While Republicans are historically known for their support of business, Florida’s GOP Governor Ron DeSantis is locked in battle with his state’s largest employer, Disney World. Disney spoke out against the DeSantis-encouraged laws meddling in women’s health and persecuting sexual minorities. In retaliation for these corporate views, Mr. DeSantis targeted the mechanism used to develop and maintain Disney’s huge Cental Florida resort since 1967. That testy move could put Florida taxpayers on the hook for more than $1 billion.
Enter Donald Trump, current frontrunner in the race for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. Ron DeSantis is obviously set to formally enter the fray after his symbolic world tour. As far the The Donald is concerned, the enemy of his enemy is his friend. Expect to see him leave Mar-a-Lago for an Orlando mouse-hugging daytrip soon.
Fun Fact: Ron DeSantis got married at Disney World in 2009.
More:
“Donald Trump posts scorched-earth rant against Ron ‘DeSanctus,’ blasts gov’s ‘political stunt’ against Disney,” Mark Moore, New York Post
“Trump attacks DeSantis by suggesting Disney could leave Florida because of the governor,” Antonio Fins, Palm Beach Post
“Man vs. Mouse: Ron DeSantis Finds Taking On Disney Is a Dicey Business,” Charles Homans, New York Times
“The feud between Ron DeSantis and Disney, explained,” Nicole Narea, Ian Millhiser, and Alex Abad-Santos, Vox
Steve Bannon granted Nicholas Farrell an interview because he liked Mr. Farrell’s book on Mussolini:
“He was clearly loved by women. He was a guy’s guy. He has all that virility. He also had amazing fashion sense, right, that whole thing with the uniforms. I’m fascinated by Mussolini.”
Wayne LaPierre isn’t on the CPAC agenda, but since the NRA is CPAC’s biggest sponsor and the biggest donor to GOP campaigns, he’s certain to deliver his usual demagoguery. There’s a half-hour slot on Thursday’s agenda at 10 AM marked “Special Programming,” so that’s our bet. Mike Pence will bless the gathered wingnuts afterwards, at 10:30.
“Of course we would vigorously oppose any thickening of the border,” said Canadian Defence Minister Jason Kenny. Reaction from the Great White North has been fairly muted, since Canada has a big election of its own on October 19th.
In the 2014 Republican primary, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s campaign and PAC spent nearly $170,000 at DC power steakhouses, chiefly Bobby Van’s and BLT Steak. His victorious opponent Dave Brat’s entire campaign cost $122,000.
“”It’s rare that you would see a fundraiser at a Ruby Tuesday or a Chipotle,’ said Lisa Spies, a veteran GOP fundraiser …. ‘You’ve got to spend money to raise money.’
In the 2014 cycle, all federal candidates have spent just over $9,000 on Chipotle, and $1,229 at Ruby Tuesday, according to numbers compiled by CQ Moneyline. In the same span, they have spent more than $400,000 at Bobby Van’s.”
— “Why Eric Cantor chose Bobby Van’s,” Eric Tau, Politico
It works. Cantor’s campaign raked in $5.5 million and his PAC took in $3.5 million more while Brat raised $206,663.
But the median annual household income in Virginia’s 7th District is $64,751, the value of the average family home is $188,400, and it’s a pretty long drive to Bobby Van’s.
Related:
“Elites Beware: Eric Cantor’s Defeat May Signal a Populist Revolution,” Ron Fournier, National Journal
Hundreds of thousands of middle class Israelis began protesting a huge jump in dairy prices this summer, resulting in the largest demonstrations the country has ever seen. These soon became protests about widening economic inequalities in the small nation.
The protests are getting results. The Israeli cabinet has just approved a new tax plan reducing taxes on low-income wage earners and raising them for the rich and for corporations. Other new policies include cuts to the defense budget.
Joe’s book, like his biography and politics, is fiction. His political aspirations, however, are real — his greatest accomplishment to date is his recent election as one of only 400 Republican Party committee members in Ohio’s Lucas County (37,258 registered Republicans).
Sarah Palin is spending her summer vacation just like you, on a simple family trip funded by hundreds of thousands of dollars in political donations. Mrs. Palin, along with her parents, sullen pre-teen daughter Piper, and husband Todd (Alaska’s former First Thug), is motoring between historic East Coast sites in a chartered luxury coach with her name painted on it.
Is the trip a vacation or presidental campaign tour? Mrs. Palin won’t say, to the consternation of the media. The bus is being tailed by reporters and news crews as it meanders along its secret itinerary. Far from keeping the trip private, the “magical mystery tour” aspect merely spurs the media frenzy. Where will she be next?
“A hall full of elderly white people in Medicare-paid scooters, railing against government spending and imagining themselves revolutionaries as they cheer on the vice-presidential puppet hand-picked by the GOP establishment. If there exists a better snapshot of everything the Tea Party represents, I can’t imagine it.”
More:
“Tea & Crackers,” Matt Taibbi, Rolling Stone(long and well worth reading).
“Proof that the Tea Party and GOP base are the same thing,” Steve Kornacki, Salon.
Image (“Sarah’s Tea Party, after Sir John Tenniel”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com
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