Cantor: Limbaugh's Hitler Rhetoric Not 'Helpful'

Boehner and Co. say they'll accept tax cut without paying for it elsewhere

(NEWSER) - House Republican leaders have surprised and angered rank-and-file lawmakers by abruptly backing down from demands that a 10-month extension of the payroll tax cut be paid for with cuts elsewhere. GOP leaders are wary of holding up a tax cut for 160 million Americans in an election year, Politico notes, but John Boehner's raucous caucus will likely chafe at the move, which will add around $100 billion to the deficit. Still, the measure will now likely pass; even Nancy Pelosi hasn't signaled opposition. More»

GOP as useless as 7 vowels in Scrabble, needs new letters

(NEWSER) - Just like you get to throw in your tiles when Scrabble gives you seven useless vowels, so too do Republican voters keep picking again—and coming up with the same useless tiles, says Thomas Friedman in the New York Times . That's because the GOP is an out-of-date "captive of conflicting ideological bases," including anti-abortion forces, anti-taxes, anti-immigration, libertarians, and more. What America really needs is a second party in its two-party system—ie, "a coherent Republican opposition" that is able to respond realistically to the true problems facing the United States. "We need a 'Different Kind of Republican' the way Bill Clinton gave us a 'Different Kind of Democrat,'" writes Friedman. And maybe that means a crushing defeat in this election to force a hard reboot. More»

CPAC gives Santorum a standing ovation

(NEWSER) - Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney have given their speeches to the Conservative Political Action Conference (Newt Gingrich goes on later), and the themes were no surprise:

• Romney: "I fought against long odds in a deep blue state, but I was a severely conservative Republican governor," he said. Romney again emphasized that he "never worked a day in Washington," in contrast to Santorum and Gingrich. More at USA Today .

Eric Cantor takes out provisions that Senate passed unanimously

(NEWSER) - House legislators are almost sure to pass a bill officially banning them from insider trading today, but it will be missing a few teeth compared to its Senate counterpart. Eric Cantor has pulled out a provision that would have required K Street consultants who sell Congress' inside tips to Wall Street to disclose their activities like lobbyists do, the Washington Post reports. He also pulled out an amendment restoring parts of an anti-corruption law that the Supreme Court voided last year—even though it passed the Senate unanimously. More»

Says he and Gingrich are just Washington insiders

(NEWSER) - That triple bogey must have stung: Mitt Romney made a point to call out Rick Santorum by name today. Speaking to reporters in Atlanta, Romney said Santorum and Newt Gingrich were part of the Republican party that "lost its way" by spending too much federal money while in office, reports CNN . "In this race, I'm the only guy that hasn't spent time in Washington," he said. "And Senator Santorum and Speaker Gingrich, they are the very Republicans who acted like Democrats." More»