But after the first Bundy standoff followed by some of that brood opening fire on innocent Americans, there is an undercover FBI agent or two sleeping in that bird sanctuary right now:)

On foreign policy, he has embraced full-scale neoconservatism, winning enthusiastic plaudits from figures in the right-wing intelligentsia, like William Kristol. While much of the Republican Party has recoiled from the excesses of the Bush administration's wild-eyed response to the 9/11 attacks, Rubio has not. He was one of 32 senators to oppose the USA Freedom Act, which restrained the federal government's ability to conduct surveillance. He was one of just 21 senators opposing a prohibition on torture, insisting, "I do not support telegraphing to the enemy what interrogation techniques we will or won't use." Indeed, Rubio now delights his audiences by promising to torture suspected terrorists, who will "get a one-way ticket to Guantánamo, where we're going to find out everything they know."

On social issues, Rubio has endorsed a complete ban on abortions, even in cases of rape and incest (a stance locating Rubio to the right of George W. Bush). He has promised to reverse executive orders protecting LGBT citizens from discrimination and to appoint justices who would reverse same-sex marriage. The centerpiece of Rubio's domestic policy is a massive tax cut -- more than three times the size of the Bush tax cut, and nearly half of which would go to the highest-earning 5 percent of taxpayers. By reducing federal revenue by more than a quarter, Rubio's plan would dominate all facets of his domestic program, which is otherwise a mix of conventional Republican proposals to eliminate Obamacare, jack up defense spending, and protect retirement benefits for everybody 55 and up. Rubio has voted for the Paul Ryan budget ("by and large, it's exactly the direction we should be headed"). He has proposed to deregulate the financial system, thrilling Wall Street. (Richard Bove, author of Guardians of Prosperity: Why America Needs Big Banks, wrote a grateful op-ed headlined, "Thank you, Marco Rubio.")

So, why is he regarded as a moderate?

Chait, again:

Rubio is a political pragmatist. And pragmatism is the fundamental divide inside the GOP. While split on foreign policy between neo-conservatism and neo-isolationism, Republicans have near-unanimity on economic and social policy. A domestic Rubio presidency would look very much like a Cruz presidency or a Bush or a Walker presidency. Any Republican would sign the bills passed by Paul Ryan's House and Mitch McConnell's Senate.

[...]

He avoids statements that make him appear ostentatiously deranged, like Cruz visually comparing Obama to a Nazi, or Trump ... doing just about everything Trump has done. The third cause of Rubio's moderate image is that he declines to indulge right-wing paranoia on such topics as whether Obama is a Marxist, or the looming threat of Sharia law in the United States, trading the opportunity to indicate solidarity with the base for general election viability. He husbands his potential electoral weakness for matters of policy, not symbolism.

Rubio's value to the party is that he approaches its predicament realistically. He will reach out to Democratic-leaning constituencies with personal appeal without compromising on core agenda items Republicans care about.

But the real question is, why are people talking about Rubio's boots?

It is not because they are a decision that objectively merits consideration. Nor is it because they are especially notable as a fashion statement. It is because Rubio's opponents are trying to use them symbolically to turn his campaign message into a liability.

Rubio's plan is to run to the right on policy substance, but to the center on affect and tone. He avoids gratuitous demonstrations of anger, speaking optimistically and sometimes even gently. If it works, Rubio's strategy will make him more popular in a general election, encouraging Republican insiders to rally around him, thereby increasing his chances of winning the nomination. There is some evidence this is succeeding -- far-right figures within the party, like Erick Erickson and Glenn Beck, are warming to him. The Rubio proposition of spending your popularity on substance rather than symbolism is one whose values political insiders recognize.

The weakness in Rubio's strategy is that it leaves him out of step with the mood among the base. That is what his rivals are attempting to exploit. Specifically, they are trying to make Rubio's boots imply something deeper about his character: that he is a lightweight, unmanly, lacking the angry urgency needed at the moment. The boots are a synecdoche. Sunny and optimistic can be turned into callow, naïve, and even effeminate.

I'm beginning to think he's toast. He gets reamed over never showing up for work and then a big vote comes up and once again he doesn't show up.

That shows you how absolutely meaningless the designation is.

The longer answer is:

First, the cash option is about $430 million; after taxes, it's down to about $280 million.

So, what would I do with $280 million?

1.  Be anonymous (in MD you can do that)

2.  Retain an attorney and an investment advisor

3.  Make cash gifts to my family members within the gift limits ($14,000, but with the ability to split gifts with my husband, this is more than you think); plan to do this every year.

4.  Pay for additions to my children's homes

5.  Set up and fund trusts to ensure that my children and grandchildren will be provided for forever and college will be paid for.

6.  Re-do our estate plan, because now we'd actually need one.

7.  Start a charitable foundation

8.  Hire an architect and a landscape firm and completely renovate our house

9.  Plan a family trip

10.  Retire!

11.  Try not to freak out - that kind of money's kind of scary, actually.

In addition to the question of whether Cruz's birth in Canada disqualifies him from being considered a natural-born citizen, for which there are clashing historical claims, Grayson notes there's disagreement about whether both parents of U.S. citizens born overseas must be citizens.

And then there's Cruz's mother, Eleanor Cruz.

Grayson says Cruz may have forfeited her U.S. citizenship by taking a Canadian oath of citizenship, and that he's seen no evidence she actually was born in the U.S.

Cruz's mother "may have elected to give up her U.S. citizenship -- she wasn't there on a visitor's visa for five years, that's for sure," he says.

Grayson says "if his mother, who clearly worked in Canada for years and years, did so while becoming a Canadian citizen and taking an oath, which is how you do it in Canada, she lost her citizenship by U.S. law, specifically Section 349 of the Immigration and Nationality Act."

And if it's drug dealers he's after, I'd see if there are any Bush's left in Kennebunkport.  That's a layup bust right there!

Charles Koch is `disappointed' in 2016 Republicans - but will still give $900 million

The candidates have been given a list of issues Koch wants addressed, despite their opposing opinions on some topics. But even with his considerable financial power, he has not seen many results, he said.

"It doesn't seem to faze them much. You'd think we could have more influence," he said. "I'm pleased that I can still speak and I'm pleased that it isn't worse. They haven't nationalised all the industries like happened in the UK when the Fabians took over."