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The Cantor-Slayer: Meet David Brat
The only thing that is more shocking than yesterday's stunning defeat of Republican Eric Cantor at the hand of a completely unknown tea-party candidate, David Brat - an outcome many have called the "biggest blow to the GOP establishment in years" and one which may be reverberating in equities today as "same as it ever was" politics was dealt a major blow - is just how unknown (and underfunded) David Brat is (and was).
So for all those curious to learn some more about this Cantor-slaying "David", here first, with no edits, is the information straight from the horse's mouth: his CV from Randolph-Macon College in Virginia.
More on his background from Politico
Brat, a Michigan native, is 49 years old. He’s spent the last 18 years working as an economics professor at Randolph Macon College, a school of around 1,200 students located in Ashland, Va. According to news reports, he also spent time working as an economist in the Army and at the accounting firm Arthur Andersen.
He earned his bachelors degree from Hope College, a small liberal arts college in Holland, Mich. He would go on to get a doctorate in economics from American University. Brat, who is Catholic, got his masters from Princeton Theological Seminiary, an institution that, according to its mission statement, “prepares women and men to serve Jesus Christ in ministries marked by faith, integrity, scholarship, competence, compassion, and joy, equipping them for leadership worldwide in congregations and the larger church, in classrooms and the academy, and in the public arena.”
Brat launched his campaign in January. Like many tea party-aligned candidates, he said he wanted to address the nation’s ballooning deficit and that he wanted to be Cantor’s “term limit.”
But, even for a conservative hopeful, he took on the Republican establishment in unusually harsh terms. Shortly after launching his campaign, according to an account in the Culpeper Star Exponent, Brat held an event in which he suggested that Washington politicians charged money to pass laws. He also said that, to get a seat on the House Ethics Committee, a member would have to pay $150,000.
“These days everything is for sale in D.C,” Brat said at the time, according to the paper.
Appearing on Fox News after the race was called, Brat disputed the characterization of the race as being simply a battle between the tea party and establishment. He said he had won support from Republicans across the board who were attracted to his espousal of fiscal conservatism and “faith in God.”
“The press is always out to have these exciting stories to sell papers, and people actually do care about policy,” he said. “I give 30-minute stump speeches on policy and the press made fun of me. …Well the American people are ready for serious issues.”
Brat’s top strategist for much of the race was John Pudner, who operates an Atlanta, Ga.-based political consulting firm, Concentric Direct. Pudner spent the first two months of the contest working for Brat directly, then split off in March to start a Brat-backing super PAC.
Speaking by phone Tuesday night, Pudner said he was in shock. There were times during the race when he felt hopeful, he said, but even Brat’s strongest supporters didn’t see this coming.
“I think we’re all waiting to wake up to see if this really happened,” he said.
On Fox News, Brat called his win a “miracle.”
“I think the people are just ready for some major changes in this country,” he said, “and I was blessed. It’s a miracle.”
And by way of the ABC, here once again, is his pre-election profile:
Brat, who admits that he has supported several Cantor candidacies over the years, says he mounted his improbable primary campaign because the House GOP's No. 2 leader has lost touch with his constituents, "veering from the Republican creed."
"Years ago he had a good conservative track record, but now he's veered off," Brat told ABC News during an interview on Capitol Hill. "If you go to Heritage and look at their score, I think he's at about a 53 right now. I mean, that's an F-minus."
Heritage Action's scorecard tracks Republican votes, co-sponsorships and other legislative activity to gauge how conservative members of Congress are performing. Cantor actually receives a 52 percent, which ranks seventh among eight Virginia House Republicans.
While a recent profile of the race in the Washington Post characterized Brat as "a potential threat," the quirky challenger knows he has a tough road to victory in the June 10 primary.
"Most of these [primary] races don't kick in until about 30 days prior," he said. "Now everyone's looking, what's the race? It's an open primary and it's just Eric and I on the ticket."
Brat, 49, isn't the first primary challenger Cantor has faced. The Richmond Republican smoked primary challenger Floyd Bayne in 2012 by nearly 60 percentage points before cruising to a 17-point victory in the general election.
But with low primary turnout (just 47,000 voters turned out in the primary two years ago) and anti-incumbency fervor at an all-time high, Cantor's team says they aren't overlooking Brat, although they "don't see him getting a great deal of traction."
"We're on the ground, running the campaign," Cantor campaign spokesman and senior strategist Ray Allen said in a phone interview. "We take every figure seriously and do our own due diligence. It is what it is."
Brat claims "the money is flowing in right now," expanding an underwhelming campaign war chest that he last reported contained just $40,000.
"The race was once viewed as a long-shot, [but] it's tightening now," Brat said. "We're well over double, triple what we had on the books just a month ago and so now we're getting the national attention I always hoped."
Brat complained that Cantor, 50, has a "crony-capitalist mentality" to take care of the corporate sector ahead of the interests of small businesses.
"On the conservative scorecard, on the free market votes, he's doing everything wrong," Brat said. "He's not following what folks in his district want him to do and it's hurting the country."
Allen described Brat as "a weird duck" and criticized him for serving on then-Democratic Gov. Tim Kaine's Joint Advisory Board of Economists.
"Eric Cantor is a conservative leader," Allen, who has advised Cantor's campaigns since 1991, said. "[Brat] doesn't like being called a liberal college professor, but that's what he is and what he's always been. Tea Party conservatives don't serve as an economic adviser to Tim Kaine."
Brat calls himself as a "free market guy," and says he wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act. He also pledged never to increase taxes and to stick to a five-year promise not to vote to increase the debt limit.
"This isn't a personal race. I'm not running against Eric," he stressed. "I'm just running on the founding principles that Adam Smith and free markets - they made us the greatest nation on the Earth. All right? It's no mystery. Our rights, tradition, along with free markets and the Judeo-Christian tradition all together made us the greatest nation on the face of the Earth. I think we're veering off course a little bit there and I want to get us back on that course that brought us to greatness."
If Brat ultimately wins the primary and is seated in the 114 th Congress, he would not commit his vote for speaker to House Speaker John Boehner, but offered his support to any contender who's "more free market and more fiscally responsible."
"I'd have to take a good look at what they're doing but I support people who follow the Republican creed, and so it doesn't look like the leadership is doing a good job on that right now," Brat said.
"They're not free market at all, right? They do not take free market seriously and they're off on fiscal responsibility."
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You are so out there, pal, it is not even funny.
My agenda is to expose Truth.
My rhetoric is that of an individualist who believes that people are SOVEREIGN and that WE THE PEOPLE grant the Government the right to exist. WE are not to be servants to the Government but that the Government shall SERVE THE PEOPLE. Thomas Jefferson quilled these ideals into the Declaration of Independence.
The Bill of Rights was based upon those ideals as it RESTRICTED Government Intrusions codified into Law. (But what faggot Politician follows the Law anyway??? NOT ONE OF THEM.)
I believe in PERSONAL Freedom and PERSONAL Liberty. The Government's role, if there is a Government, is to PROTECT MY PERSONAL FREEDOM and LIBERTY and to NOT ENCROACH UPON IT in any way, shape manner or form...REGARDLESS OF ANY EXIGENT CIRCUMSTANCES.
Anarchy is preferable to the TYRANNICAL GOVERNMENT RULING OVER THE UNITED STATES TODAY.
I can list grievances against the current Government that have been rehashed more times than I care to enumerate on this comment board. Hell there is a list of OUTRAGEOUS CRIMES listed previously by another commenter in this Thread. Why shall I parrot those?
Then you have the DISINGENOUS, DISHONEST, and OUTRAGEOUS UNWARRANTED ACCUSATION that anyone who does not support the current TYRANNY a Communist?
No. Any statist...anyone whom supports the current State...IS A SOCIALIST and CORRUPTED TO THE CORE.
Personally I find this to be REVOLTing.
So Fuck You very much and take your brand of Socialism elsewhere...back to Fox News, Bloomberg, or any other Socialist Network.
"I just think that anyone that advocates anarchy has misguided, ulterior motives and should be called out instead of praised for being 'anti-establishment'. "
And your thoughts might not be trustworthy. And, well, they map highly to the status quo. Misguided, yeah, look in the mirror
Refer to my post above (the link). Educate thyself or stay ignorant (and a tool for TPTB).
Someone please volunteer me a definition of the Utopian anarchy you all expect because I am pretty sure it will be hell on earth for the vast majority of people.
"Join the Army" they said.
"See the world" they said.
"Spread freedom" they said.
It's the Navy. The army just digs a hole in the dirt and sits there.
yes, foodstampbarry, I can see why you would criticise the concept of people desiring to live free of military coercion/violence,
as someone who volunteered to invade other nations such as Iraq and Afghanistan
on behalf of who, and with what principles involved, exactly?
It is the Orwellian party line, if you disagree with someone then you must hate somebody
Are you suggesting our government should not enforce immigration law? ...or continue not securing our borders? ...or that open borders is a workable policy?
Are you suggesting...
I'm suggesting that government is a gang of thugs, and asking them to "work for you" is an act of foolishness.
And "our government" is a ridiculous phrase. They command and you obey. How are they "yours"?
The Reds and Blues are different propaganda offices, supporting the same tyrannical scam.
red & blue we're all screwed.. We get it.. But a framework must exist of some sort for the rebuild phase.
Why would we need a framework?
People left alone cooperate better than when they're under compulsion.
I get where your going but it doesnt sound like a feasable alternative. No framework would mean complete chaos. Do you really think everyone would just hang out and be cool with one another? In a perfect world, sure, but we all know this is not a perfect world. Has this ever occured anywhere in the world in the past? I want to be left alone as well but do you really think in a system like you are describing that would occur? It wouldnt be long before groups/clans would form with power hungry assholes looking to control everything. I think it is best to have some structural framework that has the ability to keep power in check. Obviously our current system fails to do that.
From no less than Professor Carol Quigley, in Tragedy & Hope:
By 900 AD… there was no empire, no state, and no public authority… the state disappeared, yet society continued… It was discovered that man can live without a state… It was discovered that economic life, religious life, law, and private property can all exist and function effectively without a state.
The impossibility lies only in our brainwashed minds.
Don't get me wrong I really like the premise of having no overlords, I just question if it could ever actually happen on a large enough scale to make a difference in today's world. I also can't see how we could actually get to that point because there are way more blood suckers than there are hosts. A system like this would be one of "personal responsibility" which I bet 90% of the population could not handle.
See the quote above.
Are we to believe that slavery improves human character?
That was a description of Iceland. It did work. Humans are no different today than they were then.
Did you ever read "Civil Disobedience" by Henry David Thoreau? It was one of Ronald Reagan's favorite books. In Ronald Reagan's campaign rhetoric he quoted Thoreau, "That government is best which governs least.", to demonstrate that a small Government was the best Government.
Yet he did not quote the whole paragraph.
Here it is for your understanding...
“I heartily accept the motto, "That government is best which governs least"; and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically. Carried out, it finally amounts to this, which also I believe — "That government is best which governs not at all"; and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which they will have. Government is at best but an expedient; but most governments are usually, and all governments are sometimes, inexpedient.”
? Henry David Thoreau
I cannot believe the illiteracy endemic in the United States today. It is more disturbing that some readers of ZH are not well read.
I'll see your Thoreau and and raise you an expanded Spencer quote (since the intersection of economics and philosophy seems in vogue today)
There seems to be a notion that the public have a right to intrude on private life as far as they like; and this I take to be a kind of moral trespassing. Then, in a larger way, the trait is seen in this damaging of private property by your elevated railways without making compensation; and it is again seen in the doings of railway autocrats, not only when overriding the rights of shareholders, but in dominating over courts of justice and State governments. The fact is that free institutions can be properly worked only by men, each of whom is jealous of his own rights, and also sympathetically jealous of the rights of others—who will neither himself aggress on his neighbours in small things or great, nor tolerate aggression on them by others. The Republican form of government is the highest form of government; but because of this it requires the highest type of human nature—a type nowhere at present existing. We have not grown up to it; nor have you.
From the appropriately titled The Americans: A Conversation
But perhaps more fitting for the ZH crowd and the big RINSE-REPEAT cycle of modern idiocracy would be State Tampering with Money and Banks (which really is a good read)
Among unmitigated rogues, mutual trust is impossible. Among people of absolute integrity, mutual trust would be unlimited. These are truisms. Given a nation made up of liars and thieves, and all trade among its members must be carried on either by barter or by a currency of intrinsic value: nothing in the shape of promises-to-pay can pass in place of actual payments; for, by the hypothesis, such promises being fulfilled, will not be taken. On the other hand, given a nation of perfectly honest men—men as careful of others’ rights as of their own—and nearly all trade among its members may be carried on by memoranda of debts and claims, eventually written off against one another in the books of bankers; seeing that as, by the hypothesis, no man will ever issue more memoranda of debts than his goods and his claims will liquidate, his paper will pass current for whatever it represents. Coin will be needed only as a measure of value, and to facilitate those small transactions for which it is physically the most convenient. These we take to be self-evident truths.
From them follows the corollary that in a nation neither wholly honest nor wholly dishonest, there may, and eventually will, be established a mixed currency—a
currency partly of intrinsic value and partly of credit-value. The ratio between the quantities of these two kinds of currency, will be determined by a combination of several causes.
And to think I was rereading Spencer (and Darwin) because of a biology and chemistry issue was trying to find a historical resolution to... Perhaps we really are devolving into something dumber (which they were also already debating back in the dark ages of the 19th century).
Anarchism is NOT anarchy. As a matter of fact, it really only consists of ONE tenet: the objection to FORCED coersion. Nowhere does this imply that laws are NOT possible. Anarchism promotes the notion of diversity and independence by discouraging forced coersion.
"No framework would mean complete chaos. Do you really think everyone would just hang out and be cool with one another?"
Again, anarchism doesn't rule out any framework. People! Stop arguing against that which you know little about! Anyway... take a look around the world today and tell me what the trajectory is. Folks here constantly blast international bodies, bodies which attempt to apply laws that, supposedly, are meant to provide a more level playing field: one can argue anyway they wish, but this is basically the stated purpose, and, as is the face of any given law, it's stated.
"It wouldnt be long before groups/clans would form with power hungry assholes looking to control everything."
Like the U.S.'s 750+ military installations around the globe today?
EVERYTHING has to do with controlling resources, and, eventually, given sufficient scarcity you can damn well bet that laws get tossed out the window. War Is A Racket: look it up and read it. ALL wars are about resources. And, as one can see by the recent US wars in Afghanistan and, especially Iraq, U.S. AND international law meant diddly-squat. When an empire or other big bully wants resoruces that someone else has laws mean shit. And if one too heavily questions such actions one's "liberty," as codified in "law," is readily dispatched.
"Has this ever occured anywhere in the world in the past?"
"I think it is best to have some structural framework that has the ability to keep power in check. Obviously our current system fails to do that."
And what is your "solution?" "Fix" the current System? When has That/This ever happened?
Again, refer to the Eric Sevareid quote above. When the "answers" don't seem to line up then one ought to ask whether the questions are correct.
CH1 - I admire your ideology and once subscribed to it 100%. That was until I had a network concept of news and a couple of sites under it.
Once you begin seeing hundreds of different points of view and how people ACT out of self-interest not just what they say, one realizes the great ideology doesn't work in the real world at least not as the majority desires. That is because evolution and human understanding of the necessity for collaboration over raw competition doesn't move in a straight line.
The governments only real job is a protection racket. When it protects a minority only that profits by destabilization in trade with foreign nations and immigration as in now and makes laws to further enable a self-evident cycle of destruction by racketeering you are correct it is time to consider disobedience. That can take many forms. "I just want to be left alone" can mainly be accomplished by living in remote locations where it becomes prohibitively expensive to enforce such laws. But no one on earth now at this stage of development will ever be left alone.
If a government wants to have public-private partnerships as we hear touted all the time (translation: fascism) then stop taxing me. As that is never going to happen the choice may become to vote on your feet and move out of country. Many of the public-private wealthy have done just that because thy don't wish to live in the mess they created. That gives a reprieve for a time until they ruin the next place. Se la vie.
When one gets the premise wrong then, sure, the answers can appear however one wants them.
Anarchism, true anarchism (I encourage people to watch out for being victims of prevailing propaganda, which is controlled by the the sttus quo/gatekeepers)) says NOTHING about it necessitating that there be no "structure." The premise of anarchism, its only true tenet, is that forced coersion is not to be tolerated. From this people can go about structuring however they feel.
"If a government wants to have public-private partnerships as we hear touted all the time (translation: fascism) then stop taxing me. As that is never going to happen the choice may become to vote on your feet and move out of country."
I agree. However, we ought to take back the notion of "government" from an "us vs. them" view and return it to what it was, and really is- "us." I'd like to think that there could be a good government. Anarchism suggests that people would be perfectly free to pursue that as long as they we're not foreceably coerced into it: and, I suppose, people could then be "free" to allow themselves to be forceably coerced; the line is to conitnue to exist between those who do and those who do not practice/allow forced coersion.
Ultimately, as I've come to beileve, especially after recently reading John Glubb's Fate of Empires (http://www.rexresearch.com/glubb/glubb-empire.pdf), ideologes and laws mean little to an outcome of an empire, that the, always, underlying driver is resource availability, which will always be threatened by continued growth. I no more believe that anarchism can survive perpetual growth than I do any previous or current systems. BUT, the "hope" of anarchism is that it allows a better chance for humans to figure things out as it would shed the existing powers of their ability to exploit and hide such issues. And given that we ARE going to face collapse I think that it's best that people start thinking more dynamically as to how they're going to structure themselves.
Roses are red violets are blue, both of them will continue fucking you
My original questions questions remain. Should we continue with the present open borders policy or not? We use to. We don't now. What do you suggest? That we run around screaming or do something about it?
They seem to be commanding you instead of me. You've gievn up instead of pressing for proper action. De-dupe yourself.
My original questions questions remain.
Your questions assumes the legitimate existence of a coercive state. I will not stipulate to that.
You're arguing the equivalent of whether the mafia's arm-breaking policy is being carried out correctly.
You are suggesting no laws. You are suggesting no country. You are suggesting no group reasoning. You sort of sound like a goof.
You sort of sound like a goof.
And you sound brainwashed.
Anyone who doesn't regurgitate the state's mantras is a goof?
I read history - and not textbooks. (Textbooks promote the gang that pays for them.) I've been doing this a long time, and I know that the state is one large scam. Their mantras are bullshit, no matter how often they are chanted.
You are suggesting no group reasoning.
You are right...I am not a SOCIALIST. I do not give a damn about group reasoning. I do not give a damn about the borders. I do not care for the Criminals who run the Geographical Tax Farm.
Just because 100 Billion Flies like the taste of Dog Shit does not mean that I will go along with that collective. If you choose to then that is your choice. Just because 100 Million people in the collective known as the United States decide to do something it does not mean that I must.
The Law of the Land, the United States Constitution, has been abandoned...except by name only. It is the FOUNDATION of all Laws. The Foundation has been absolutely eroded away. The structure which has been built upon it is collapsing. The collective accepts that.
Now you can accept that if you want. Well I do not.
I am suggesting no laws? No. It is the collective whom have abandoned the Law, the United States Constitution. With the abandonment of the FOUNDATIONAL DOCUMENT, the CONTRACT, the AGREEMENT that FORMED the United States ABANDONED...THERE IS NO FUCKING COUNTRY.
So you assert that I am suggesting NO LAWS when it is the collective, of which you CHOOSE to be a part of, whom have CHOSEN to abandon the Law. Then you claim that I am suggesting NO LAW, that I am suggesting NO COUNTRY???
That makes YOU A FUCKING STATIST HYPOCRITE.
Well get fucking lost you spineless autofellating SOCIALIST and leave me alone. I will stand alone, Fuck You very much.
You lost the argument.
"The Law of the Land, the United States Constitution, has been abandoned."
When the fuck has it ever existed? When slavery was acceptable? When local natives were slaughtered because they were an impediment to vast tracts of land and resources?
"Are you talkin' to me?"
And you sound like a xenophobic fascist.
Question: Are YOU ready to shell out a LOT more in taxes to achieve this "illegal" immigration "problem?"
NOTE: "Legal" immigration has more impact than "illegal." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPjzfGChGlE (I believe that this is all self-correcting, as any region will eventually end up stabilizing at it's sustainable levels- Japan right now is realizing that it's likely going to have to ramp UP immigration since it's own Japanese-centric population is rapidly aging. If you don't know what the real question is or understand the full dynamics then quit trying to "solve" the "problem."
Another issue was the NSA spying and unconstitutional NDAA/Patriot Act provisions.
http://news.antiwar.com/2014/06/10/house-gop-leader-defeated-by-anti-nsa...
Anyhow, what Obama has clearly shown lately is that what they publicly say to get elected,
and what they do after can be entirely different.
And Ron Paul (Kucinich, Wellstone et al) have demonstrated that a lonely voice or two,
no matter how correct,
matters little to the established MIC-financial powers.
Long way to go yet. It's just one man, not yet elected, uncertain what he would do,
unclear how the strands of his support might tie together.
>> (read hate)
Hate is the foundation of most of these guys politics. Sex sells product, hate drives politics. This site's comments sections should be proof enough of that.
Well said, greatbeard.
you sir, are also a fucktard
jeez dude, why queue up to prove his post accurate?
anyone with half a brain engaged can read the comments here, and hate is a very strong flavour, daily.
Semperfi - I like many of your comments but calling someone a fucktard is not an argument. CH1's argument is people are better off without government. While this may or may not be true my argument is such a thing can't happen at this stage of our evolution.
That's because another criminal gang will conquer another one that doesn't recognize robbers exists. Understanding of predatory behavior in our species will lead to eventual evolution that homogenize our collective behavior. I speculate by the time we don't need government for a protection racket will be the time we can transform at will from flesh back to energy. E=MC2. At that point money and politics becomes irrelevant. Best guess is 100-200 years off but I do think medical tech after this next bust cycle will permit longevity to 120 years. Your kids being born now may actually see a day they do not die in the traditional sense. I say traditional because from my study of both quantum physics and religion that only a portion of an individuals DNA code can be reseeded be it because you rot in the ground and that matter goes back to the garden, back to energy containing information (this is science fact) or theoretically seeding it in the 4th dimension which is so small only a portion or seed of "you" could be planted. Either way your ego dies with you. Don't want to go deeper on a financial blog but what CH1 wishes for I do to it just seems out of feasible reach in the present.
you sir, are a fucktard of 1st degree
Wow, you add so much to the conversation.
Love the internet fights around here!
@CH1co....the rule of law and the will of the people mean nothing in your book? What 3rd world shithole did you crawl out of again?
the rule of law and the will of the people mean nothing in your book?
The "rule of law" has been dead for centuries.
The "will of the people" is a collectivist fantasy. The will of individuals I value.
What 3rd world shithole did you crawl out of again?
Same one as you, Jethro... God Bless AmericaTM.
Yes, they probably alienated all of the mother stabbers and father rapers too! The last thing we would want to do is offend foreign invaders, the Taliban or Al Qaeda.
The Republican leaders who, back in DC, think Amnesty is the way to get low education, low income Mexicans to switch their votes from Dem to Republican, should come and live here in California and examine the voting patterns of these people. The low income, low education Mexicans and related immigrants vote the "gimme free sh*t" ticket and pull the lever overwhelmingly for the Dems.
Amnesty is not the big draw for these low info people.
""Free sh*t" is the draw.
Only way to get the Mexican vote is to out free sh*t the Dems.
That is, to move to the Left of what has become the American Communist Party.
Winning move there. /s
Think about the last election:
Romney: If you work hard, one day you can be a success.
Obama: Free sh*t! Get your free sh*t here!
And who won?
duh?
PETER SCHIFF FOR CONGRESS !!
He ran, and lost (unfortunately).
That was the Senate, and it was in Connecticut so it was always an uphill battle.
Everyone claiming meet the old same as the new doesn't understand this guy. He sound like most commenters here.
He wants to end the Fed, restore states right's. Get rid of regulations that he claimed last night is costing our $17 billion annual econ $2 trillion per. Stop the invasion of wage killing invasion from our southern border.
I bet if we checked he is a ZH member.
It's only one district and Guber Graham won last night but it's a start, possibly.
Honestly, I no longer have hope for or trust these fuckers. Put up or shut up is where I am at now.
I like everything about this guy says except his peddling "Judeo-Christian tradition." How many Americans really support the Judeo part or even know what it stand for? Have anyone noticed how much Pro-Israel lobbyists have been contributing to Cantor? Is anyone else appalled by this???
Dave Brat won by campaigning against corruption, crony corporations, Wall St, the NSA and immigration amnesty. He wants to jail the banksters. Here's a campaign speech. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kikFLvJYhxA
>> This is a win.
Yeah baby!!!! This is the 2014 version of Scott Brown. Things are going to be different in Washington from here on out.
Just enjoy Obama while you have him. Keep up the hope.
Dude, you're keeping up the hope.
Red Hope and Blue Hope are the same poison.
The last time a majority leader was primaryed in the US was in 1899. That's pretty historic when you put it in context. What I would say in somewhat agreement is that nothing will change in Washington until this starts happening in the Democratic party as well. If people keep electing the same Democrats in this case time and time again then the Republic is truly lost. People are tired of the path this country is on and my hope is that America is waking up to that fact but my fear is that more than half of us are more than happy to stay the course of destruction.
Don't vote!
Brat promises never to raise taxes. Everybody knows taxes will have to go up eventually. Just thinking. But he has some good ideas I suppose.
they ALL have "some good ideas" - it's called "campaigning"
what the VOTERS here fail to acknowledge, repeatedly, is "some good ideas" are used to get the fucking JOB and BENEFITS that go with it.
the SYSTEM rolls along irrespective of the participants, because that is by DESIGN.
sigh.
Why do taxes have to go up? IS it not possible (if not probable) that we could actually reduce spending.
I know, I'm crazy.
If fucking Obama lovers can live on hope, why can't I?
If fucking Obama lovers can live on hope, why can't I?
Maybe you should rethink that one.
Hope And Same-Same You Can Believe In
It is not time to hope but to continue to act. America can get rid of its crap (foreign wars, unbalance budget, Fed madness) and stand up. A sound monetary system, a shrinked government through some form of hard money, a restructuring of debt, an end to leverage pigs profiting from monetary debasement. Buffet buys monopolistic businesses which can reprice inflation and has liabilities in future life insurance liabilities which will be paid with confettis. He is a leverage pig. Blackstone is an LBO debt pig also benefitting from repressed rates and inflation.
A depassionate view on economy. The man who set-up Hong-Kong told Friedman about the paucity of statistics: If I produce those, they will want to "manage" the economy.
Keep going America. you´re on the correct track with this.
I took a look at his campaign website. He supports an audit of the fed but not a repeal of the federal reserve act. Big deal. He supports a balanced budget amendment. So what? The devil is in the details. How? When? He doesn't utter a peep about the immoral 16th amendment which robs people by way of direct taxation. He's supported by neocon warmongers like Laura Ingraham and Glenn Beck. There is no substantive difference between Brat and Cantor. It's all window dressing.
So what. His resume sucks. He's a Keynesian.
What? So some retard downgrades me for being anti-keynesian? He got his Phd (piled high and deep) in Econ at American University in DC. Need I say more? There's nothing new here folks. The new boss is the same as the old boss. There was a great song written about this. We already know what fiscal conservatism means. A lie. Nationalism, war and a debt ceiling that doesn't mean jack. Brat doesn't realize it yet but he just went on the biggest fools errand of his life. What a waste of time.
He worked at Arthur Andersen. A corrupt firm, worrisome.
Is he a good buddy of John Arnold?
Q: How many republicants does it take to change a light bulb?
A: No body knows because no one has seen one since Regan passed away.
Just the begging
The beginning of RINO season? One can only hope.
Lol, leave it ZeroHedge to completely leave out the main reason why Brat won, and that was his stance on immigration in the United States.
Even the NY Times said it was one of the main reasons Brat beat Cantor back, and could mean an end to immigration "amnesty". Cantor tried to fool voters and claim he was against immigration but they could see through his lies and kicked him out of office.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/11/us/politics/eric-cantor-loses-gop-prim...
As white Europeans became a smaller and smaller share of the US demographic pie, there's bound to be a fight before this over.
Leave it to the NYT to dumb it down for their low information readers... When even HuffPo is hitting closer to home in flyover country... you know the Sulzbergers have reached the dregs of their toxic talent waste dump.
This wasn't a general election, it was a primary election, and the voters are very different. The select few who actually show up to vote are either loyal establishment foot soldiers or pissed off MoFos.
The establishment back room slimefest that started at the last nominating convention sewed seeds of division that grew during the last general election, couple that with "certain" Virginia-specific PACs, the perennial malcontents of the Tea Party, the daily free air time and backing of the R Party's 4th estate, and finally... the immigration issue, then you get outcome that came to pass, but this was way more complex than you or NYT pretend it wasn't.
(@orly) It's just the liberals' standard all-purpose response to anyone in their way who can't be argued down ... they're laying the groundwork to say, "He's a racist." Quit giving the Times space in your head ... they're framing the whole issue to suit them.
You read the new york times? ...LOL
You do not read opposing viewpoints and restrict your information??? Then you somehow hope to combat the rhetoric of the opposition intelligently?
Now that is truly the mark of the ignoramous who cannot be taken seriously.
LMAO.
If the US loses its ability to print unlimited amounts of money, perhaps those actually paying the taxes will have more power.
Nah. What was I thinking?
I voted for him, and couldn't care less about the immigration issue. I heard no talk around town about him and the immigration issue. The MSM want you to believe that that was what this was about, so that they can paint it as "tea party hates mexicans", repubs are racists, etc. It fits their narrative. That's all.
Cantor is the problem incarnate. Consummate insider, doesn't reprresent the district, only cares about himself and his ambitions, doesn't want to hear what constituents have to say, thinks we're all a bunch of ignorant rubes, gets money from Wall Street, voted for TARP, voted to fund undeclared wars, etc etc.
This is the correct answer.
best post in the whole fuckin thread
Right, because the MSM never has an agenda. FAIL.
The issue isn't 'immigration', it's 'illegal immigration'.....of course by now it's all just arguing about what kind of lock is best for the barn door after all the horses have ran off anyway.
So if Congress and Barry decide it's legal then it's good, but if Congress and Barry decide it's illegal then it's bad?
You must love the Patriot Act since Congress has decided it's legal.
Immigration reform is such a canard. Elitist run the damn thing. No one wants to increase the allowable numbers. They want to attach a PhD requirement. Since the "low information voter" is maligned because they are dumb enough to consider amnesty, I'll add that the "high information voters" bitching above are dumb enough to actually believe we can export 20 million people back to their home country. Anyone with an IQ above 100 who can perform an objective analysis will clearly recognize the country doesn't have the massive infrastructure that would be necessary for such an undertaking i.e., sending them home. Besides that, the point is being bastardized. It's about the free cheese stupid. Get rid of it and most of the problem is solved. Both parties love free cheese. Free cheese isn't going away. Get used to it.
Wow, that was some party on ZH last night. I'm waking up a little hung-over from all of this.
An economist? Well... good luck to him. I'm an economist and I doubt you'd want me in Congress.
If economist narrowly means one who simply espouses the teachings of Adam Smith, I think I could live with that.
Unfortunately, we know this not ot be the case for the vast majority of PhD Krugheads.
He started out at Arthur Anderson and then took that wonderful accounting knowledge with him to teach for the next 20 something years.
Well to his credit he decided there was something more important than Big Firm Accounting which is yet another ponzi.
For ejecting that piece of shit Cantor, he gets my benefit of the doubt for the time being.
Dude if the guy sold hot dogs at the corner he would be a better candidate than any politician currently out there.
Think about the people on the frontier that worked hard and made America in the old days, they were no college grads. They were people that understood hard work and how to survive without spending someones tax dollars like the ivy league crowd we have in our political system right now.
No doubt the settlers were hard workers, that is why they were here. First off you have to get those crazy indians who keep fighting for their land onto reservations so we can mine all the gold and silver for the city of London.
well I will take pause because you, and clearly others, are giving him the benefit of the doubt and you have good instincts. I don't understand how any of us on here can ascribe qualities to people without a clue what drove their decisions. Also keep in mind that academia is just as big of a ponzi, if not bigger, than these accounting firms. I'd dare say just as evil too. If he was such a principled economics professor the first class he would teach would be about how every kid in that room just signed up to become a debt slave.
I'm surprised his academic papers haven't sprouted like weeds on the interwebs... The one good thing about academia is that participants tend to leave an expansive paper trail demonstrative of their thinking (or proclivity for prostitution, magic negro marxists trying to hide their true colors and set a new low for HLR excepted of course).
Obama is a constitutional professor and look what he has done for the constitution. I can't wait to see what an economics professor can do for our economy.
8 years of Obozo... (in progress)
8 years of Berspankme... (thankfully over, but the replacement is just as destructive)
Benefit of the doubt means I am not going to shit on his parade until I see a good reason to and having first heard of this guy last night, all I know is what is on the resume and the quotes in the news.
In the mean time he gets a Banzai7 hat tip.
Okay fair enough. I will shit all over his picnic and you give him a hat tip and we can consider ourselves hedged.
Honestly, I just read his article, "God and Advanced Mammon—Can Theological Types Handle Usury and Capitalism?" and it read like a bunch of over educated gobbily gook. He certainly doesn't seem to have found any clarity on money issues which are actually very clear if you are willing to listen and stop the gobbily gook in your head. He says that Wall Street had a part in the financial crisis and never actually says what it was then he places specific blame on the government for pushing for low interest loans for housing. Never brought up the evils of cheap credit or the Federal Reserve. Or the evils of a paper currency based and born of debt while bringing all kinds of odd things into the argument.
Wolf in sheep's clothing.
all one need do is read his "resume" document within the article above.
his backstory, therefore beliefs, is right there - his whole education and CAREER is tucked firmly within the system he supports and benefits from.
no questions.
"Honestly, I just read his article, "God and Advanced Mammon—Can Theological Types Handle Usury and Capitalism" LOL
The crown is subservient to the Jesuits and the vatican owns the majority of stock in Beretta Arms Corporation. I think they can handle it as the queen owns one sixth of the land surface of the planet.
Yes yes I think they can handle it
HAHA just read that his campaign spent the same amount as Cantor's did at steakhouses. Hey FAT CATS....the clock on your wasteful ways is ticking...
Did you read that at HuffPo? Be honest!
Here is the link
http://www.businessinsider.com/eric-cantor-loss-steakhouse-spending-2014-6
Actually.....thanks for that. That's pretty impressive.
Here's the /sarc I owe you.
I noticed that he is a graduate of Hope College in Holland, Michigan. This college is affiliated with the Dutch Reformed Church which is very influential in the West Michigan region. Is his name, Brat, Dutch? He is likely to have very similar views to that of David Stockman who was a congressman from this very conservative area of the state. These Dutch-Reformed types seem to place a very high value on being a responsible person, are very frugal, but are also in favor of spending money, when necessary, in a responsible way in order to make your community a better place. In other words, they are often very conservative but community-minded as well, if that makes any sense.
Good observation. My mother and all of her people are 100% Dutch and from that area. I am very familiar with the Christian Reformed Church and it's influence in that area. Not my cup of tea, but I would trust those folks with the reigns before many others. And you don't know frugal until you have spent sometime in some of the small communities around Holland MI.
Let me get this straight....we're gonna swiftboat Brat....with the Dutch Christian Reformed Church?
Not at all my point. If he is a man of that faith I would consider it a plus not a negitive. It is not my belief system but I do have respect for it. The DCRC is not wishy-washy it is pretty hardcore and has been for a long time. I do not see a filp-flopper here. I hope what we see is what we get, which would be a huge improvement.
The Dutch East India Company was a corporation of faith also. Then the wars began.
yep--Hudsonville and Zeeland and the tulip parade in Holland Mich are just about the perfect picture of Mom and apple pie---The people there are about 180 degrees out of phaze with Detroit.
I'm not a fan of organized religion but I understand that to have a civilization worth living in there must be a basic morality, honesty and trust. That's what he means (IMHO)by Judeo Christian background--
Try my corner of IA.....I can tell you a LOT about the CRC and the Dutch. The Mrs. is 100% Dutch.
A lot of good qualities in the folks around here; hard working sob's and yes, frugal might be an understatement but they can spend money when the need arises, and tend to take care of the less fortunate in the area. Like NF's mentions I would trust one of "them" before probably 90% of any others.
Holland pretty much mirrors this area and many other pockets of Dutch communties. The one thing that stands out is most of these pockets are thriving economically. I'm sure being tied to the ag sector here helps quite a bit.
Eric Prince/Blackwater, long family history in Holland.
why, he even named his Mercenary Corps for the "Black River" that runs through Holland - renamed "Macatawa". . .
this anecdote is cute,
when Xe services is taken into consideration. . .
And Marx was an atheist. Whats your point? I thought you were against stereotyping, over generalized hate speach?
I agree that when posting on "voter" threads, I am at my most snarky, and "stereotyping" is un-avoidable - the "voter stereotype" includes hope for change by working within the system
when anyone who doesn't take sides, can see it is the whole system that exploits humans, and to vote within the system is futile, it merely prolongs & enables those who profit from that system - including ALL politicians & those who run for office.
I don't "hate" anyone, but I do reserve the space to mock those who choose to fall in behind "leaders" while ignoring the harm those leaders continue to perpetuate.
No doubt we are pretty much at the center of the cynical world here and there is plenty to be snarky about. I just want to retain some hope. Yes I know it is likely futile and maybe foolish, but what are the alternatives? Most of us still have to work to feed ourselves, and god knows we all need every bit of positive motivation to keep on rolling. So have pity and let us take what nourishment we can from this. We know it probably is not real steak, but we want the savor regardless.
Oldwood,
consider perhaps that once one abandons all hope, one experiences fewer disappointments along the way, living more in the present, less in some imagined "future" that doesn't exist anyway.
once one acknowledges a deeper reality at play, one can work to protect Self and loved ones more thoroughly.
once one disengages from the mainstream downhill flow, there is opportunity to find others of like-mind, True Friends based on more Trust and supportive networks.
might even barter some real steak occasionally, savoured with friends.
I wish you peace in all your daily choices.
The legal paper work for the third reich was transferred to the Benelux Countries and the crown there. It is still in effect. The Dutch are much like most of western man, they they are easily controlled by the top of the pyramid, have been for thousands of years. They are living examples of the old adage, when ignorance becomes bliss.
They tow the Constantine party line of the book (bible) centuries old manuscripts that were hopelessly butchered.
http://dublinsmick.wordpress.com/2013/10/09/religion-means-pathway-to-tr...
He said he was a Calvinist.
Well, there is your blueprint on how to take out the establishment Oligarchs in the (R) party.
John Boehner is probably shitting his pants this morning.
Well, there is your blueprint on how to take out the establishment Oligarchs in the (R) party.
Sure, show more and more pictures of invading Mexicans. Stoke the flames!That always turns out really well.
Keep scapegoating alive!
Suckers.
really asshole? can't we have one night/morning to feel good about a war mongering piece of shit getting embarrassed in front of the whole country? jeez...
CH1co....was this you?
http://weaselzippers.us/189342-pro-amnesty-protesters-storm-cantors-elec...
Congrats to Mr. Brat. Hopefully this is a start of something bigger.
West Michigan guy who went to Hope College (~300 students) with my wife. Catholic, and conservative.
Look at the pols coming out of Michigan of late - Amash, Rogers, even Snyder. Good to see. Not saying they won't be corrupted but my gut feeling is they got into politics for the right reason. Good people to have for after the crash.
As it was predicted in The Fourth Turning.
If there is a correlation between Republicains and the stock market...I guessed I missed it...Christ Wall Street should elect Obama---via a Bloomberg plan..if they could...
Most on the Street did.
when Pelosi is voted out... thats when real hope begins...
So, Hope is good, when it's sold by the Reds?
Do you guys even remember the things you've said?
Your a one dimensional idiot aren't you.. An asshole politician was kicked to the curb, the rhetoric celebrating that simple fact is your take on it, shut up!
An asshole politician was kicked to the curb...
And he'll be replaced by another asshole politician, chump.
Keep worshiping your slavemasters... or at least the ones dressed in Red.
Dont turn sideways in front of moms mirror you'll disappear... lol, red, blue were all screwed, but at least I got through puberty, come o nback when the voice changes..
seems yur take on this is very political--does that mean yur a asshole politician?? hummm??
As well as that cunt Feinstein
Get rid of Reid, can't forget him
Unfortunately the Democrats will never clean house. They don't distinguish between establishment and non-establishment politicians. They're great hope is pocahontas who is just as progressive as Obama.
Pelosi will never be voted out. She's like inoperable cancer.
Cannabis can cure that.
he made statements last night about debt, the FED, Fanny and Freddy and printing too much money- does he read ZH????
(He goes by the pen-name 'Tyler'.) Ha ha
So many ZHs are caught up in their own doom and gloom bullshit they will never admit when something truly wonderful just happened. Ron Paul republicans are multiplying and one of them just beat a majority leader for the first time since 1899. Between Amash, Massie, Rand and some others in the house were really starting to grow.
We all saw the influence Ron Paul had. Now imagine what we could do with 10 of them.
Last night was a huge win for everyone and some of you are so depressingly pathetic you refuse to even admit it.
It's not doom and gloom bullshit. It's just too easy to be a skeptic these days about everything. I like Amash. If Rand went for Pres and Amash was Veep on the ticket I would actually come out and vote. Some academia douchenozzle that started off at Arthur Anderson does not inspire confidence in me.
The problem is that in our ploitivcal system, whoever you are to get elected you have to be likable to a broad number of people. That is #1 to get elected anywhere.... and then everything comes second. That is reality, and if yo don't agree then you can pine for your dream candidate until the cows come home.
Likeability is a plus, but the main thing is you have to be believable, thats why we end up with so many really good liars
Can't disagree fonz, but there are exceptions to the rule. You know of a guy named Damon Vrabel? If I'd looked at his C. V. before seeing his actual work, I'd have blown him off immediately. West Point, Harvard, Mars Hill seminary- In short, not someone I would normally expect to agree with.
Have a look for yourself:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL66131683EFB206B0
Silver - totally agree. We can't constantly have cynicism heaped upon cynicsim. I am from VA-7 and this is really, really big news. Even the local (Red State) paper is focusing more on being a "free market guy" than immigration reform.
it was a primary. he still has to beat the democrat candidate.
And, he'll eventually be coopted. I believe nothing good can come from washington.
secession for all.
1) Heavily GOP district
2) The Dems ran no one - the guy running against him is another professor from the same school- theyre friends. No matter what happens liberty gains a seat.
3) this also means the dem would drop out if Cantor goes IND which is why he wont do it- Cantor knows hes screwed
Again... ZHs trying their best to make this out as a bad thing and I got news for a good lot of you who dont pay any attention- these Ron Paul Republicans havent been co-opted and thats why theyre scaring the shit out of the neocons and thats why theyre throwing everything they can at Amash this primary to get him out.
I saw this same shit here when those heroes made their stand at Bundys Ranch a great many of you came in here and shat all over it in the same way. Its like an armed revolt could overthrow the fascists and youd just cry about how theyll be co-opted by the New New World Order or some bullshit like that.
I mean fucking A I guess we should be dissapointed Cantor lost? That seems to be what a good lot of you are suggesting...
ou believe some bullshit don't you. Liberty does not require you to hand power to another to rule over you - didn't you see what happened LAST time??
Theyre called steps in the right direction. I guess we should just say fuck those and go back to crying about how much everything sucks...
HAHA. you have to be kidding......... this was the happiest news i've had since ....Rand Paul was elected.!
What do you mean we aren't happy? I'm ecstatic
Cantor will run as a write-in robbing Brat of votes, so expect the district to swing to the Democrats. So all in all, it will still be business as usual.
Read what I wrote above. The Dems ran no one! The guy running on their ticket is Brats friend. They set it up this way so now neither of them can lose. If Cantor runs ill bet he drops out and Cantor will be embarassed out of politics- this is why hes truly fucked.
But again... Lets just all paint the negative angles.
Or we can all just be as blindly optimistic as you.
as opposed to what, blindly pessimistic?