Dahleen Glanton’s column in today’s Chicago Tribune mentioned Sen. Tim Scott’s op-ed in the Washington Post about King’s comments that said, “Some in our party wonder why Republicans are constantly accused of racism – it is because of our silence when things like this are said.”
[QUOTE]
No, Sen. Scott, that’s not why many African-Americans think the Republican Party is racist. It’s because of the racist policies the GOP espouses.
/QUOTE]
She goes on to enumerate some of those policies, including passing statewide voter identification laws; giving big tax breaks to the wealthy while proposing cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and other safety nets for the poor; looking at Pell Grants, student loans and Head Start programs as handouts, rather than steppingstones to a better left.
The column is behind a paywall, or I’d give a link to it.
I thought I saw something yesterday saying he already has 2 primary challengers but I could have misunderstood. I think it’s pretty clear the sudden GOP spinal growth on this issue is related to timing. If they had taken this action before the election it could have lost them another seat. Now they can run someone else and be pretty well guaranteed they will retain it.
I was surprised McConnell suggested King should consider another line of work. Much more of a harsh position than I would expect. Why his sudden change on the topic when he has been perfectly happy to ignore it in the past? Maybe again it is all about getting past the election. Then again I wonder if it has something to do with having a more moderate voice join the Senate in the person of Mitt Romney. I’m not a fan but Romney has been one of the few in the GOP willing to speak up about some of the more vile things Trump and his cronies like King have done over the last couple of years. And his denunciation of King was pretty much the strongest I saw and the only one directly calling for him to resign that I’m aware of on the GOP side. I’m curious if he will influence the Senate leadership to put more distance between them and the White House over the next couple of years.
Not distributing resources to poor people is “racist”?
When has the GOP tried to cut SS or Medicare? They had control of govt for two years and never came near it. I’m sorry but that post is out to lunch and reeks of party operative.
I disagree that being kicked off committees is minor. That’s a major hit on his ability to influence things for his district. Especially in the House where his one vote out of 435 is less important for any potential dealmaking. I’d rank censure as being about as useful as empty platitudes. Sure it’s a formal platitude but it’s still toothless.
My daughter had been one of those Millennials too apathetic to vote. But shortly before November’s election, she told me, “I can’t wait to vote!” She was spurred to action specifically by learning about the vileness of Steve King. We’re not in Iowa, but the election in her district did flip a longtime Republican seat to Democratic, so her vote went to good effect.
At first I misread her text and thought she had been motivated by a certain horror fiction writer from Maine, but then found out what she meant and became equally outraged.
It was not claimed to be racist per se, but mentioned policies that target mainly blacks. Those policies are attempts to uplift blacks. How much of American prosperity was built on the backs of slavery? How bed was the federal policy of redlining for the chances of blacks to uplift themselves? How much poorer that white-majority schools than black-majority ones? Are the voter restriction laws racially neutral? Are you just blind to these effects?
Agreed, losing his committee assignments is major. It’s also a clear signal to voters in his district that the party leadership is done with King and they want him gone.
Romney is going to challenge unindicted co-conspirator Donald John Trump in the Republican presidential primary. His senate seat is basically his for life, so he can aggravate Trumpists with impunity. His recent remarks are signals to the donor class that he represents the not-Trump wing of the party.
Exactly, losing committee assignments is a HUGE deal, the Democrats did that to Jim Traficant because they were sick of his corruption and his vote for the republicans for Speaker was the final straw.
I think most of us in professional jobs know what steps happen when it’s clear the company wants you gone and it’s up to you to do it the easy way by resigning or do it the hard way by being fired.
The House vote on the lesser resolution of disapproval was 424-1. Even King voted against himself. Only Bobby Rush (D-IL) voted against it…because he wants censure.
It all checks out except for Romney’s recent bootlicking. Utahns won’t turn out Romney for turning especially given the large never-trumpist element there. I just don’t think he has it in him to challenge.
Pleonast, you pretty much read my mind. I considered saying the same thing but left it out at the last minute.
I can see how this seems hard to believe but Romney does appear to be positioning himself as the reasonable GOP voice. As more shit hits the fan over the next six months/year Mitt’s reaction to events will be very telling.
Romney/Flake 2020? Up against Biden/Harris?
At the least, Romney v Biden in 2020 would be an interesting contest.
Since I’m in a mood to make predictions tonight, I predict that King will decide to retire after his current term expires, but that he’s not going to resign early. He will then end up becoming part to the right wing media, maybe even taking a job on Fox News.
What’s particularly irritating about this whine from the racist wankstain is that the House’s Democratic majority is still 38% non-Hispanic white men. That’s well over one-third, in a country whose population is barely 30% non-Hispanic white men.
Newsflash, Steve King: Non-Hispanic white men are not a demographic majority in this country, and they should not expect to be a majority of governing bodies and other important and/or representative groups! If you think that not having non-Hispanic white men massively overrepresented in such groups is somehow being “unwelcoming” or “exclusionary” towards them, you are not only a racist but a snivelling little over-entitled special snowflake.