Shocking News: Florida GOP Want Trey Radel To Resign

The Florida Republican establishment want Rep. Trey Radel to resign and fast. I can't say I blame them. Radel was charged with possession of cocaine. Now several Republicans are asking Radel to step down from Congress.

Lee County's Republican executive committee

"these actions have violated the trust of those whom he was elected to represent and fall short of the standards for an elected official; especially a member of the United States Congress," Lee County's Republican executive committee said in a statement that resembled one approved by Collierr County's GOP.

Lenny Curry, the Republican Party of Florida Chairman Lenny Curry

"The people of Florida’s 19th Congressional District need a Congressman who is 100 percent focused on the needs of Southwest Florida," Curry said in a statement. "Therefore, Congressman Radel should step down and focus his attention on rehabilitation and his family.”

According to Marc Caputo it would be in the best interest of both Lizbeth Benacquisto and former U.S. Rep. Connie Mack if Radel steeped down. Both are thinking about running for Radel's seat.

Bill Nelson Wins

Sen. Bill Nelson wins a third term. Early reports are that Nelson beat Connie Mack by 800,000 votes. That is what you call an ass kicking. Blogger Peter Schorsch had a harsh assessment of Connie Mack.

Congratulations to Bill Nelson, GFY to Connie Mack, the worst Fla. Senate candidate in years.

First Katherine Harris. Now Connie Mack. Does the Florida Republican establishment go out of their way to find the worst possible candidate to run against Nelson? Can we expect Alan Keyes to run against Nelson in 6 years?

Update: Senator Patty Murray, Chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, released this statement.

The people of Florida should be very proud to have re-elected a fierce advocate for their state in Senator Bill Nelson. Senator Nelson has always put Florida first, and fought tirelessly for Florida’s economy and for the seniors and middle class families of his state. Even though deep-pocketed Republican special interests spent many millions trying to deceive voters, Senator Nelson’s optimism and relentless drive won the day. I look forward to continue working with him in the United State Senate.

Shorter Bill Nelson: Don't Mess With My Cow

The funniest part of last night's Senate debate was Connie Mack constantly going after Bill Nelson's cows. Mack went after a property tax cut for cows on an owner's land. Nelson owns cows. Whether or not you think the tax cuts should be law is a worthy discussion. However, this has to be the first debate I've seen where cows became a heated issue. Mack twice went after Nelson's cows. Nelson finally had enough. Don't fuck with a man's cows.

Nelson responded that his family has pastured cattle on the land for 60 years. The second time Mack brought it up, Nelson shot back, "Not only has it been a cow pasture for 60 years, why don't we ask him why he takes two homestead exemptions, which is directly contrary to the Florida Constitution?"

The Fashionable Connie Mack

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Connie Mack was caught using campain money to buy clothes from Brooks Brothers. Whoops.

Records show identical charges of $234 were made on April 12 and May 16 and the campaign listed it as "clothing." Federal law prohibits the use of campaign funds for personal items including "clothing, other than items of de minimis value that are used in the campaign, such as campaign ‘'T-shirts' or caps with campaign slogans."

Wisely, Mack campaign spokesman David James admitted to The Buzz that the Brooks Brothers purchases were a screw-up. I hope Team Mack didn't think they could get away with buying clothing with campaign money. Former Hillsborough County Commissioner got into a scandal for using campaign money to Mack has other problems. His hometown newspaper, The Naples Daily News, withheld their endorsement. To make matters worse, the NDN editorial board wrote an open love letter to Mack's opponent Dave Weldon. Ouch.

The Ryan Budget Scam

Connie Mack IV made the mistake of telling the truth during a Republican primary. The truth is the Paul Ryan budget would not balance the budget anytime in the near future.

"I was here in Florida campaigning," Mack said Saturday, according to an undisputed quote reported by the conservative Florida Political Press. "You know that budget was a joke, doesn't balance the budget for years."

Mack is exactly right. The tea party base is too economically illiterate to crunch the numbers. They believe that Ryan's budget will balance the budget. They have the power of truthiness on their sides.

Ryan's plan is short on specifics. Ryan claims trickle down economics is the answer.

The reform plan, which was first advanced by the House Ways and Means Committee, would broaden the tax base, lower marginal rates and flatten the tax structure from six rates to two: 10 percent and 25 percent. The plan would also lower the U.S. corporate tax rate from 35 percent down to 25 percent and would transition to a terroitorial system of international taxation, which would put U.S. competing businesses competing abroad on a level playing field with their foreign competitors and incentivize the repatriation of funds, currently held offshore for tax reasons, to be to use in the U.S. economy.

Starting a tariff war with China will not make Fortune 500 companies suddenly want to invest in the United States. If Ryan is lowering taxes on corporations and the top 1 percent, exactly who is he broadening the tax pool on.

Ryan doesn't explain what tax loppholes he would close. Economist Paul Krugman notes Ryan projects unemployment will drop to a magical 50 low. Ryan fail to mention how he will use his magic wand to make unemployment disappear. The most telling fact about the House GOP budget not being serious is that Ryan never asked the CBO to do a revenue estimate.

Fake Charlie Sheen Endorsement for Connie Mack

The George LeMieux campaign sent out a fake Charlie Sheen endorsement for Connie Mack on April Fool's Day.

“Today, I am proud to announce the endorsement of my good friend Connie Mack the Fourth. As the Senate race unfolds and more is revealed about Mack’s colorful past, the more I like and identify with him.

The similarities between us are endless. We both have famous and respected fathers, both went into the family business, and we love living in California and having a good time (especially on the red carpet). We’re also both known for our public displays of rage and frequent ‘lapses in judgment.’

Since I’ve decided not to run for political office myself, electing Connie is the next best thing. The US Senate can be such a boring and serious place; it needs people like Connie Mack…And maybe a few Hooter’s girls.

Sincerely,

Charlie Sheen

Being a walking punch line is a death sentence for politicians. The future political prospects for Daily Show fodder Alberto Gonzales and Anthony Weiner are bleak. Lemieux has baggage from his ties with Charlie Crist and Jim Greer. Marginalizing Mack is LeMieux's best shot at victory. Attacking Mack with humor is a way for Lemieux to avoid being accused of being mean-spirited.

Update: Peter Schorsch doesn't find the April Fool's prank funny. Schorsch's reasoning is that the media hasn't picked up on the Charlie Sheen meme. The Florida media has ignored the Republican Senate primary. That was is because the candidates have been uninspiring. I also sense that Schorsch is taking a dig at LeMieux for his Judas act on Charlie Crist. The former governor is very close to Schorsch and his wife Michelle Todd.

I'm not taking a dig at Schorsch. I hear privately that Crist is a generally nice guy. However, don't expect Schorsch to say nice things on his blog about LeMieux. Personally, I am more than happy to see LeMieux and Mack have a nasty primary. To easier it is for Bill Nelson to get re-elected the better.

Republicans Gang Up On Haridopolos

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“I think it’s important that Republicans join together and support Ryan’s plan,” said Mack, who passed up a 2012 U.S. Senate bid and hasn’t endorsed a candidate in the GOP primary between Haridopolos, Adam Hasner and George LeMieux. “I’ll tell you why: if we fail to act, then the program goes bankrupt. So those who are choosing not to support either this plan or another plan are choosing to let Medicare go bankrupt.”

Asked by MSNBC’s Chuck Todd if he thinks it was a “mistake” for Haridopolos to oppose the plan in a GOP primary, Mack said “I do.”

Mack goes on to say that the Ryan plan would save Medicare. The opposite is true. Medicare as we know it would cease to exist. Republicans want to replace Medicare with a voucher program that does not match health care cost increases. The Congressional Budget Office ruled that Ryan's plan would increase the deficit by $145 billion. Ryan's bill would increase the number of uninsured people by 54 million.

CBO LETTER TO SPEAKER BOEHNER

Under H.R. 2, about 32 million fewer nonelderly people would have health insurance in 2019, leaving a total of about 54 million nonelderly residents with insurance coverage would be about 83 percent, compared with a projected share of 94 percent under current law...

The Ryan budget has nothing to do decreasing the deficit. Libertarian economist Tyler Cowen notes, "Over a ten-year time horizon, the Ryan plan increases the debt rather than decreasing it. Take that as a sign of how hard fiscal reform is going to be." This is Republicans fixated on killing Lyndon Johnson's and Barack Obama's health care reforms. Republicans hate it because Democrats passed it. It doesn't matter that this is similar the Republicans 1993 health care plan or Mitt Romney's plan. It must be killed because winning is more important than policy.

Haridopolos is wise to run away from a budget that has no chance of ever passing in the Senate. Republicans are fools if they think they can beat Sen. Bill Nelson with turning Medicare into a voucher program. Nelson is a rather well-liked Senator and Obama will be on the top of the ticket in Florida. If the Republican nominee runs with Ryan's plan then Nelson has an easy re-election.

Connie Mack's Horrible Mailer

Alex Leary of the St. Petersburg Times theorizes that Republican Connie Mack IV is laying the groundwork for a run against Sen. Bill Nelson. My first thought is I am going to be live blogging mind-numbingly boring debates between Nelson and Mack.

Leary notes Mack's fundraising letter does not mention the Republican as a House of Representatives candidate for 2012. It could be we just had the midterm election. Mack does take a shot at Bill Nelson.

We must end the overspending, overtaxing, over-regulating, and over-borrowing that are holding us back; that's the ultra-liberal and counter-productive philosophy Senator Bill Nelson has zealously followed his entire career.

I wish the writer of this mailer would end the use of run-on sentences.

Bill Nelson is an "ultra-liberal"? Really? That's hysterical. I wish Nelson was liberal.

All these Republican mailers always sound the same. Mack's mailer mention "overspending" but fails to mention Mack voted for George W. Bush backed-bills 87 percent of the time in 2006 and 88 percent in 2007. Bush signed record-breaking budgets. Mack has a hard time being taken seriously as a fiscal conservative while voting for Bush's spending proposals.

Exactly how are the Democrats overtaxing? Obama's "Make Work Pay" tax cut was the largest tax cut for the middle class in history. The "Make Work Pay" tax cut was part of the stimulus bill. Mack voted against the stimulus and the tax cut. Why Obama and the White House political team didn't attack Republicans for voting against the "Make Work Pay" tax cuts is a subject for another post.

My favorite paragraph from the Mack mailer.

Let's tell the professional politicians like Florida's Senior Senator, incumbent Democrat Bill Nelson, that we've seen their liberal speeches, and seen their liberal results and we aren't fooled - and we won't forget.

Exactly how does one "see" a speech. Is the writer of this mailer able to see sound? I wonder why someone with such a cool super-power is working as a Mack staffer.

If Nelson is a "professional politician" than does that make Mack the Shaggs of the Republican Party. Mack has been in Congress for six years. Did Mack fail to get the memo that he is a professional politician?

Mack Is Charlie's Pen Pal

The Buzz reports Rep. Connie Mack IV will not run for Mel Martinez's Senate seat. Mack sent a letter to Gov. Charlie Crist announcing his intentions. Now that is very interesting.

Dear Charlie:

Based on ongoing press speculation, I know that you are giving serious consideration to the question of whether to seek re-election, or whether to instead seek election to the United States Senate.

As you contemplate this decision, I want to let you know that I have decided not seek election to the U.S. Senate in 2010, and that I will instead seek re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives.

I also want you to know that, as you contemplate your own political future, I will be your strongest supporter and champion - regardless of whether you seek re-election or election to the Senate.

The people of Florida are lucky to have you as a public servant, and I'm fortunate to have you as my friend. No matter the decision you make, we will all be fortunate to have you standing up for Florida in the years to come.

Sincerely,

Connie Mack

Short answer: Mack knows he has no chance in hell of beating Crist in a primary. Crist has a high approval rating. Mack is overshadowed by his Two great-grandfathers, father and wife. Mack is often mockingly refered to as Mr. Mary Bono. I don't blame Mack for not wanting to run.

The Davis-Bacon Act was created during the depression so workers wouldn't be underpaid on federal government construction contracts. Mack argued stripping the Davis-Bacon provisions from the Water Quality Financing Bill would help workers. Mack receives Congressional health benefits and a $174,000 salery. He is hardly in a position to speak against guaranteed government pay.