U.S. Republican Party

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. joins us to talk politics and discuss his HuffPost blog on how the Republican party has become a puppet for Big Oil in Washington, D.C.

A look at the policies embraced by the stars within the Republican party, a look at the economic growth in the U.S. in the past years, and a look at the Porsche Cayman S. (Photo: AP)

SEN. SHELDON WHITEHOUSE (D-RI): So, you may have a question for me: Why do you care? Why do you, Sheldon Whitehouse, Democrat of Rhode Island, care if we Republicans run off the climate cliff like a bunch of proverbial lemmings and disgrace ourselves? I'll tell you why. We're stuck in this together. We are stuck in this together. When cyclones tear up Oklahoma and hurricanes swamp Alabama and wildfires scorch Texas, you come to us, the rest of the country, for billions of dollars to recover. And the damage that your polluters and deniers are doing doesn't just hit Oklahoma and Alabama and Texas. It hits Rhode Island with floods and storms. It hits Oregon with acidified seas, it hits Montana with dying forests. So, like it or not, we're in this together. You drag America with you to your fate. So, I want this future: I want a Republican Party that has returned to its senses and is strong and a worthy adversary in a strong America that has done right by its people and the world. That's what I want. I don't want this future. I don't want a Republican Party disgraced, that let its extremists run off the cliff, and an America suffering from grave economic and environmental and diplomatic damage because we failed, because we didn't wake up and do our duty to our people, and because we didn't lead the world. I do not want that future. But that's where we're headed. So I will keep reaching out and calling out, ever hopeful that you will wake up before it is too late.

TAMMY BRUCE, RADIO HOST: Do you find for your Guardian Fund, that it's necessary because the Republican Party kind of pushes out the people you're describing, the military heroes, the minorities who are running, do you think that they're finding, that they're getting better on those issues at all? Like your loss by 200 votes, Mia Love's loss, and she is again running again. I take it that you're supporting her as well, obviously. WEST: Absolutely BRUCE: You mentioned that -- you referred briefly to the election being stolen. We now know that so many people have been arrested or indicted on voter fraud in this last election. Many of us do believe you won that election, Allen. Does that bother you at all, would you ever re-run again? What are your thoughts on that? FMR. REP. ALLEN WEST (R-FL): Well, we'll get back into the political scene, but there are so many things I can do right now that can really help us going forward to the midterm elections. It's not about me; it's about the team, it's about our country and that's what I'm focused on primarily. So after the midterm election cycle we'll look into getting back into the political framework in 2016. There's no doubt about it. BRUCE: So you're saying right now here to the Tammy audience that you are still open to moving back in the political arena directly? ALLEN WEST: Oh absolutely, there's no doubt about that. I mean, I'm not packing up and taking my toys and going away. But it's once again something that you have to pray about and make sure God blesses it and you have to talk to the family, but right now they will be very supportive of doing something in that out-year cycle of 2016. (The Tammy Bruce Show, May 24, 2013)

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Senator Cruz had a lot of red meat for the crowd. They were laughing, they were really enjoying it. And this came amid some stories this week that he actually is taking a real look at the presidential race in 2016. FMR. SEN. JIM DEMINT: I think he's keeping his focus on the Senate. The fact that he shows up in South Carolina was really just a favor to me and the Republican Party. But he is a great speaker. STEPHANOPOULOS: That or the primary it makes no difference. DEMINT: No people love Ted Cruz because he's taken on his own party, his own leadership, he's taken on the other party. He's trying to rock the boat to get us to stop moving towards this cliff we're heading for as a country. I've been in about 25 cities in the last few months. All you have to do is mention Ted Cruz and people get on their feet. JAMES CARVILLE: I think he is the most talented and fearless Republican politician I've seen in the last 30 years. I further think that he's going to run for president and he is going to create something. I'm not sitting here saying he's going to win, and I think Senator DeMint is right. I've listened to excerpts of his speech in South Carolina, he touches every button. And this guy has no fear. He just keeps plowing ahead. And he is going to be something to watch. And a lot of Republicans feel this way George. And you hear this a lot. If we only got someone who is articulate and was for what we were for, we'd win elections. We get this John McCain's and these Mitt Romney's and these squishy guys that can't do anything. Well there's one thing this guy's not, he ain't squishy. Not in the least. (This Week, May 5, 2013)

Ann Coulter weighs in on South Carolina Democratic Chairman Dick Harpootlian saying Republican SC Gov. Nikki Haley should "go back to wherever the hell she came from." Haley comes from Indian Sikh ancestry. ANN COULTER: A Republican would never say this. This is covered in my book, Mugged. All the racism, the Jim Crow laws, the slavery, this all came from the Democrats. Fortunately, Republicans now outnumber Democrats in the South. But you still get the vestiges of it with guys like this. SEAN HANNITY: Unbelievable. Imagine if a Republican said it, it would be all over the place. COULTER: No Republican would say it. This is classic Democrat behavior. HANNITY: Wait. There are people in the Republican party that say stupid things. COULTER: Stupid things, but racism is endemic to the Democratic party. Just causually, recently, Biden talking about Obama being clean and articulate. And Clinton saying, a few years ago, 'Oh, he would be getting my suitcase.' And Harry Reid, 'it's wonderful he doesn't speak in a negro dialect unless he wants to.' No Republican on earth would ever say those things. But Democrats think, 'Oh yes, we have you all on welfare and then destroy the black family in America, so we don't owe you anything else. Just keep voting for us and don't expect us to do anything for you, black Americans.'

BILL MAHER, HOST OF "REAL TIME" ON HBO: Let me get to some people who are not young: the Republican Party. Because they are mostly old. And how stupid they can be. Because I mentioned this in the monologue and I want to get your reaction. With 44% of Republicans in this poll said we might have to have an armed insurrection? In the next two years? Because their liberties, I guess they are talking about Mayor Bloomberg taking away their soda... ### MAHER: Can we just get to, first of all, how ridiculous it is for people to think that the Second Amendment protects them from tyranny? Didn't Waco solve that? We just had the anniversary of Waco a couple of weeks ago. Remember Waco? Didn't they have like 1.9 million rounds of ammunition, they had 50 caliber machine guns , they had grenades, what did the government have? Everything else. The winner and still champion, United States Government. Thinking the Second Amendment can protect you from tyranny, it's like thinking the first amendment protects you from Thor. It's ridiculous. It's nonsensical. And they never called out on it. Not guns when the government has nuclear weapons and the F-22 and the Marine Corps and the drones. (HBO's Real Time, May 3, 2013)