus raising revenues.

I know the answer to my question, but I’m not going to type it out just yet. Let’s see if the libs on here know why.

CC

December 7th, 2012
8:10 am

Tiberius:

I know the answer, but I’ll wait to see if anyone else posts with it . . .

HDB

December 7th, 2012
8:28 am

Tiberius – pulling the tail of the left AND right

December 6th, 2012
6:25 pm
Johnny boy, you don’t have to use liberal racist Democrats in the same sentence.

They’re one in the same.”

Tibbi…I can say the same thing about conservative, racist Republicans….and there’s substantive PROOF that they are one in the same!!

Do you really want to go there????

JDW

December 7th, 2012
8:28 am

Would you look at that…more Republican hipocrasy…color me surprised…NOT.

“The National Republican Senatorial Committee quietly sent $760,000 to the Missouri Republican Party in early November, just as the state GOP was mounting a last-minute TV ad blitz to boost Rep. Todd Akin’s sagging Senate campaign, according to records released Thursday.”

Why it seems like just yesterday they said…

“When asked in September if the committee would consider reversing course and backing Akin, Texas Sen. John Cornyn, the NRSC chairman, flatly told POLITICO, “We’re done.”

What were they thinking? When asked they said…

“No Comment”

And you wonder why no one trusts them. :roll:

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2012/12/nrsc-sent-late-funds-to-todd-akin-84735.html#ixzz2EN8nq26A

JDW

December 7th, 2012
8:30 am

@Tiberius…”Can any of the libs on here explain why President Incompetent insists on raising the rates of the top 2% but not addressing the loopholes and deductions side of things in order to raise revenues?”

Actually Obama wants to do both…but don’t let that stop a good lie.

HDB

December 7th, 2012
8:34 am

Tiberius – pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed

December 7th, 2012
8:02 am

The reasons why BOTH must be done are evident:

1) If you just close the exemptions, you’ll reach the middle class. In order to ensure that the middle class tax exemption is maintained, the RATES need to be increased

2) Economic history showed that the nation achieved optimum economic growth under high tax rates! Note the greatest expansion of the middle class occured under the Eisenhower Administration…and the optimum tax rate was 90%! In recent history, the nation reached optimum economic growth during the Clinton Administratiion where the optimum tax rate was 39.6%. Ronald Reagan had to pass tax increases in order to stimulate the economy during the first recession of his term.

3) The math doesn’t add up by just closing the exemptions!

4) As Willie Sutton said when he was asked why he robbed banks: “…’cause that’s where the money is!” When 10% of the populace controls 90% of the nations’s WEALTH, where should the government go to get necessary increases in funding??

Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed

December 7th, 2012
8:44 am

“Actually Obama wants to do both…but don’t let that stop a good lie.”

And his proposal containing both can be found – where – JDW?

Doesn’t exist, sonny. But nice try at bailing out President Incompetent.

Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed

December 7th, 2012
8:48 am

HDB, using only tax rates to justify economic expansion and growth are the sign of a desperate attempt to justify President Incompetent’s actions – none of which have worked in the past 4 years.

Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed

December 7th, 2012
8:55 am

I wonder which state didn’t report their numbers this time . . . .

carlosgvv

December 7th, 2012
8:57 am

Looks like this Tea Party rat is one of the first to realize the ship is sinking.

Cheesy Grits is gone but not forgotten

December 7th, 2012
9:00 am

UNEMPLOYMENT AT 7.7%!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wonder what Kyle will write about today ?

I got 5 bucks it wont be about the above.

War on Christmas ? Or maybe Benghazi ?

Agenda 21 ?

Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed

December 7th, 2012
9:02 am

John Q proving once again he knows nothing about sock puppets.

Or anything else for that matter.

JDW

December 7th, 2012
9:06 am

@Tiberius…”And his proposal containing both can be found – where”

Why right on the web for anyone with enough sense to look…oppps cuts you out…guess you need spoon feeding sonny.

CNBC did a nice little synopsis…maybe your reading level can handle it…

“Obama: increase taxes by $1.6 trillion over 10 years, raised by permitting tax rates on individual income exceeding $200,000 and family incoming over $250,000 to return to Clinton-era levels of 36 and 39.6 percent, up from 33 and 35 percent now. Increase taxes on dividend income and reduce the value of deductions and exemptions for those earning above $200,000 and $250,000. Renew the 2 percentage point payroll tax holiday or a similar tax cut for workers. Return taxes on large estates to 2009 levels.”

http://www.cnbc.com/id/100276654

Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!

December 7th, 2012
9:11 am

540,000 are so discouraged they’ve left the workforce. There’s your 7.7% unemployment.

Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!

December 7th, 2012
9:13 am

Obozo’s tax increase on small business will reduce his deficit from $1,100,000,000,000 to $1,020,000,000,000.

yay

Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed

December 7th, 2012
9:15 am

Specifics, JDW?

I know that doing your own work is foreign to you, but using a general report as a substitute for a specific proposal from the head of the Executive branch isn’t proof.

Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)

December 7th, 2012
9:21 am

Jobless Rate Falls to 7.7%

“US Economy improves, Conservatives Slash Own Wrists”

Cheesy Grits is gone but not forgotten

December 7th, 2012
9:25 am

Jobless Rate Falls to 7.7%

“US Economy improves, Conservatives Slash Own Wrists”

Its truly sad that they hate Obama so much they would rather see America do poorly and people suffer.

John

December 7th, 2012
9:29 am

Taken from the BLS site.

The unemployment rate edged down to 7.7 percent in November. The number of unemployed persons, at 12.0 million, changed little. (See table A-1.)

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men (7.2 percent), adult women (7.0 percent), teenagers (23.5 percent), whites (6.8 percent), and Hispanics (10.0 percent) showed little or no change in November. The unemployment rate for blacks (13.2 percent) declined over the month. The jobless rate for Asians was 6.4 percent (not
seasonally adjusted), little changed from a year earlier. (See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.)

The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was little changed at 4.8 million in November. These individuals accounted for 40.1 percent of the unemployed. (See table A-12.)

The civilian labor force participation rate declined by 0.2 percentage point to 63.6 percent in November, offsetting an increase of the same amount in October. Total employment was about unchanged in November, following a combined increase of 1.3 million over the prior 2 months. The employment-population ratio, at 58.7 percent, changed little in November. (See table A-1.)

The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to as involuntary part-time workers), at 8.2 million in November, was little changed over the month. These individuals were working part time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find a full-time job. (See table A-8.)

In November, 2.5 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force, essentially unchanged from a year earlier. (These data are not seasonally adjusted.) These individuals were not in the labor force, wanted and were available for work, and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed because they had not
searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. (See table A-16.)

Among the marginally attached, there were 979,000 discouraged workers in November, little changed from a year earlier. (These data are not seasonally adjusted.) Discouraged workers are persons not currently looking for work because they believe no jobs are available for them. The remaining 1.5 million persons marginally attached to the labor force in November
had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey for reasons such as school attendance or family responsibilities. (See table A-16.)

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Unchanged. Unchanged. Unchanged.

Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!

December 7th, 2012
9:31 am

Total Nonfarm Payrolls

January 2009: 134 million

November 2012: 134 million

yay

Cheesy Grits is gone but not forgotten

December 7th, 2012
9:34 am

Ill give you a real world example of how much better things are.

I have a friend who works at a Technical College.

The type where they just train people to go straight to work.

She works in Career Services and she says the job market is looking better and better each month.

They are having zero problems placing graduates.

Her exact quote

” Everybody is hiring ‘

Bottom line it took a little while to get over the Bush recession. But with 4 plus years of solid Democratic leadership we are finally turning this ship around.

Every economic indicator whether it be the markets or unemployment are pointing to good times ahead.

Cheesy Grits is gone but not forgotten

December 7th, 2012
9:36 am

Cheesy – Racism and bigotry are hard (impossible, more likely) for some people to overcome. This is especially true when from cradle to grave you are taught and surround yourself with nothing but hatred and a belief in your own superiority. An uber successful black man in a position of power just drives them dilly.

Agree 100 percent

HDB

December 7th, 2012
9:39 am

Tiberius – pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed

December 7th, 2012
8:48 am

Tibbi….if two things would have occurred, much of this wouldn’t have been necessary:

1) If Republicans hadn’t been obstructionist
2) If the first stimulus had been bigger…..

Remember: even REAGAN used stimulus tactics to spur the economy during a recession! The government at times is the first/last hope of economic activity. I looked at those who GAINED employment because of the initial stimulus.

Also, Tibbi, it has been shown that higher tax rates DO spur economic expansion because what vehicles wealthy people use for investment purposes ALSO are tax RELIEF mechanisms!! Note now that Apple is bringing MAC production lines BACK TO THE US!!

John

December 7th, 2012
9:41 am

Change only a demwit could believe in.

Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed

December 7th, 2012
9:47 am

“I looked at those who GAINED employment because of the initial stimulus. ”

You mean the almost no one who gained employment during the first stimulus, HDB?

You know, ’cause the goal post kept getting moved, like jobs saved vs. created, or par-time jobs being classified the same as full-time jobs, or lower paying jobs being created. . .

And it has NEVER been shown that higher tax rates spur economic expansion, as tax rates are a small part of what actually drives an economy. You can use one-off statistics all you want, HDB, but cherry-picking your statistics on taxes vs. economic growth is just that – cherry-picking that which you do not understand.

Cheesy Grits is gone but not forgotten

December 7th, 2012
9:48 am

Ratios of CEO pay vs. average worker pay:
Japan 11:1
Germany 12:1
France 15:1
Italy 20:1
Canada 20:1
South Africa 21:1
Britain 22:1
Mexico 47:1
Venezuela 50:1
United States 475:1

Aint it grand to be that far ahead of Venezuela?

Unreal. Of course you’ll be told that you just hate the rich.

But when people like Mitt Romney pay half the rate the average American does and has car elevators in his garage.

Then id say the scales have tipped a bit too much in favor of the rich.

I think that is perfectly reasonable position and not just ” hating rich ” or ” wealth envy “

Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed

December 7th, 2012
9:48 am

Ahhhhh. The racism card.

Used when the terminally stupid have nothing else to write.