GOP group: No more free pass for Club for Growth
A self-described centrist Republican group says it will go “dollar for dollar” against the Club for Growth in upcoming House races.
“The era of the Club for Growth getting a free pass is over,” said former Rep. Steve LaTourette (R-Ohio) in a statement from the group, Main Street Advocacy.
The Club PAC fired back to what it called an attack from Simpson’s “liberal allies.”
Fighting between the groups has been underway for some time this year — in February, LaTourette called the Club “a cancer that has attached itself to the Republican Party,” a charge he repeated this week.
The former lawmaker, an ally of House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), said at the beginning of 2013 that he was aiming for the group’s super PAC to raise $10 million.
Political arms of the Club for Growth spent $17.9 million on federal elections during the 2012 cycle, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
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One day out of office, former Rep. Steve LaTourette on Friday slammed GOP House members who didn’t support John Boehner for speaker.
“I really wish these new folks well, but yesterday was not a good sign that that’s going to happen,” LaTourette said on CNN. “Twelve people, it was either nine or 12 who just left the reservation and don’t vote for the speaker. That vote is a no-brainer. It’s all about whether or not your party is going to control the agenda.”
LaTourette, a close Boehner ally, also defended the speaker from tea party criticism following the House’s passage of the fiscal cliff deal earlier this week.
“What, these chuckleheads think that having Nancy Pelosi speaker of the House is better for the Republican Party? I don’t think so,” the Ohio Republican said. “So they really have to come to terms why are they here? If they’re just here to vote no — we can train a monkey to vote no.”
King: Halt donations to House GOP
LaTourette: Tea party claim is 'crap'
LaTourette blames polarizing climate
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Wind credit stalls despite bipartisan support
On one level, the wind credit is just another casualty of the ongoing tussle between conservative budget hawks who want to rein in government spending and business-minded Republicans who support subsidizing industrial innovation. But what makes this tax break unusual is the damage that's already being done — and the possibility that inaction could devastate an industry that Congress has propped up for two decades.
“It’s a horrible way to do business,” Rep. Steve LaTourette (R-Ohio) said. “But that’s the way the place works.”