Republican leaders in Congress are stunned by the defection of moderate Republicans from the Republican party. The moderates have started a third party called the Moderates of the Republic, but have acknowledged they will vote with the Democratic party in exchange for one-half of the committee chairs in congress. Pres. Bush has scheduled a rare press conference to address this issue, & political pundits of all stripes have attributed this party split to everything from the fiasco in Iraq, the invasion of Iran, expanding budget deficits to a simple last straw in the removal of Sen. Spector as head of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
This developement has stunned Republican leadership, as shown by the obscene & profane remarks made by Marority Leader Tom DeLay on Fox. Democrats & liberal pressure groups have called on the FCC to fine DeLay for his outburst, but yesterday FCC Chairman Powell called the complaints "nonsense intended to kick a person when they (sic) are down."
The split in the Republican party has emasculated its' power in Congress, guaranteed the ascendance of the Democratic agenda, & saves the remanants of the New Deal, Great Society, & ironically, some of Nixon's policies. Because Republican moderates jumped ship, privatization of Social Security is doubtful even though bills are halfway through the House & Senate, & now the continuation of Bush's taxcuts look dim.
The defection of moderate Republicans in
Congress means that now 50 Representatives & 4 Senators have removed themselves from Republican party discipline. Republican activitists have heatedly accused the Democratic Party of bribing Republican Congressional members to 'jump ship', but Democratic spokesman strongly deny this. However, activists who espouse Democratic causes admit working to get moderate Republicans to defect. " Oh, sure," admitted one activist from Daily Kos, a Democratic weblog, " after the Christian Coalition gave the moderates this 'our way or the highway' s---, we approached them. Many of them were receptive, but only a minority. So we went to their districts, & asked the people they knew,--'Hey, did you elect them to do this crap' . .? Once they were getting thousands of letters & hundreds of e-mails from their constituents telling them to . . walk away, they (came around), y'know?"
That this unforseen turnaround by a sizeable Republican minority has upset the Republican leadership is proven by the new controversy over the Majority Leader's language during an interview on Sean & Hannity on Fox TV. During a discussion on the reasons why moderates would bolt the Republican party, Delay suddenly blurted " It's because -- they're c------------- m------------. They're c---------- m------------." As this was a live show, this statement was broadcast uncensored. All other participants of the show sat in stunned silence, then the broadcast went off the air, & for the last forty minutes of the show, the network aired commercials.