Paul Begala: You’re damn right we’ll spend undisclosed cash to battle the right

[kpete]

Posted at 02:36 PM ET, 04/29/2011
Paul Begala: You’re damn right we’ll spend undisclosed cash to battle the right
By Greg Sargent
................

I emailed Paul Begala, one of the founders of the new group, to respond. And boy did he respond:

......................

We strongly support reform. We support new laws to require transparency of all donations. We support repealing the wrongheaded Citizens United ruling. But, to paraphrase Donald Rumsfeld, you go to war with the laws you have, not the laws you wish you had.

Mr. Rove, the billionaire Koch brothers, the Chamber of Commerce, the NRA, the American Action Network, FreedomWorks, Americans for Prosperity, the Club for Growth, and other right-wing groups are projected to raise hundreds of millions of dollars to advance an extreme agenda which would hammer the middle class. We will not let their attacks go unanswered.

As we say back home in Texas, “a hit dog barks.” Mr. Rove and the RNC are barking because their days of unchallenged lies are over. There is too much at stake. The Supreme Court itself, for starters, which Mitt Romney has pledged to stack with jurists like Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas. The very existence of Medicare is at risk. Nursing home care, student loans, environmental protection, Wall Street reform, consumer protection — the very fabric of the American middle class — is in the Rove-Koch crosshairs. They want to slam the middle class in order to give more rewards to oil companies, millionaires and billionaires.

Everywhere I go Americans have asked me why progressives are letting the right wing define the debate. Sadly, in the post-Citizens United world, unlimited money has allowed them to. There is a real groundswell out there. Progressives are fed up with the politics of fear and smear, fed by the tactics of lie and buy. They want to stand up and fight back. That’s just what we intend to do.

the rest:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/post/paul-begala-youre-damn-right-well-spend-undisclosed-cash-to-battle-the-right/2011/03/03/AFem5LFF_blog.html

[The Backlash Cometh]

1. We will take money from the devil to do...the devil's work?

I'm just sayin', take the money but cut the political strings.

[louslobbs]

2. We must do whatever we have to in order to stop what the Republicans are doing to this country. We

need to play hardball and not let up for a moment. Right now in Wisconsin, Republicans have hired out of state felons to get signatures to recall Dems.....they are dirty people, they play to win and they do whatever they feel is necessary, to win. The reason they can do this, is that there seems to no consequences for most of their nefarious activities and they've pretty much bought off everyone they need......sorta like the Mob used to do, pay off everyone to turn the other way, while they take what they want. I would not want to live in a country, where the Republican Rule, rather then Democratic governing, I would fight that to the death.
Lou

[TTUBatfan2008]

3. On the Medicare issue...

Begala claims Democrats are trying to save Medicare. However, there is a bipartisan proposal in the Senate in which Democrats are supporting massive cuts to Medicare. The finger-pointing and hypocrisy on this issue is staggering. If you ask me, it appears that BOTH parties are guilty and both are trying to point the finger at each other.

[Tarheel_Dem]

4. Where did Begala say "Democrats"? He said "progressives".

And as for your they're all the same horseshit straight from the Nader campaign, wouldn't you be better served to post that at Green Underground? Oh wait....

[TTUBatfan2008]

5. No, he said Democrats...

Here's the quote:

"He and his supporters spent millions of dollars accusing Democrats of seeking to “gut Medicare” when in truth it is Republicans who are trying to end Medicare as we know it and Democrats who are fighting to save it."


As far as Nader goes, he can screw off. But hypocrisy is hypocrisy.

[Tarheel_Dem]

6. Who are these Democrats you speak of, who are willing to gut Medicare?

I don't mean the ones who are calling for an end to fraud & abuse, but who actually want to strip Medicare? And thanks for the quote. My assessment, however, still stands. Remember Gore=Bush? Stop slamming the people who are trying to save what's left of the social safety net, is all I'm saying.

[TTUBatfan2008]

7. ...

"I don't mean the ones who are calling for an end to fraud & abuse, but who actually want to strip Medicare? And thanks for the quote. My assessment, however, still stands. Remember Gore=Bush? Stop slamming the people who are trying to save what's left of the social safety net, is all I'm saying."

I'm not slamming them but I am pointing out the obvious. The bipartisan bill in the Senate isn't as bad as Ryan's bill in the House, but it still "guts" Medicare. It is the lesser of two evils, but it is still absolute crap. It's just sad to me that the corporations have so much control over both parties.

[ProSense]

8. Why is this necessary?

They can spend the money and still disclose. Why is non-disclosure important?

The right does it because they have something to hide.

Too much money in elections is a separate issue from disclosure. So if the goal is to outspend the right, one can still accomplish this via disclosure.

"We strongly support reform. We support new laws to require transparency of all donations. We support repealing the wrongheaded Citizens United ruling. But, to paraphrase Donald Rumsfeld, you go to war with the laws you have, not the laws you wish you had."

Yikes!

[DCBob]

9. I agree, this is not necessary. Obama and the Dems can raise tons of money legitimately.

We do not want to play the same dirty games the GOPers play... our standards are higher than that.. at least I hope they are.

[Mimosa]

10. Paul said it, I believe it, and that settles it!

Begala knows his stuff. :D