I think the republicans have a simple game plan with all of this IRS crap.

[NCTraveler]

It is part of a bigger picture. Get ready for them to go after the IRS hard in the coming months. Scraping up any sound bite that will make the IRS look bad. Then, starting in a couple of months, the link between the IRS and the ACA is all they will be talking about. They have a long term goal of stirring up their base before the next election. They will go on full assault when it comes to the IRS being the agency tasked with collecting taxes/penalties for the ACA. It plays right into the hands of the low information voter. This is not about a $1500/night room. This is not about going after certain groups. It is about the sound bites. It is about building up anger within their base. There will be many more to follow.

[HappyMe]

1. I think you are right.

The IRS is kind of the thing people love to hate as it is. They will toss more wood on that fire.

[Politicalboi]

2. Well they better hurry

They'll be on leave soon. Obama needs to make personal messages online to mostly the young who can vote in 2014. Tell them how ACA will help them, how it works, and much it's going to cost. That or either send mailers to EVERYONE on how it is going to effect them. Maybe the GOP will overplay this, and we will go to Medicare for ALL since the IRS can't be trusted.

[Frustratedlady]

3. Well, history has shown us that they love to use a distraction while

they are up to something major, so everyone should keep their eyes and ears open to any shenanigans in their state or what is going on nationally. Three scandals that didn't amount to a hill of beans means they are up to something big.

Rove has been pretty quiet of late.

What's ALEC up to? The think tanks with new management? State government with Republican governors? State actions on joining or not joining in on Obamacare?

Sniff them out!

[maidensandiego]

4. I AGREE !

And I say we need a MASS MOVEMENT across this country to DEMAND that the IRS investigate ALL APPLICATIONS ! Flip the script on the Republicans. For every rally these people hold in front of an IRS Bldg....there should be an IRS Support group....to drown out their NONSENCE !!!! Bet they would'nt like that !!!

[randome]

5. They have no 'game plan'. I'm amazed anyone thinks this after Palin/Romney/Ryan...

...and all the other fuck-ups they have been a part of in the past 5 years.

No one is making 'plans' for the GOP. They are a rudderless boat without a sail.

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[font color="blue"][center]Stop looking for heroes. BE one.[/center][/font]
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[zappaman]

6. +100!

It's quite obvious the only "game plan" they have is to obstruct anything even vaguely Democratic.

[WCGreen]

8. Yep, this is like the Union/Hippie battle for the Democratic Party that started in 1968...

and killed the Depression version of Democrats in 1972.

And by hippie I mean liberal which is why that word has been nuclear ever since. The Anti-War/Racial Equality faction let Nixon drive a wedge straight through the heart of the Democrats coalition. Once that was accomplished, they took the South and enough of the Lunch Bucket Brigades to effectively kill the Roosevelt coalition.

[NCTraveler]

9. If that is the case, and I don't believe it is, is doesn't speak well for the Democrats.

Of course they plan. To think they don't shows a lack of understanding with respect to politics. They took the house, are close in the senate, and have no plan? Pretty successful rudderless ship. If your policies are as fucked up as theirs are, and you are having success, it is because you have a plan placating to your base.

[randome]

15. They're coasting and they're running out of momentum.

The Tea Party gave them a little boost but that's fizzling. They don't show much in the way of coordination, IMO. And they are pissing off all the groups they need to add to their 'white man power' guild and they don't seem to understand how to reverse that.

I think 2014 will see more losses for Republicans. I could be wrong, of course, but I don't see any kind of 'master plan' in play.

Palin/Romney/Ryan should be evidence enough of that.

Even the IRS 'scandal' is starting to hurt them just like Benghazi did. Except with their base. That's the only group they have going for them -the hard-core white guy base. And it's dying out.

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[font color="blue"][center]Stop looking for heroes. BE one.[/center][/font]
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[NightWatcher]

10. sling mud, scream names, BENGHAZI, are we still going with the secret muslin thing?

they are three year olds pitching a tantrum. They have no plan

[wandy]

7. And the message Teapublicans want their rank and file to hear................

Since the IRS also is the chief enforcer of Obamacare requirements, [Bachmann] asked whether the IRS’s admission means it “will deny or delay access to health care” for conservatives.
At this point, she said, that “is a reasonable question to ask.” […]
[S]hould Americans fear their government may try to harm them if they are conservative?
“It now is an entirely reasonable question for the American people to ask,” she said. “Will Obamacare be so politicized and misused?”

http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/05/15/2017211/michele-bachmann-obamacare-irs-kill-people/
Naturally a bat shit crazy lady to World Nut Daily. Hay how better to stir up fear.

And theirs plenty more of that wackadoodel out their.

[NCTraveler]

11. "At this point, she said, that “is a reasonable question to ask.” "

Some many things are reasonable to the republican base. It is frightening.

[Life Long Dem]

12. That's the problem.

Everyone "thinks" they are after this or that, but no one really "knows", because they are witch hunting. And everyone doesn't "think" this is true, (about witch hunting) they "know" it is true. As you said, they are "Scraping up any sound bite that will make the IRS look bad." Another words they "are" witch hunting. That we all "know".

[Laelth]

13. They have nothing, and I think they know it.

On the national level, they are toast, and I think they know it. They are throwing whatever they can find up against the wall to see if it will stick. That's all they can do. The House is so bad that, even though they have the votes to oust Boehner, nobody wants his job, so they have to report that "God" told them to retain Boehner as Speaker.

On the state level, they are still doing damage, but, ultimately, I am more worried about Democrats than Republicans. The recent vote to cut SNAP benefits (supported by far too many Democrats) is still bugging me.

-Laelth

[SQUEE]

14. I see it as the first big push for "fair" tax and abolition of the IRS as we know it.

It is merely a first step, demonize and exploit the public outrage.