Fear

Politico's Ben Smith:

The Republican National Committee plans to raise money this election cycle through an aggressive campaign capitalizing on "fear" of President Barack Obama and a promise to "save the country from trending toward socialism."

The strategy was detailed in a confidential party fundraising presentation, obtained by POLITICO, which also outlines how “ego-driven” wealthy donors can be tapped with offers of access and "tchochkes."

The fringe and the mainstream have become one.

Check out the full presentation here.

White House spokesman Nick Shapiro responds to Kit Bond's recent grandstanding on the prosecution of accused terrorists:

Through his pathetic attack on a counter-terrorism professional like John Brennan who has spent his lifetime protecting this country under multiple Administrations, Senator Bond sinks to new depths in his efforts to put politics over our national security.

Greg Sargent of the Washington Post's Plum Line blog agrees:

The conventions of political journalism for some reason discourage doing this, but it’s worth pointing out that the White House is right.

Does Kit Bond's grandstanding about prosecuting terrorists have anything to do with politics? "Give me a break!" he says.

I'm not sure why Chuck Todd even asked that question. We all remember when Bond hyperventilated like this when the Bush Administration was prosecuting terrorists in criminal courts.

 Jason Noble has the amusing and frustrating story over at the Prime Buzz of Rep. Chuck Gatschenberger (R-Lake St. Louis) using big boy words in a recent constituent newsletter about federal health care reform legislation. Here's an excerpt, as posted by Noble:

Last night: 

Don't bother doing any research or talking about how the federal health care proposals will effect the states -- just make up numbers that sounds scary.

Of greatest concern, [Charlie] Shields and [Kevin] Engler said, is the potential cost to the state for an expansion of Medicaid under the health-care bill.

That cost could be $250 million, $450 million or maybe even $1 billion, they said.

"It's the biggest unfunded mandate that's ever been sent onto the states," Engler, of Farmington, said.

It could be a billion dollars!   Or it could be one hundred billion dollars! 

Or...the compromise bill that comes out of House and Senate negotiations could produce a bill that's somewhere in between the two bills that have already been passed and evaluated -- and cost the state somewhere between $91-$188 million more each year. 

House Budget Chair and candidate for State Auditor Allen Icet apparently missed all those audits of the "death panel" falsehood -- Saturday, he said they're real.

Icet also attacked the federal health care bill working its way through Congress: "However you want to put lipstick on this pig, it will destroy our country," Icet said. And, he added, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was right: "We will have what she referred to as death panels."

Palin and Icet, of course, are wrong (very wrong).  But why would a man entrusted by the House GOP with the state budget and seeking a promotion to statewide office be expected to know what he's talking about?

UPDATE: Bond released a new statement to TPM explaining his position, but remains silent as to why he didn't criticize Bush when he was in office.

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Talking Points Memo has picked up on my exchange with Sen. Kit Bond's communications director Shana Marchio, and can't find any examples of Bond criticizing the Bush Administration's criminal prosecution of "shoe bomber" Richard Reid.

We couldn't find any reports of Bond speaking out against Bush's handling of the [Richard] Reid case, but we've asked Marchio if he made his views known at the time.

Reid was arrested in December 2001, and pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in January 2003 to eight counts, including attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction, attempted homicide, and placing an explosive device on an aircraft.

Former Attorney General and Missouri Governor/Senator John Ashcroft celebrated the work of the U.S. Attorney in announcing the charges against Reid in January 2002.

A search of Nexis articles mentioning Bond and Reid shows no public criticism or even concern from the Senator about the prosecution, conviction and detention of Reid. 

Some hateful stuff from Ed Martin today, who apparently wants you to know that your life is in danger because Barack Obama is president:

Martin's tweet links an article in the American Thinker, which begins: "Barack Obama could get you killed. That's the reluctant conclusion more and more Americans are contemplating in the wake of the bizarre handling of the Northwest 253 attempted bombing."

 Undeterred by last week's "Lie of the Year" announcement, Cynthia Davis is telling her constituents that exterminating unspecified "undesirables" is a central goal of Congressional health care reform.

The congressional plan will save money by “weeding out the undesirables”. That’s why they fought to make sure abortion was covered in the senate bill. When we go to a national healthcare system, the first step is for government to gain greater control of our lives. The second step will be to define who is worthy of medical services. Even if you think it is okay for parents to destroy their offspring before birth, we ought to be concerned about what will happen to the disabled and elderly.

It's comforting to know that no amount of ridiculous behavior from Davis will jeopardize her leadership position with the House GOP Caucus.

PolitiFact's Lie of the Year:

Of all the falsehoods and distortions in the political discourse this year, one stood out from the rest.

"Death panels."

The "death panels" phrase was created by Sarah Palin, but has its roots in the coordinated campaign to scare voters with the idea that Democratic health care proposals would create mechanisms for euthanizing elderly or sickly persons. It was outrageous and obviously false – that's what it's the "Lie of the Year" – but that didn't stop leading Missouri Republicans from helping to spread the lies.

Notable Show-Me State propagators of the Lie of the Year include:

• Rep. Roy Blunt, who said it's "easy" for the death panel debate "to go either way." Blunt repugnantly refused to smack down the falsehood on KTRS in August. "I think it's easy for that debate to go either way," he said. "You know, when they start talking about doing this every five years, then you do begin to wonder, now, just how committed is the federal government to being sure that that decision's already been made by you well before you and your family face it." 

Sen. Kit Bond doesn't like the idea of allowing the EPA to regulate greenhouse gasses, and supports a resolution by Sen. Lisa Murkowksi (R-AK) to stop the EPA from using the Clean Air Act to rein in emissions.

In fact, Bond hates a recent ruling allowing the EPA to reduce emmisions so much that he's telling folks the EPA just might "starve" Missourians. Listen to this clip from his weekly radio show (via The Hill):

"I think nobody wants to see a bureaucracy that is focused on the east coast and the left coast tell us how we live, or pay higher taxes and starve in the midwest," he said. 

It's not every day that U.S. Senators talk about how the federal government may "starve" Midwesterners so the "east coast and the left coast" might live -- but if it's coming from Kit Bond, it's got to be a completely reasonable statement.

I don't disagree with the thrust of this editorial in the Post-Dispatch about Republican fearmongering in the health care debate.

What campfires are to spooky ghost stories, Congressional Republicans have become to frightening, fabricated urban legends about health care reform. Death panels! Rationing! Medicare cuts!

But at the same time, I don't understand why the editorial is accompanied by a photo of Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), and mentions Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) –- but doesn't note a single Missouri leader guilty of the same scare tactics. 

This tweet from the News-Leader's Chad Livengood about the House Democrats' health care bill got my heart racing yesterday:

Under House health care bill, failure to buy insurance will become a felony w/ 5-year jail time: http://tinyurl.com/ykhk3k3

This makes about as much sense as saying there are new criminal penalties in Missouri for yoga instructors, or that having a job is a crime in America because you have to pay income taxes.

Please don't pay attention to all those stories and the mumbling in the GOP Caucus about my failure to follow through on my health care reform "guarantee."