GOP's 2012 playbook: Budget cuts blaze trail - Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen - POLITICO.com, Mar. 11, 2011:
"But the tea party, treated at first by the media as exotics, forced Republicans to focus almost exclusively on the size of government. By the time the 2010 elections rolled around, tea party activists and most independent voters were completely aligned on the need to cut, cut, cut. Midterm election results showed that this approach offers the GOP its best – and maybe only – hope of keeping the interests of independents and tea party activists aligned enough to beat Obama....
"The uncontrollable power of the government-gutting wing is certainly causing unease with top congressional leaders in Washington. House Speaker John Boehner and other GOP leaders got trampled by the stampede of conservative freshmen demanding bigger cuts than the party brass envisioned. Perhaps Boehner and Co. thought the goodies that worked so well for so long – cool committee assignments and a seat at the leadership table – would tame their passions. They didn’t. One of the lessons of the 2010 election was that tea party freshmen have way more incentive to listen to activists than placate the establishment.
"This has party leaders unnerved. One top aide told Politico these freshmen are like 'ravenous dogs,' untamable and wildly unpredictable. This is why it would be foolish to bet big against a government shutdown if an agreement on substantial budget cuts cannot be reached."
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0311/51099.html
"The uncontrollable power of the government-gutting wing is certainly causing unease with top congressional leaders in Washington. House Speaker John Boehner and other GOP leaders got trampled by the stampede of conservative freshmen demanding bigger cuts than the party brass envisioned. Perhaps Boehner and Co. thought the goodies that worked so well for so long – cool committee assignments and a seat at the leadership table – would tame their passions. They didn’t. One of the lessons of the 2010 election was that tea party freshmen have way more incentive to listen to activists than placate the establishment.
"This has party leaders unnerved. One top aide told Politico these freshmen are like 'ravenous dogs,' untamable and wildly unpredictable. This is why it would be foolish to bet big against a government shutdown if an agreement on substantial budget cuts cannot be reached."
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0311/51099.html
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