Conservative Advice To GOP: Don't Legislate, Focus On Scandals [View all]

[Galraedia]

Source: NPR

Heritage Action, the political activist offshoot of the conservative Heritage Foundation, has some advice for House Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor: focus on the scandals plaguing the Obama administration and stay away from legislation that could "highlight major schisms" within the House Republican Conference.

In a letter this week to the leaders, Heritage Action CEO Michael Needham says "outrage over Benghazi" and the IRS targeting of Tea Party groups has "rightly focused the nation's attention squarely on the actions of the Obama administration." The letter goes on to say the House must continue holding oversight hearings, "but it would be imprudent to do anything that shifts the focus from the Obama administration to the ideological differences within the House Republican Conference."

The letter specifically mentions the Internet sales tax bill (which recently passed the Senate with lots of Republican support) and the farm bill (the Senate is working through it now and is likely to pass it soon). Needham says both bills, which House conservatives dislike, could prompt the press to write another " 'circular firing squad' article."

"Rather than scheduling such legislation for consideration, we urge you to keep the attention focused squarely on the Obama administration," Needham wrote in summation.

Read more: http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2013/05/17/184824660/advice-to-gop-dont-legislate-focus-on-scandals

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The demand of Jim DeMint’s Heritage Foundation — or, more accurately, its political arm Heritage Action — that Congress focus exclusively on the IRS scandal to the exclusion of all else hides two personal vendettas.

- Heritage Action has asked — ordered? — Speaker John Boehner to “avoid bringing any legislation to the House Floor that could expose or highlight major schisms within the conference.” That way, the GOP doesn’t “do anything that shifts the focus” from the IRS or Benghazi controversies. (National Review)

-Those votes it wants to block include ones on internet sales tax, immigration reform and the farm bill — the latter, interestingly enough, because the House’s deep cuts to the so-called “food stamps” program aren’t deep enough. (The Hill) and (Chad Pergram)

-Now why would it make this demand for Permanent Obstruction? Well, one reason is that vote on comprehensive immigration reform. Heritage likely wants to erase memories of an embarrassing, much-maligned “think” piece on why reform wouldn’t work (which cost the author his job at Heritage). (Mother Jones)

Read more: http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/05/17/top-lines-heritage-action-trying-to-kill-two-birds-irs-immigration-reform-with-one-obstruction/