Big, busy midweek Morning Jolt today, featuring Netanyahu’s speech, Hillary’s secret private e-mail system, a revealing figure about the federal government’s priorities, and then this epic disappointment# . . .

The ‘What Good Are Republicans?’ Argument Gained Some Strength Tuesday
I’m not usually a harsh critic of House speaker John Boehner, but right now, grassroots conservatives have enormous reason to be upset with the GOP’s congressional leadership:
The House cleared legislation Tuesday that will keep the agency operating through the end of September after a standoff last week threatened to shutter the agency and furlough thousands of workers. The 257–167 vote sends the bill to President Barack Obama for his signature.
Republican House Speaker John Boehner, who rarely casts votes, backed the bill, along with his top lieutenants. A majority of House Republicans opposed the bill. Just 75 GOP lawmakers joined with 182 Democrats to push it across the finish line.
The legislation does nothing to rein in Obama’s immigration executive orders — a top priority of conservatives. That issue was a sticking point for weeks as Republicans tried to tie DHS funding to the repeal of the orders but the party couldn’t overcome Democratic filibusters in the Senate.
My friend Ace of Spades is ready to give up on the Republicans. He thinks grassroots conservatives should begin pushing for a much higher minimum wage for all employees, including newly amnestied illegal immigrants, and higher taxes on the wealthy to pay for it all.
He contends, not unreasonably, that the GOP’s donor class just isn’t willing to step up to the plate and use their leverage on an issue like amnesty. The problems of illegal immigration seem pretty far from their gated communities.
A lot of people, in each faction of the Republican party, remain convinced that their particular policy preferences are popular and that the other guys are dead weight. It’s quite difficult to resist the urge to believe that your views are more widespread than they really are.
The GOP’s big-money donors aren’t driven entirely by a desire to see capital-gains-tax cuts, a lower corporate tax rate, an elimination of estate taxes, and so on. But those are big issues to them. They contend, as many free-market minds believe, that a rising tide lifts all boats and that cutting taxes for those folks earning the most will lead to more economic growth, which leads to more jobs, higher salaries, and better outcomes for everyone.
Except that cutting taxes on the rich is not particularly popular. We’ve seen Obama and the Democrats — and some Republicans — play the populist card quite effectively. Back in 2008, under TARP, the whole country watched the richest people they could imagine — Wall Street bankers — come to Washington and beg for enormous sums of taxpayer money to save them from their own bad judgment. Congress, President Bush, then-Senator Obama — just about everyone agreed to do it. And millions of Americans thought, “Wait a minute . . . who’s there to save me when my business gets in trouble?” Why do those guys get bailed out with my money?
And thus Elizabeth Warren’s “the game is rigged” narrative gained strength. It’s extremely difficult to persuade the country to cut taxes on the highest earners or inheritances when so many think the rich and powerful elites are only in it for themselves.
Paraphrasing Jonah, both the Left and the Right denounce Crony Capitalism, but we’re furious about the cronyism, and they’re furious about the capitalism.