Stockman Threatening Legal Action Against Cornyn Campaign

This is something you don't see everyday. Rep. Steve Stockman is running in the Texas Senate Republican primary against incumbent John Cornyn. Stockman is threatening to press charges against anyone associated with the Cornyn campaign that publishes his mugshot.

According to Michigan Compiled Laws 28.214, "(3) A person shall not access, use, or disclose nonpublic information governed under this act for personal use or gain. ... (5) A person shall not disclose information governed under this act in a manner that is not authorized by law or rule. (6) A person who intentionally violates subsection (3) or (5) is guilty of a crime as follows: (a) For a first offense, the person is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment ... (b) For a second or subsequent offense, the person is guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment for not more than 4 years ...."

Austin attorney Randy Cubriel, a Cornyn associate and head of TCM, may also face repercussions. Texas law (e.g., Art. 55.03 provides: "(1) the release, maintenance, dissemination, or use of the expunged records and files for any purpose is prohibited; (2) except as provided in Subdivision (3) of this article, the person arrested may deny the occurrence of the arrest and the existence of the expunction order; and (3) the person arrested or any other person, when questioned under oath in a criminal proceeding about an arrest for which the records have been expunged, may state only that the matter in question has been expunged.").

Stockman spokesperson Donny Ferguson wrote the press release for the Stockman campaign website. According to Ferguson, an unnamed Michigan official stated that Stockman could press charges against anyone publishing Stockman's 1977 arrest for possession of Valium. Talking Points Memo asked Ferguson for more details. Ferguson did not respond to follow-up questions.

What this illustrates is the war on drugs can destroy careers. Worse case scerario for Stockman is he loses the election and becomes a lobbyist. For other Americans a drug arrest or conviction could mean having a hard time finding a minimum wage job.

Trickle Up Economics

Sen. John Cornyn thinks it is the American way to redistribute wealth from the poor to the rich. Cornyn tweeted that exact sentiment.

Most Conservative Members of Congress

The National Journal has compiled a list most conservative members of Congress. You will be shocked to learn the list is made up of old white Republican guys.

Tied for first

John Barrasso
Saxby Chambliss
John Cornyn
Mike Crapo (best name ever for a pol)
Jim DeMint
John McCain
James Risch
John Thune

9. Tom Coburn
10. Roger Wicker

Republicans Set to Derail Financial Reform

Bank of America is ecstatic about Republicans taking control of the House of Representatives.

"We had been disappointed with a number of legislative outcomes with the past Congress, and so we look forward to better outcomes with this Congress," said Peter Garuccio, a spokesman for the American Bankers Association in Washington.

In April of this year, Mitch McConnell and John Cornyn came to Wall Street and asked for more campaign contributions to the Republican Party. Bank of America spokesman Garuccio it would be huge if Republicans can repeal Durbin Amendment. The amendment barred credit card fees to retalers.

Eric Cantor has vowed to cut funding so regulations can not be properly enforced.

CANTOR: The House has the power of the appropriations process and the leverage that comes with that essentially puts us in a position to deny the administration funding for promulgating the regulations that carry through the missions of these two bills…And that’s what the American people are expecting. They want us to focus on job creation first they results.

BARTIROMO: So that’s what you’re going to do? You’re going to deny funding then? That’s one of your tools in the toolbox, deny funding?

CANTOR: Well, it is a check that this public is looking for on this runaway agenda of this administration. They don’t want to see any more spending, especially if it promotes policies that kill jobs. That’s what you’ve got, both with the Obamacare bill and the Dodd-Frank bill.

Cantor claims the Dodd-Frank bill is a job killer. How many jobs did Wall Street created when mortgage-backed securities, credit default swaps and subprime loans all blew up?





Not a single job was created the year of the Wall Street meltdown. Cantor and other Republicans (and to a lesser extent Democrats) ignore the Wall Street flash crash on May 6th of this year. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission released a joint report to the Senate. The report illustrates how unstable the market still is.

Between 2:40 p.m. and 3:00 p.m., approximately 2 billion shares traded with a total volume exceeding $56 billion. Over 98% of all shares were executed at prices within 10% of their 2:40 p.m. value. However, as liquidity completely evaporated in a number of individual securities and ETFs,11 participants instructed to sell (or buy) at the market found no immediately available buy interest (or sell interest) resulting in trades being executed at irrational prices as low as one penny or as high as $100,000. These trades occurred as a result of so-called stub quotes, which are quotes generated by market makers (or the exchanges on their behalf) at levels far away from the current market in order to fulfill continuous two-sided quoting obligations even when a market maker has withdrawn from active trading.

Republicans argue for no regulation. That is a fiscal policy only an anarchist could get behind.

Republicans No Longer Heart Up & Down Votes

Americablog has a fascinating video of Senate Republicans blocking every single nominee of President Barack Obama. Republicans bitched and moaned about an "up or down vote" when President Bush was in the White House.

Sen. Bill Frist, speaking on bahalf on Bush nominee Priscilla Owen.

Mr. President, I rise today as the leader of the majority party of the Senate. But I do not rise for party. I rise for principle. I rise for the principle that judicial nominees with the support of a majority of senators deserve up-or-down votes on this floor.

Sen. Lamar Alexander warned the (then minority) Democrats not to oppose Bush's judicial nominees.

"I am beginning to think it is a train and that there is not much way to avoid a train wreck. The train wreck I am talking about is a threat by the minority to 'shut the Senate down in every way' if the majority adopts rules that will do what the Senate has done for 200 years, which is to vote up or down the President's appellate judicial nominees."

With Obama in the Oval Office, Alexander now supports denying an up and down vote on Obama's nominee to replace Supreme Court Justice Stevens. It's amazing how an election can change Sen. Alexander's outlook towards nominees.

“Justice Stevens has had a long and impressive career. I hope President Obama will nominate his successor from the middle and not from the fringe. His nominee will be fairly and respectfully considered. The question is not whether the president’s nominee is politically ‘on my side,’ but whether he or she is well-qualified and has a record of being impartial. In truly extraordinary cases, I reserve the prerogative to vote no on confirmation or even to vote to deny an up-or-down vote.”

Sen. John Cornyn, in an op-ed piece for the National Review. The irony of the op-ed reads like an Onion parody.

After all, it is wrong for a partisan minority of senators to treat good people like statistics; wrong to mistreat distinguished jurists with unprecedented filibusters and unconscionable character attacks; wrong to hijack the Constitution and seize control of the judicial-confirmation process from the president and a bipartisan majority of the Senate; wrong to deny up-or-down votes to judicial nominees simply because a partisan minority of senators cannot persuade the bipartisan majority to vote against a nominee; and wrong not to play fair, follow tradition, and allow a vote. Once is bad enough, and four unconstitutional filibusters is four too many.

Yes, it would be wrong for a legislative minority to oppose nominees strictly for partisan purposes. Thank you for pointing that out, Sen. Cornyn.

Dick Cheney: 2010 GOP Campaign Secret Weapon

I read the silly things the Republican leadership say and wonder if they get their talking points from The Onion. How else can you explain National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn supporting Dick Cheney campaigning for GOP Senate candidates. Cornyn's job (besides getting into arguments with John McCain) is to get Republicans elected to the Senate. He has been doing that task poorly. Unless Cornyn is a secret mole trying to make the Democrats filibuster proof.

Asked if Cheney would be a good surrogate for Senate Republican candidates, Cornyn said: "It think it depends on the circumstance on the race."

But Cornyn said, "I’d be proud to appear with the vice president anywhere, anytime."

That is easy to say for a Texas Republican. Charlie Crist dodged a 2006 George W. Bush campaign rally. Katherine Harris was the only Republican running a state-wide race that appeared at the rally. The purpose of the Bush rally was to help Florida Republicans get elected. Unfortunately for Bush, Republicans didn't want his help. Harris went down in flames against Bill Nelson.

Cheney is notorious for hating to campaign. Republican pollsters and voters know Cheney is highly unpopular. I don't expect Cornyn to diss Cheney. The problem is Cornyn talks to people as if they are stupid and destroys his own credibility. Cheney was not invited to the Republican National Convention because he is a liability. (The official reason was Hurricane Gustav.)

I doubt Cornyn is serious but I would love nothing more than Cheney campaigning across the country for Republican candidates. I can imagine Cheney doing photo-ops with politicians whom see their careers flashing before their eyes. Cheney would give speeches utterly devoid of charisma. Droning on and on about how torture and the Iraq war kept of safer. Nevermind torture produced crap intelligence and Saddam Hussein was not a threat to U.S. national security. The NRSC wants to campaign like it's 2004.

Alex Sink Will Not Run For Senate

I received this email. Alex Sink announces she will not run for Mel Martinez's seat.

“Over the past several weeks, I have given serious and careful thought to my own future and, more importantly, to the future of our state. And I am extremely grateful for the support and advice so many friends and fellow Floridians have shared. I believe my skills and abilities are of greatest use here in Florida, where I am honored to serve as Chief Financial Officer. And I will run for re-election as Chief Financial Officer to continue being a fiscal watchdog on behalf of the people of Florida."

That is good news for Kendrick Meek. Expect other Democrats to soon jump into the race.

Update: Dan Gelber will soon make an announcement.

"I spoke this morning with Alex about her decision to seek reelection rather than to run for the seat being vacated by Senator Martinez. I have been delaying my own decision to give her time to reach her judgment, both out of my deep respect for her as a public servant and my personal friendship with both her and her husband.

"Given this morning's news, I fully expect to officially enter the race in the coming weeks. The task of preparing for such a race is complex, thus I will be making a more formal announcement soon.

All the excitement seems to be on Democratic side. The only Republican generating any buzz is Marco Rubio. Bill McCollum and Connie Mack don't seem to capture people's imagination. Jeb Bush is out. It is easy to see why John Cornyn of the National Republican Senatorial Committee is trying to get Charlie Crist to run.

If Crist was smart, he would run for Martinez's seat. Crist is not the GOP version of Bill Clinton on economical matters. Crist isn't going to turn Florida's economy or budget deficit around. Crist lacks the political courage and economic intellect. Crist can not run for President after running a state into debt. I think Crist would be an equally horrible Senator. If I was his political advisor, I would tell him to run.

Update: Congressman Allen Boyd issued a press release.

"Alex Sink would have been a tremendous candidate for the U.S. Senate. Florida is fortunate that she'll be staying on as CFO. I've always said that the decision to run for the U.S. Senate is a personal one for me and does not hinge on what anyone else decides to do. I love serving the people of North Florida in the House of Representatives, but I'm considering a Senate run because of the very serious challenges facing my fellow Floridians. I'm not going to drag this out. I'm very close to a decision and will make my decision public."