Today on Coffee and Markets we’re talking to Melissa Clouthier of LibertyPundits who shares her views on the political fallout from the Arizona shooting. We also discuss whether Congressional staff should be armed, and how the right should respond to the smears of old media.

We’re brought to you as always by Stephen Clouse and Associates. You can find our iTunes feed at CoffeeandMarkets.com. If you’d like to email us, you can do so at coffee[at]newledger.com. We hope you enjoy the show.

Related Links:

DC Examiner: Should Congressional Staff be Armed?
Marc Thiessen on the Outrage From the Left
Glenn Reynolds on the Politics of Blood Libel
Halperin: Pointing Out Smear Only Makes Things Worse
Poll: Americans Reject Democrat Spin on Rhetoric
Yousefzadeh: Short Memories Ignore Left’s Calls for Violence

Today Coffee and Markets is proud to be joined by Senator-elect Rand Paul of Kentucky.

The new year will bring with it a new House and Senate, one populated with several members whose approach to the job stands to be a unique departure from politics as usual. Foremost among these is Paul, the Kentucky eye doctor who won a contentious primary over a handpicked Republican candidate, and whose first elected political office will be that of United States Senator. How will being in the Senate effect Paul’s anti-establishment approach? What does he think of former rival Mitch McConnell’s leadership during a contentious the lame duck session? And what are his priorities for the next two years? We’ll hear the answers to those questions from Senator elect Paul today.

We’re brought to you as always by Stephen Clouse and Associates. You can find our iTunes feed at CoffeeandMarkets.com. If you’d like to email us, you can do so at coffee[at]newledger.com. We hope you enjoy the show.

Related Links:

Rand Paul talks to the Heartland Institute
Rand Paul on Twitter
Ben Domenech on Twitter

I’m about to celebrate a very important birthday myself, Matt.  On November 13^th, I turn 41 ! I know, I can’t believe it either.

If there’s something you want to give me for my birthday that’s going to really cheer me up, please tell the recently departing Working Families Party co-chair Bertha Lewis to stop referring to constitutional conservatism as “McCarthyism”.  And while you’re at it, could you please ask your friend, President Obama not to call American citizens “enemies” simply for not belonging to his political party?

I think maybe it’s time to step away from Soroswood and start paying attention to the real world.

Perhaps we need to remind folks about the Working Families Party.

Originally founded by ACORN, the United Auto Workers (UAW), and the Communication Workers of America (CWA), the Working Families Party serves as a coalition of organizers and activists for what it claims are social and economic justice causes.  In states where it is legally permitted, WFP also sponsors candidates via what’s called “fusion voting“.  Instead of splitting the vote with a third-party, fusion voting allows groups to endorse a candidate under a different banner.

So, in reality, WFP enables their coalition’s endorsed candidates to get listed on the ballot – twice.  I’m sure that’s not intentionally misleading for voters at all (eye roll).

While WFP lobbies for a “free public education for all”, its interests are really focused more on those of the militant labor unions with which they are allied, not the genuine interests of working families.  Simply watch the documentary, “The Lottery,” and you’ll see members of the Working Families Party at their finest.  As successful charter schools are lifting minorities and low-income families up to a whole new educational level that never would have existed through “free public school” in their communities otherwise, WFP and its union allies like the United Federation of Teachers instead shout them down and threaten them.  WFP’s allies of course vehemently oppose both private and public charter schools, because those facilities don’t submit to the commands of labor unions.  The charter school featured in the film is of course focused on the well-being of the children, not of the labor unions.  Union bosses don’t take well to that.

Former Working Families Party co-chair and NY state co-chair Bertha Lewis was also once the CEO and Chief Organizer of the mighty ACORN, before it disbanded from its national brand name to a multitude of local and statewide affiliates under different names (thanks to those infamous prostitution tapes).

Ms. Lewis departed from the WFP organization in February this year, in the wake of the federal investigation of its for-profit company, Data and Field Services over claims it was using their company to skirt around the city’s stringent campaign finance laws.  In the end, the feds decided not to file any charges against WFP; however, the investigation resulted in the organization’s restructuring to create firewalls between the for-profit company from the rest of WFP.

Let’s also not forget the sordid story behind real estate mogul Bruce Ratner of Forest City Ratner.  The infamous Atlantic Yards project in NY is a multi-year long story of buyoffs, intimidation and corruption, not to mention the audacity of a massive land grab.  Bertha Lewis and the WFP, initially opposed to the land grab because of their concerns about the “gentrification” of Brooklyn, quickly turncoated on their Brooklyn neighbors as soon as Ratner offered Lewis a $1.5 million bailout and a 50/50 deal on housing in his future high-end condos.  (The Atlantic Yards Report is the go-to source on this never-ending saga).

Also a notable personality associated with the Working Families party you may recognize – White House Political Director Patrick Gaspard.  While the liberal media once did all it could to deny that Gaspard ever had any relation whatsoever to the corrupt WFP or ACORN, the truth is, the evidence says otherwise.

Harassment, intimidation, corruption, race baiting, union pandering, back-room deals.  That’s progressive, all right.

And so, Matt Damon, as we remember one of the voices of the Working Families Party,  I leave you with this final word.  Brought to you by none other than Client Number Nine.

“Progressive values.  That’s what the Working Families Party is all about:  Progressive values.”

Yeah, Matt.  Let’s keep that change alive.

Most Southern elected officials at the time were Democrats, and the Republican parties in the region tended to be small, elitist groups that couldn’t win elections that were often referred to by cynics as “Post Office Parties.” They were comfortable little groups of elitists eligible for patronage jobs when Republican presidents occupied the White House. Most Southern GOP leaders were quite comfortable as big fish in very small ponds and felt personally threatened at the prospect of admitting new members to their small and exclusive club.

I served as Agnew’s chief political assistant back then, and shortly after Operation Switch launched, then-Rep. Lou Frey of Florida came to see me. He was furious. “We don’t want these people in our party,” he (literally) yelled, “because if we let ’em in, the next thing you know, they’ll be primarying us and taking over.”

That White House scene has often come to mind as newly energized voters with new concerns have, in the process of moving to the GOP, threatened the comfort level of the establishment in charge.

Panic swept the Republican establishment in 1975 as it became clear that Ronald Reagan and millions of conservative activists were threatening their comfort. They resisted in the name of keeping the “kooks” out, but eventually bowed to the inevitable. In a few years, many of those “kooks” were running a larger, more vibrant and much more successful GOP.

When Pat Robertson brought evangelicals into the party, the establishment of the time rushed to the barricades to protect their party and their positions from the new wave of “barbarians” at the gate. One GOP national committeeman famously described the new Republicans as reminiscent of “the bar scene in Star Wars.” Within a few years, many of these new recruits were part of a new establishment — and again the party benefited.

In 2008 it was the “Ron Paul people” who threatened the establishment status quo. Some party leaders schemed to marginalize and keep out the young people the maverick Texan brought with him to the party. This year it’s the Tea Party people. They are new, there are a lot of them, and they want a say. That makes the establishment of today as nervous as Operation Switch made Lou Frey more than 35 years ago.

Oh, they want their votes and hope Tea Party activists turn out and support GOP candidates in November, but they wish they hadn’t been so active in the primaries or so insistent that the party they’re joining actually respond to their concerns. Moreover, the establishment insists that where their own kind don’t prevail, the Tea Partiers get on board and support more traditional candidates — though the establishment doesn’t consider itself bound by the same rules.

The fact is that many of today’s elected Republicans are too comfortable, too out of touch or believe the party exists primarily to advance and safeguard their own careers. As their ambitions have gone down to defeat at the hands of this new wave of barbarians, they’re screaming bloody murder, joining liberals and the media to attack the newcomers. Establishment GOP leaders have allowed and even encouraged establishment losers to abandon the party, run as Independents, endorse Democrats or mount write-in campaigns against the upstarts.

All one has to do is listen to Lisa Murkowski, Charlie Crist or Mike Castle to realize that they don’t care about their party, the voters who once trusted them or the policies they say concern them. What they care about is themselves, their jobs and their place in the sun. Their words are enough to convince even the most skeptical that they got what they deserved, because they ended up being as out of touch and as egotistically patronizing as the newcomers challenging them suspected.

Many of the Tea Party-backed candidates will be elected this fall, millions of those who are taking part in the process for the first time will remain active, and many in the present GOP establishment who fought to keep them out will eventually make their peace with them. As history repeats itself, the result will be a stronger and more vibrant party.

This article originally appeared in The Hill.

I know from personal experience that the tea party movement is mainstream. Americans of all ethnic, economic and political backgrounds have been rallying and running for office because they want a government that works for the people. I am one of those Americans-and I am Black.

After being slated as a candidate in Illinois’ 43rd State Senate District, I gave my first public speech at a tea party rally and have spoken at several more since then.

With just two weeks to gather signatures, dozens of people from the tea party movement circulated my petitions. I turned in over 2100 signatures in just 19 days to get on the ballot.

The support I have received from the tea party movement since getting on the ballot has been overwhelmingly positive. Supporters have donated their time and money. They have participated in precinct walks, protests, phoning, and they even packed a hearing room to support me.

The hearing room is significant because one group of people have not been supportive of my ballot access – Chicago Machine Democrats. The Chicago Machine unleashed their top election lawyer, Michael Kasper, to unjustly knock me off the ballot on a party line vote by the Will County Board of Elections. My team has appealed the decision in circuit court and we are confident the ruling will be overturned. I have yet to hear from the NAACP about this injustice to my campaign and the voters of Illinois’ 43rd State Senate District.

I encourage the NAACP to confront and condemn the explicit racist behavior of groups like the New Black Panther Party and to acknowledge the racial politics played by the Chicago Machine Democrats.

Chicago Machine Democrats claim to be the party of diversity and inclusion, yet if you are a Black, conservative Republican mother, with a professional background in accounting, supported by the tea party movement, Chicago Machine Democrats do not encourage this type of diversity. Instead they unjustly knock you off the ballot and then talk about the lack of diversity in the Republican party and the tea party movement. The NAACP plays right into this scam.

I encourage NAACP members and convention delegates to attend a tea party event and get first hand knowledge about the true purpose of the tea party movement: limited government, fiscal responsibility, and individual liberty. The NAACP needs to leave the racism where it belongs – with the Chicago Machine Democrats.

Soon-to-be Congressman Tim Scott

Perhaps nothing better illustrates the historic change brought on in these June elections than the nomination – and all but certain election – of Tim Scott. In the first Congressional District – the very cradle of the Confederacy (a.k.a. the “Fort Sumter” district) – the over 90% white GOP primary runoff voters, elected the black conservative Scott in a 68-32% landslide over the son of South Carolina legend Strom Thurmond who was endorsed by all of the unsuccessful white candidates from the primary including the son of former governor Carroll Campbell. For South Carolina it was truly a “when hell freezes over” moment.

Clearly change and reform are in the saddle – and boy does this state need it. For a state seemingly inured to its multitude of problems of terrible schools, an under supported higher education system, the nation’s 7th highest unemployment rate, and undisputedly dysfunctional state politics this moment has not come too soon. Despite its many attributes and resources, South Carolina has stagnated for three decades while its coastal neighbors, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia have achieved startling progress.

For decades, first as a one-party Democratic state and now as a one-party Republican state, South Carolina has been ruled by a self-serving good-ole boys power structure which has blindly catered to the demands of special interests and insider deals. Nothing better illustrates its contempt for reform than the continued resistance of the legislative barons to the radical notion of recorded votes. From the era of segregation to the latest day, the good-ole boy system has protected its power by winning elections with the twin weapons of fear and smear. Enter Nikki Haley.

The amazing triumph of Nikki Haley was achieved despite multiple allegations of sexual affairs on the eve of the first primary and an occasionally overt and a truly ugly whisper campaign as to her religious beliefs and Indian heritage. Palin’s endorsement of Haley doubtlessly brought her attention, but we are convinced that her natural charisma, substantive grasp of issues and appealing message of change that in this South Carolina electoral hurricane the voters would have found her anyway. If successful she clearly has the potential of becoming a national political figure (indeed some people believe that Nikki Haley may actually have the substance that they feel Sarah Palin is lacking).

But it is Nikki Haley’s advocacy of reform that has earned her the enmity of the good-ole boy insiders. As a result they unleashed their consultant cadre of professional slime merchants against her. All to no avail. For the first time in memory, these tactics backfired and helped fuel her momentum. The heyday of dirty politics may have passed in South Carolina – hallelujah!

The nominations of Scott and Haley have dealt a crippling blow to the smug assertion that the public revolt against the political class in general and the Tea Parties in particular are nothing but the manifestation of narrow-minded, bigoted racists.

Read the whole thing here.

It doesn’t make sense that the party who stresses personal responsibility could really be less mature, than the party of entitlement. The entire Democrat platform is structured to give away things that most adults find for themselves.

Republicans thinks people are better of finding their own way in the world, the Democrats want a government who pays for college, gives them an allowance, and helps out with the groceries and rent. Things that we consider privileges, they consider rights. (Is the Left’s push for public transit really about the environment, or is it more like borrowing dad’s car on date night?)

The new health care bill will force health insurance companies to cover adults unable to leave their parents, which certainly doesn’t seem mature. On the bright side, 27 year old “children” still living with mom, will no longer have to make the difficult choice, between paying for Health Care, or unlimited texting.

Our protests are definitely more mature. At Tea Parties, we often pick up the trash that was left behind from the Earth Day rally. Leftist protests are full of screaming, rock throwing, and the ultimate end when the protesters drop on the floor and refuse to move, like a spoiled kid who has decided that he will not go to bed. Of course when the police finally take the protestors into custody they start kicking and screaming in full-on tantrum mode.

The left loves their name-calling too. For the eight years of the Bush Administration, we were exposed to every variation of Nazi that could be added into the name of a Republican. Leftists spent the better part of those years treating names in the Administration like the Daily Jumble. It reminded me of the way a high school kid purposefully misspells a teacher’s name, into something vaguely pornographic. To this day, the comments of the Huffington Post are strewn with references to Rethuglicans, Repugnants, and Repukes.

In the eyes of leftists, it was the previous Administration that acted childish. Meanwhile the Democrats have run up the National debt like a college kid, who got his first credit card on five-dollar pitcher night. The previous Administration was by no means fiscally conservative, but compared to the Democrats they look tighter than a European calculating a gratuity.

The adage goes: If you’re not a liberal at twenty you have no heart, if you’re not a conservative at forty you must be a Teacher. All this was verified for me in the May 28 issue of Science Magazine.  A study (brought to my attention by Lene Johansen) was performed by Ingvild Almås, Alexander W. Cappelen, Erik Ø. Sørensen, and Bertil Tungodden of the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration. They used a Dictator Game, where one child is allowed to split prize money with their team-mates. They found that older children don’t split the money evenly, proving that children lose their socialist tendencies as they mature. According to the abstract, as children “enter adolescence, they increasingly view inequalities reflecting differences in individual achievements, but not luck, as fair.”

While this experiment suggests that Socialism is based on childish notions; it also illustrates the reason why it will never work. As Children grow up they want to keep what they’ve earned. Apparently, normal kids grow out of Socialism around the same time they realize it’s stupid not to score soccer games.

There is something innate to human nature that everyone wants the most for himself. Few Leftists think they’re making too much. The problem, seen through Leftist glasses, is there are some people making more than they do, and people who don’t have as much. The solution of course (based on a childish supposition) is to take from the people with too much, and give it to the people who don’t have it. Even out the cookies so everyone has the same.

Socialists continue to cling to a childish version of fairness. Just like your teacher told you in school: If you didn’t bring enough for everyone, than you’re not allowed to have any for yourself.

It’s time we all grow up.