AHAHAHAHAHA. They're so fucking desperate.

Michael Steele is the guy who disproved the right-wing assertion that black people will always vote for the black candidate.

He also compared stem cell research to Nazi genetic testing on Jews.

On the plus side, one of the guys he beat became a Republican in the 1960's because the Democrats supported desegregation, and the other guy he beat released a CD this past fall with a song on it called "Barack the Magic Negro" and "The Star Spanglish Banner."

So by Republican standards, we'll call this progress. I hope he has what it takes to steer them back from crazy-town.

An indian politician!

Does it say more about Steele or the RNC?

What name? THIS, his selection, gives him a name.

He only got this because he's black, period. This is so insulting.

Watch out
You might get what youre after
Cool babies
Strange but not a stranger
Im an ordinary guy
Burning down the house

Hold tight wait till the partys over
Hold tight were in for nasty weather
There has got to be a way
Burning down the house

When you're one of only 3 in the country, that's probably not that difficult to stand out.

And Colin Powell is the most famous black Republican.

as someone that follows the republican party since I still lean that way on many issues, i've known about him for awhile. He's got a great personality, he still has some stances that annoy me. Still though, it's a step up from Mike Duncan.

He's still a Republican, just not a wingnut Republican. And I'd hold on to him if I were them. He's one of the few Republicans left that Americans can stand.

Steele is certainly the creme of an otherwise sad crop, that's for sure. I hope he turns out to be the moderate that he portrays himself as. That alone would be a welcome change.

Telling you guys... there won't be another white president for a while, people don't want to go back to the "old way", and the most popular music, athlete, actor, are black. Either another black president or a woman will follow Barack if he stays popular throughout

"You want to know how bad Bush was? He was so bad, it's now hard for a white dude to run for president!"

Tom Brady for President!!!

I voted for Obama and I still consider myself a Republican, I assume Collin Powell is similar. The Republican party is simply on the wrong side of too many issues, hopefully they can change for the better, and hopefully Steele can facilitate that.

Steele obviously got the job because he's black, but so what. The fact is, just like the Rooney rule in football, too many capable individuals don't get an opportunity because of the color of their skin. Steele got the job because he's black, but don't confuse that to mean he isn't capable.

Still, I personally consider it an uninspired choice. I don't think he's going to steer the party as I had hoped, but who knows, time will tell.

Not a promising start:

"I know we're living in the era of bipartisanship," Steele joked to the House GOP congressmen who gathered this weekend to discuss policy and politics. "I thought it was very important to send a signal, and you sent it loudly, very clearly, that this party, the leadership of this caucus, would stand first and foremost with the American people. You made it very clear that in order to grow through this recession that you not redistribute the wealth of the people of this nation."

The former Maryland lieutenant governor specifically spoke about his mother as he slammed the Obama plan.

"My mom was a sharecropper's daughter with a fifth-grade education," Steele said. "And my mother knew how to balance the budget without taking money out of my pocket."

Eh, I don't know about that. I actually don't think there's anything wrong with what he said, the Democrats wouldn't budge, and the bill is full of Democratic ideology without any Republican ideology (who would rather about 70% distributed to tax refunds, including all of the tax brackets, rather than 40%).

And frankly, I don't really disagree. There is a lot of pork and program funding in this bill, money not being spent terribly, but money that I think could be better served spent elsewhere. Considering many Republican constituents will be the ones footing the bill years down the road, I think they have a right to want their voices heard.

I think it was great that Obama went, talked to them, listened to them etc. But in the end, he generally discarded what they said, and the act only has meaning if it's not simply a political maneuver.

I go back to infrastructure, we have a SERIOUS need there, it spurs great temporary job growth, it gets money to companies, workers and the economy in general far better than a $300 million STD prevention program will. Fix our electric grid, fix our roads, our bridges, etc.

I think the stimulus effect from an STD program is more or less the same as for infrastructure, given that it can prop up many a service.


But I'm not one to say no to infrastructure upgrades.

And Republican ideology is what exactly? Oh yeah, massive tax cuts and spending that benefit the rich (along with torture and war. Saxby Chambliss said last week that the best way to stimulate the economy is to spend more on national defense. These are the things that define Republicans today).

Obama's plan targets the middle class and the poor in both tax cuts and spending and Republicans, of course, voted unanimously against that. That's what Obama didn't cave to and that's a GOOD thing.

But what bothers me about Steele's comments are things like what he said today:

And for those Democrats and others who just want to put up roadblocks and do the crazy typical play that they normally do — the name-calling, the obfuscation, and the sleight-of-hand — I don’t have time for it. Because there are important issues we have to face on the economy, the war, and issues that affect the poor, and I want to have this party in a position to move on those issues.

Roadblocks are exactly what Republicans have been doing. Steele went on to applaud obstructionism --when Republicans do it of course. What it says to me is that Republicans have learned exactly zilch from getting hammered the past two elections. They're still the party of the rich, still the hypocritical principlesss douche bags (calling for the banning of the filibuster when they were in charge and then turning around and setting the record for the number of filibusters when they weren't) that they always have been.

The rich don't worry me, the middle/upper middle class is hurting, and Democrats want to tax them further.

A family making 250k is considered rich, gets to pay 40k a year to send their kids to over priced schools and pays out the wazzo in taxes. The middle class in this country are the ones with the real tax burden, they're the ones hurting the most. Low income famlies, including me, pay so little in taxes. I don't need a tax cut, the middle class does, and Democrats are leaving them out.

Tax the rich, but redefine what rich is, because 250k, 300k, isn't always easy street.

The democrats wouldn't budge?!!! Where did you get that?

Obama invited Republicans to the White House, they sat down and commented how good it was that they would be treated with respect, they made suggestions about tax cuts they wanted in the package, Obama added them in even though he didn't agree with them -- and then the GOP voted against the bill to a person. Who is not budging here? I mean, they didn't get everything they wanted, but neither the Democrats. That how bi-partianship works, you know.

It would serve them right (as some democrats are saying) for them to be treated the way they treated the Democrats when Bush was in power. The democrats have enough votes to pass whatever they want and they don't need the GOP.

And, I might point out, they have the public's support in this. After the GOP's tricks last week, their popularity index dropped even lower than it had been! Americans see the GOP as the party that doesn't care about the average working class joe and just wants to once again give tax breaks to the wealthy, and this merely confirmed it.



I agree completely, which is basically the Democratic plan (imperfect though it is). The GOP just keeps screaming about tax cuts. No tax cut has ever built a road, improved a school, or fixed a bridge.

Isn't that what we've been doing the last eight years? How has that worked out?



Agreed; and the good thing is that the American people see that now.

If the GOP ever wants to be taken seriously as the opposition party, they need to stop doing the same crap that got them into this mess. I thought having Steele in there would help since he's more moderate, but he's basically advocating the same thing.

Mind you, I think government works best when there is an opposition party -- but geez, they need to have some principles and not just be the party of rich white folks.

(We could start another thread about what they need to do to fix things, I suppose)

That's a blatant falsehood, Eagle. The stimulus package contained tax credits and tax cuts totaling nearly $300 billion, targeted at the middle class and small businesses.

And it was Republicans who voted against it.

Oh really, and what is the income cutoff to receive the stimulous?

From what I've read in the bill, there isn't one. Every individual/married couple receives a tax credit of $500/1000. That amount is reduced by 2% over $75K/$150K.

There are also payroll tax cuts, college grant and loan increase, a $2500 tax credit for college, and a $7500 tax credit for first time home buyers.



To my knowledge, there are no tax increases in the bill at all.

There aren't, but two years from now if you're making 100k+ your getting a hefty tax increase. As for the bill, I heard there was a cap, but hadn't heard what it is. Either way, the 150k to 300k range isn't going to see shit, when they needed it far more than I do.

With all the existing tax credits (aprox 10k), I already pay barely anything, what the hell do I need more tax cuts for?