Poor Michael Steele. Every time he opens his mouth, he manages to do something that no one thought was possible: say something even more foolish than what he said last time.
Here’s his latest — the clever solution he’s come up for how to oppose gay marriage without seeming to be against gay people.
Republicans can reach a broader base by recasting gay marriage as an issue that could dent pocketbooks as small businesses spend more on health care and other benefits, GOP Chairman Michael Steele said Saturday…. “Now all of a sudden I’ve got someone who wasn’t a spouse before, that I had no responsibility for, who is now getting claimed as a spouse that I now have financial responsibility for,” Steele told Republicans at the state convention in traditionally conservative Georgia. “So how do I pay for that? Who pays for that? You just cost me money.”
Oh, whoopsie … sorry Michael, but that’s an argument against marriage in general, not gay marriage. You see, if nobody got married, then we wouldn’t have all those annoying dependents being added to employee health plans and thus burdening small businesses. In fact, your argument works much better against straight marriage than against gay marriage, for two reasons: (1) there are more straight people than gay people getting married, so straight marriage burdens business more than gay marriage does; and (2) straight couples are more likely than gay couples to have kids, and kids dramatically increasing the burden on small businesses by transforming the employer-funded health plan from “self+1” to the more expensive “family” variety. You know those kids, always having to go to the damn doctor and stuff.
With this guy in charge of the GOP, it’s getting more and more difficult to be worried about the 2010 elections.
getting rid of employer-provided insurance and replacing it with Single Payer or McCain’s idea of individual tax credits to purchase insurance and level the playing field and remove the burden from businesses.
A friend of mine who has contacts in the RNC told me Steele has been replacing all of the RNC’s vendors (i.e the people that make stickers, t-shirts, advertisements, etc.) with business associates of his. Basically he is just giving all his friends fat contracts and hoping they give him a cut. He knows he won’t get re-elected so he is just using the position to cash-out. Also with Hutchinson retiring earlier than expected the GOP is likely to lose at least one more seat, one also suspects that a few more senior members might just retire rather than fight it out.
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p>And while we might have a ‘pox on their house’ attitude one has to admit that the Democrats being in the political wilderness (from 2000-2006) was bad for America since one party rule lead to all sorts of terrible things for the country. Since I like Obama and trust his judgment, and since the Senate dems are not nearly as unified as their Republican counterparts so even 60 seats doesn’t translate to 60 votes as Liebermen, Nelson, and now Specter prove, there is not much to worry about.
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p>But issues like what Pelosi knew and when did she know it on waterboarding, issues like the despicable way Obama is really moving rather than closing Guantanamo Bay, issues like his open ended commitment to an escalation in Afghanistan, these issues will not be challenged by the President’s supermajority, and while the Republicans might not be the best opposition policy-wise, the opposition tends to notice when abuses of power takes place. So I would prefer the GOP was led by someone willing to return that party to its pro-civil rights, pro-civil liberties roots, at least to make sure Obama keeps his promises. Unfortunately their only sensible voice was just made Ambassador to China in a shrewd move by Obama.
It’s time for him and Joe Biden to have the stupid soundbite olympics.
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p>The winner gets an all expenses paid trip to the Rahm Emmanuel Academy for Swearing Near On Mics.
for the punch line
I found his comments to the NRA, where he made a number of reckless accusations about the Obama Administration, more disturbing. Why do Republicans let Republicans get away with such stuff?
… depend on a fired up base.
that he flipped on his stance on assault weapons. I’m all for having a 12-gauge in a gun safe and a .357 in your nightstand, but saying an assault weapons ban is the first step to the 2nd amendment being outlawed is ridiculous. A few years ago, he might have said the same.
at least for some businesses, gay marriage rocks.
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