GOP's Malfunction Tied to Our Representatives

"A part of the Republican problem lies in the party’s disproportionate dependence on white Southern voters. These voters are well to the right of the rest of the nation, and they elect the dominant block of hard-right conservatives in the House. Of the 234 Republican members of the House, 97 — two-fifths — come from the 11 Confederate states, and these 97 are almost uniformally opposed to negotiation of any kind with Democrats.

"It is the Southern conservatives* who, along with their Northern Tea Party colleagues, seek to kill  immigration reform and who insisted on removing the food stamp program from the recently passed Farm Bill."

-- Thomas Edsall, NYTimes (here) today

* Those "Southern conservatives" represent most of the Virginia House delegation, including three from our region: Bob Goodlatte, Morgan Griffith and Robert Hurt. Goodlatte is the classic example of the GOPer who is terrified of a primary challenge and who has moved far, far to his natural right stances. Griffith is an immobile hard-right representative who is deep into the pockets of the Koch brothers (they of the great Nazi past). Hurt is an empty suit who profited by Obama's lack of popularity in some redneck districts.

(Graphic: underthemountainbunker.com)