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McConnell and DeMint

Andrew: The most powerul aspect of this entire deal is how it has delivered a body-blow to the FNC/Limbaugh/RNC notion that Obama is an enemy and an alien and a threat. Instead, he’s now the architect of a deal with that most rightwing of Republicans, Mitch McConnell [bold mine-DL], a deal that legitimizes Obama on […]

Andrew:

The most powerul aspect of this entire deal is how it has delivered a body-blow to the FNC/Limbaugh/RNC notion that Obama is an enemy and an alien and a threat. Instead, he’s now the architect of a deal with that most rightwing of Republicans, Mitch McConnell [bold mine-DL], a deal that legitimizes Obama on the right with consequences McConnell probably hasn’t completely absorbed yet.

This description of McConnell doesn’t make sense. It was not very long ago that conservatives saw McConnell as the embodiment of establishment Republicanism, which is what he is. McConnell is a very dedicated partisan, and uses his parliamentary skills to serve partisan goals, but it is clear that he is “right-wing” only by comparison to the moderates in the Senate GOP. McConnell did his best to oppose Rand Paul’s nomination in Kentucky, which put him in direct opposition not just to Tea Partiers but also to the broader Republican right as well. McConnell has been a leading facilitator of virtually every Bush-era legislative disaster from the prescription drug benefit to TARP. If McConnell is “that most rightwing of Republicans,” the left-right political spectrum truly has no meaning. Indeed, the opposition to the deal from the Club for Growth and Jim DeMint underscores that McConnell does not represent the right wing of his party, and it suggests that McConnell may not be able to force the conservative members of his caucus to accept the deal he has hammered out.

While I can understand opposing the deal, DeMint and the Club are in error in their resistance to the deal when they insist that all of the tax cuts be made permanent. The absolutist rejection of the estate tax compromise is also foolish, since the 35%/$5 million exemption arrangement is probably the best that can be had. For the sake of adding hundreds of billions more in debt, DeMint appears to be prepared to try to kill the deal. It’s important to note here that if DeMint succeeds, it will be in the name of even greater fiscal irresponsibility.

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