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The Right Hook, a weekly segment which covers the machinations of the right wing, from the Republican Party to the Tea Party Patriots, and beyond. By Chris Bennett

The Southern Poverty Law Center has updated two of its annual reports on radical right wing movements. The first report, The Year in Hate and Extremism 2010, finds that for the first time, the number of hate groups topped 1,000. The other report, The Year in Nativism 2010, shows only a slight increase in the numbers of nativist, or so-called “Patriot” groups. Nativist groups are activists that do not limit themselves to the legislative process, but take matters into their own hands, vigilante-style. For example, former neo-Nazi JT Ready leads a nativist band, the U.S. Border Rangers, who go on “hunting trips” in the desert to apprehend migrants they claim are drug dealers. There is also a degree of ferment between these far-right groups and conservative politicians. Arizona State Senator Russell Pearce drafted the anti-immigrant bill SB1070 last year with input from the Federation for American Immigration Reform. FAIR has been listed by the SPLC as a hate group since 2007. Russell Pearce also baptized the aforementioned JT Ready into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in 2004. Everything that rises must converge, and the next chapter in the erosion of civil-liberties, Tea Party style, will be the attempt to abolish birthright citizenship.

Meanwhile, with the Republicans and Tea Partiers now controlling the U.S. House of Representatives, balancing the budget has become the justification for cutting spending programs aimed at helping those Americans most in need. Tea Party leaders insist that “everything is on the table” when it comes to cuts, but there is one sacred cow that remains untouched. The five-sided sinkhole on the Potomac River known as the Pentagon will be receiving increases . . . again. Stephen D., of the Booman Tribune (via Alternet), reports what Defense Secretary Bob Gates really means when he talks about cuts in defense spending. Gates is talking about cuts in projected increases in spending. In other words, the increases are being reduced. Without getting into all the gory details about which billions are allocated for which wars, known and unknown to the American public, just drink this Kool-Aid: the Pentagon will receive about an $8 Billion increase this year. Next year, add another $20 Billion. Now, sip on that when some Republican tells you there’s no money to pay for Social Security for your grandmother or teachers for your kids.

And, you may remember last week when Ian Murphy of the Buffalo Beast telephoned Republican Governor Scott Walker and pretended to be the billionaire funder of conservative causes, David Koch. During the conversation, Walker put himself in the role of, who else? Ronald Reagan when he fired the air-traffic controllers in 1981. Walker also outlined his plan to trick Democrats into returning to the State House so he could ram through his so-called budget “Repair Bill.” The phone conversation was as illuminating for the public as it was embarrassing for Walker. Now, two Republican legislators from Wisconsin have one of those common sense solutions. Sen. Mary Lazich and Rep. Mark Honadel have carefully crafted a bill to make prank phone calls illegal. This new bill would prohibit masking your voice to make phone calls for “malicious purposes.” Let’s just chalk this nonsense up to another tipping of the Republican hand– and their attitude that the “business of America” is no business of yours.

The Right Hook– Reality Based News and Views.