Who says there are no manufacturing jobs left in America?

From Tim Dickinson at Rolling Stone:

How Roger Ailes Built the Fox News Fear Factory

The onetime Nixon operative has created the most profitable propaganda machine in history. Inside America’s Unfair and Imbalanced Network

The key to decoding Fox News isn’t Bill O’Reilly or Sean Hannity. It isn’t even News Corp. chief Rupert Murdoch. To understand what drives Fox News, and what its true purpose is, you must first understand Chairman [Roger] Ailes. “He is Fox News,” says Jane Hall, a decade-long Fox commentator who defected over Ailes’ embrace of the fear-mongering Glenn Beck. “It’s his vision. It’s a reflection of him.”

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I ♥ NY-26!

From THINK PROGRESS:

Tonight, Democrat Kathy Hochul defeated Republican state Assemblywoman Jane Corwin in New York’s special election to replace former Rep. Chris Lee (R-NY). Despite the $2.36 million spent by groups like Karl Rove’s American Crossroads and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to keep district red and the $60 per vote Corwin spent herself, Hochul secured a clear victory in a traditonally Republican district […]

…snip…

Viewed as a referendum on House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan’s plan to end Medicare, Hochul’s victory exemplifies the American public’s overwhelming disgust with the GOP push to force seniors to bear the burden of increasing health costs.

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The Cain Scrutiny

From THINK PROGRESS:

This weekend, David and Charles Koch, co-owners of the Koch Industries conglomerate of chemical, timber, oil and manufacturing interests, are hosting their twice annual meeting to coordinate strategy and raise funds for the conservative movement. In October, ThinkProgress brought these meetings to light with a memo detailing the last Koch event, held in June, where corporate interests collaborated to help Republicans dominate the election last year. The memo we published showed that the last meeting included a number of wealthy business executives, along with leaders from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Glenn Beck. Previous meetings have featured top Republican politicians and conservative Supreme Court justices [Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas].

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Hanni-tea Insani-tea

From Howard Fineman at THE HUFFINGTON POST:

WASHINGTON — Christine O’Donnell may not be a witch, but she knows how to use scare tactics to raise money, top Republican strategists and officials here tell me.

They say the Delaware Republican is loudly complaining about how they won’t support her — and they are not — as a way to generate angry, send-them-a-message donations from her Tea Party base.

Specifically, according to two top GOP insiders, she said at a strategy meeting with DC types last week: “I’ve got Sean Hannity in my back pocket, and I can go on his show and raise money by attacking you guys.”

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Listing to the Right

From POLITICAL HOTSHEET at CBS NEWS:

During a Sunday appearance on Fox News, Republican strategist Karl Rove fired back at recent accusations that he has “funded” conservative groups responsible for pouring money into nationwide conservative causes, and disputed the validity of statements made by President Obama and the Democratic National Committee.

“The president is completely inaccurate,” Rove said during an appearance on “Fox News Sunday,” of Mr. Obama’s recent statements that Rove had “funded and advised” conservative groups American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS.

…snip…

Rove went on to slam a recent Democratic ad criticizing his past political contributions, and accused Mr. Obama for having an “enemies list.”

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An Hour Later, She Wanted More Classified Information

From The Plum Line at The Washington Post:

There was a hilarious moment on MSNBC just now that underscores just how uncomfortable Christine O’Donnell has made life for GOP leaders: Former RNC chair Ed Gillespie refused to disavow O’Donnell’s claim that she possesses classified information on China’s secret plot to take over America.

Not only that, but Gillespie actually flirted with endorsing her assertion that she has some sort of information about some sort of scheme, though he allowed that he couldn’t be sure whether or not that info was classified.

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This Steele is Anything But Stainless

From THINK PROGRESS:

Michael Steele’s term as Republican National Committee Chairman has been riddled with controversial verbal missteps that have roused the scorn of his Republican colleagues. His most recent gaffe in mischaracterizing the Afghanistan war prompted an outcry among prominent Republicans who called for his ouster. Remarking on the appearance of “Shadow RNC” Chairman Ed Gillespie over Steele as the RNC mouthpiece, Face the Nation’s Bob Schieffer asked GOP strategist Ed Rollins today whether the GOP should “do something” about Steele. Rollins doubled-down on his dismissal of Steele’s efficacy, calling him a “disaster” who has “failed miserably” in his mission:

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Michael Steele has his hands tied. Hey! He can work at the bondage club now!

From Top of the Ticket at the Los Angeles Times:

Since Michael Steele was elected chairman of the Republican National Committee in January 2009, the once Grand Old Party has suffered a series of gaffes, scandals and other signals of a party in distress. Then the “tea party” activists came to town, further endangering the brand.

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(In the back, l to r: Ed Where’s My Chin? Gillespie, Tony Holier-Than-Thou Perkins, and Princess Sarah Palin)