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• Mass Treasurer Cahill: Obamacare would bankrupt the country like it is bankrupting Mass. http://bit.ly/9GMgaO #

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• @setonmotley I am with @johntabin & @jonhenke on this one. i can't point to any election, primary or general, where restriction won. #
• @SetonMotley maybe so. I dont think Obama will do it in 2010 Not on msg (jobs) & he loses his best bullet 4 latino turnout in 2012 in reply to SetonMotley #
• So when do Republicans start to realize that Linda McMahon is a trainwreck in waiting. In the NYC media market. http://bit.ly/a0825H #

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• I like Carly Fiorina's new video. They are redefining campaign video. In a good way. most of the time. http://bit.ly/c3a9uW #casen #tcot #
• This is very, very true RT @martinvars: Japan is more like Europe, China like USA. #

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• RT @FamousDC: Congrats to @MatthewGagnon ttp://is.gd/aod3p #
• @ErinMcPike is there really a national tea party? there are people that claim that *they* are the ntl T-party, but mostly self-serving in reply to ErinMcPike #
• @notlarrysabato which is to say that campaigning on social issues wasn't a winning strategy in NoVA. "It's the economy stupid" and all that in reply to notlarrysabato #
• See lawyers and politicians are two groups that should have the right to shoot at each other … http://bit.ly/dshksl #

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• @PoliticsNation Detroit Dem Machine having a tough week. After NY Dem machine had a touch one last week… in reply to PoliticsNation #
• RT @politicojosh: Make sure to check out @PoliticsNation must-read whip count of Pelosi's HCR votes, and who could flip http://bit.ly/aRZQCE #
• Self-sufficiency!!! India can now grow potatoes suitable for McDonald's French fries… http://bit.ly/aKTusm #

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• RT @PElliottAP: @edhenrycnn asks @PressSec "whether (Rahm) lobbied Cong. Massa in the nude & if that's standard practice 4 ths White House" #
• @daveweigel I had forgotten Massa had been a GOP staffer on the hill. He probably just took the left for a ride to get to congress. in reply to daveweigel #
• @alisavino @DanaHoule @ewerickson has a point. The Nazis were the national socialists. As opposed to the intl socialists. debate in the fam #
• Zing! RT @PoliticsNation: Health care whip count: Not a single Dem has switched from "no" to "yes" — http://is.gd/a49iS #
• i bet massa's cancer is a sharpie … #massabeck #
• I agree RT @notlarrysabato: I think he is lying about everything except Rahm's naked shower encounter (I refuse to give that one up). #
• @NathanWurtzel good to you see and @patrickruffini @moelane and @philipaklein last night … in reply to NathanWurtzel #
• @daveweigel @McCormackJohn: my sense is that the card check guys had their game on a lot better. also, industry is split on health care. in reply to daveweigel #

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• Massa going nuclear on dem nuclear option. http://bit.ly/bDDVxi #
• RT @emzanotti: Um…if Rahm Emanuel was naked and screaming at me, I would probably freak out and resign, too. http://is.gd/9YCFN #
• what a class-A bozo … RT @TWI_news Massa Claimed He Was ‘Forced Out’ of Congress in 2003 http://bit.ly/bJffcN #
• Reid Wilson shows what good analytic reporting looks like. Great Whip Count on health care… http://bit.ly/93Vj12 #
• RT @mikeroman: Obama in Philly burbs pushing unpopular HCR while 1000 of unemployed attend job fair in the City. http://bit.ly/bpjgPw #fail #
• RT @missourigop: Has the White House written off Robin Carnahan? http://www.mogop.org/wp/2010/03/1786/ #
• @benpolitico I hear yr point. But growing up in Chicago w/ the teachers striking nearly every year, including 2 stp fraud investigations… in reply to benpolitico #
• #rsrh RT @missourigop: Has the White House written off Robin Carnahan? http://bit.ly/auDVcP #
• Hope you are doing well! RT @kombiz: Happy birthday @judithfreeman #
• Hard to imagine someone arguing in good faith that that cap-and-trade would result in anything but short term job loss http://bit.ly/cqepvE #
• I think that people are going to learn a lot more about Chapter 9… Especially public employee pensions … http://bit.ly/bIVoac #
• new must-read site … media gazer. memeorandum for media navel-gazing … http://bit.ly/be8atF #

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• @bdomenech and from the left no less. although maybe that was more predictable. in reply to bdomenech #

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Over the weekend, Politico ran a story by Alex Isenstadt about the "failures" of Tea Party candidates. This article reads more like DC-based myopia. Movements don't transform at the federal level or statewide level first. Simply creating the network with the skills to execute huge campaigns is hard and takes time.

The place to go to see the successes are things like county parties, congressional district conventions, state legislative, and municipal seats. Those are races where a little bit of money and a little bit of energy go a huge way. They are also races with relatively low name ID. And they are the entry-level races for future leaders.

One of races that showed me that something was going on was the November election of Dan Halloran to the New York City Council. He is also the chairman of the New York chapter of the Republican Liberty Caucus. (recall that RLC is the branch of the Ron Paul movement that believes in integration with the GOP party infrastructure)

Similarly, anyone who has been following local party politics knows that tea party supporters and Ron Paul and RLC organizations have had a huge impact on local party organizations. I wrote about this in response to Ken Cuchinelli's crushing convention victory to become the Republican nominee for Virginia's Attorney General.

It is easy to miss what is going on in American politics and to the American right if you focus on Washington.  It isn't happening in Washington. What is happening will lead to the Washington-based leadership being overturned by a generation of new leaders.

The recent ruling of the House Ethics committee against Charlie Rangel has attracted a tremendous amount of attention and has put substantial pressure on House Democrats, especially Nancy Pelosi. The Atlantic’s Marc Ambinder even reported one Democratic strategist claiming that it “loses us the House.” The basics of the story are that Rangel and his staff failed to disclose a series of facts about corporate sponsored trips about Caribbean policy.

However, there’s another Caribbean scandal that could burn Democrats. In February, Pro Publica’s Marcus Stern reported that Congress and the Virgin Islands will give British alcohol conglomerate Diageo a $3b subsidy if they shift production from Puerto Rico to the US Virgin Islands. Previously, I had written about this issue, including Rangel’s threats against the Puerto Rican health system.

But now an ad, pictured here, is running in Montana asking Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus why he is putting up with this. That’s turning up the heat a little.

Another rum producer told the Billings Gazette that the subsidy “is so large it’s twice the cost of production.”  That is, if Diageo spends $100 making rum in the Virgin Islands, they get $200 from the federal government. Then Diageo gets to sell the rum too! Diageo’s 2008 operating profit was £2.2 billion and 2009 sales were $20 billion.

Now, I understand — disagree but understand — US taxpayers giving struggling American farmers a subsidy to make ethanol. (rum is also ethanol) I don’t understand why US taxpayers are giving billions to an already highly profitable, publicly traded British booze company.

You would think at a time with record deficits, historic unemployment, etc. Congress could find better things to do with $3b than boost profits of a foreign company. Or they could even end the excise tax on rum that funds this boondoggle. But I guess not. As the ad says, the Congressional Democrat are letting the “pirate lobbyists” win.