The House voted on the Economic Stimulus Package on Wednesday and it passed by a 244 - 188 vote. Unfortunately it passed without a single Republican vote in favor. Many Republicans were careful to point out that the message they wanted to send about their dissatisfaction with the bill was aimed at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. But the perception is more likely to be that the move will be seen as a shot at President Obama. Considering the popularity of the new president, many pundits see this move as the Republicans shooting themselves in the foot. While denials were everywhere, it seems the House Republicans at least are lining up to join the ranks of Rush Limbaugh's Ditto Heads. A couple of days ago Rush said he wants President Obama to fail. And apparently, what's left of the Republican Party does too.
This latest development of Republicans racing back to the ideology of "Democrats are the enemy" and "we must fight the liberal agenda" after being so soundly defeated back in November seems bizarre. Despite the vast majority of economists agreeing that it was mostly Republican policies that drove our economy into the rocks, Many Republicans have become defiant and down right obstinate about taking responsibility. This is in sharp contrast to what we were hearing in the first few weeks after the election last November. Back then we were hearing Republicans saying things like, "we've obviously made some mistakes" and "It's time for the Republican Party to review what it stands for." It actually sounded very hopeful that the defeat would pull them back towards the center.
The period of self examination for the Republicans was short lived though. When Representative John Boehner led the Republican opposition to the Wall Street Bail Out last September, it was seen as if he'd lobbed a grenade into the GOP effort to hold onto as many seats in congress as they could. Most pundits agree that the message America was sending in November to it's elected representatives was "stop the partisan politics and start getting something accomplished."
For awhile it seemed the Republicans had heard the voters loud and clear. Many Republican leaders were praising Obama for the nonpartisan manner in which he conducted his transition. At the same time they were welcoming the idea of ushering in a new era of bipartisanship. President Obama had made putting partisan politics behind us one of the corner stones of his campaign. He followed through with this theme by tapping Republicans to serve on his cabinet and has been extremely forthcoming in his efforts to reach out to Republicans. His trip to Capitol Hill early Wednesday to meet with House and Senate Republicans was applauded by the GOP, but when it came to voting on the stimulus plan the House Republicans chose to slap the hand that was reaching out to them away.
My opinion has remained unchanged however. I've said from the beginning that any overtures by the GOP that they were ready to abandon the us against them mentality that has been their mantra for a good long time would be false.
It's like I've said before. The Republicans will fight tooth and nail anything, and I mean anything the Democrats attempt to do. For too many Republicans opposing Democrats is the end all of everything. They've demonized and ridiculed the Democratic Party for so long they've become incapable of accepting any idea that comes from the Left. It just goes to show that self interest is what drives the mind of the modern Republican politician.
If the Republican Party does not shed the yoke of partisan nastiness and send a message to fringe whacko's like Limbaugh, Hannity, and O'Reilley that they no longer speak for them, I'm afraid the next sight we'll see will be the stern of the USS GOP disappearing below the waves.
*************
Devin Barber, Politics Correspondent
Devin's column, "Left Of The Right" published weekly or more to Gather Essentials: Politics is a Blue Collar Democrats take on current political news.
Devin was raised by proud Roosevelt Democrats. Being the son of parents counted among the throng of Americans displaced by the Great Depression has given Devin a deep rooted passion for causes dealing with the poor and the working class.
You can find all of Devin's columns at http://gather.com/leftoftheright
You can keep up with Devin's postings and his Gather activity by joining his Gather network. Just click here:http://kiwina58.gather.com and then select the orange "Connect" button on the left-hand side of the page.
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Comments: 117
Mooch
There is nothing great about this plan or any other plan that has to be passed while we hold our noses. No one "wants" to do this, but we humans aren't wired to just stay put when we face danger. We humans act, and that's what we are doing now. How effective it will be remains to be seen. I guess the country will just have to trust that our new President will get it right.
And that comes around to why I wrote this article. We now have an extremely intelligent President who genuinly wants the efforts to move our nation into the future to be an American effort, not just the effort of one Party or the other. Early in Bush's 1st term a lot of Dems worked "with" the GOP majority to pass bills like No Child Left Behind, Bush's tax cuts and even voting for his GD war in Iraq. But now that the Dems are in charge all the Repubs want to do is be oppositional and sit in the corner pouting.
I really feel bad for Obama, but I'm afraid his idealism is wasted on the bone headed Repubs. As good as it would be for the nation for this effort to fix our problems to be a cooperative one, I guess we'll have to settle for it to be a Democratic one.
I respect 44 for trying to include the Republicans, and I hope that 44 continues to try and include them, but if the Republicans are going to stick with being un-cooperative, then they are stinking up their own political beds.
I had so hoped that the Republicans would understand what the American people had been saying via their votes, but apparently not; either that, or they just don't care.
Why shouldn't he continue to extend the olive branch? He risks nothing since the GOP will never willingly work with him. Even after taking the Contraception funding OUT just to appease them .............they STILL offered ZERO support. Big surprise there............. NOT!
What you've just discussed is the worst case of congressional cowardice since the Democrats passed the last spending bill for the Iraq war! The republicans who felt the bill needed to pass knew that it would pass without their vote and that prevented them sticking their necks out for something that might not work.
No one knows for sure what is going to tip the scales favorably. It is so much easier to set back and condemn anything the democrats want to try rather than support it or offer real and constructive alternatives! So they are in ass covering mode. But like I mentioned, the Democrats have done that as well so I guess true non-partisanship does exist if you want to count that!
It is a long standing practice to vote one way if it is not necessary for passage of a bill and to vote in for it if the outcome is in question. It requires not a whit of integrity to do!
Once again every GOP pundit is telling the media the same thing in the same way. This time it's "not enough tax cuts and too much spending." Where were they when GWB was funding the Iraq war on credit? Part of why we're in this mess is that we had to keep borrowing money to "support the troops". ("Troops" being a code word for private companies who were hired to do the jobs our soldiers could do -- but at MUCH higher cost.)
WHEN will conservatives learn that giving the wealthy more money results in less (of pretty much everything) for the lower 95% of Americans? Probably never; they have blinders on and plugs in their ears.
It looks like the GOP is heading the way of the old WIG Party.
It is true! And what the Republicans have proved over the last 8 years is that their principles destroy the country. So what.
I concur with the line of thinking that since Republicans do not want to support the Dems plan, that is fine. But then the Dems should strip out all those concessions they made to please the Republicans, such as Tax cuts for the uber-wealthy and big business, which will only hurt the country as it did the last 8 years,
The Pelosi Christmas tree for liberal causes does not accomplish this goal, hence the republicans will not go along with it. I encourage all to actually look at this bill chocked full of liberal pork, to see where you tax money may be going. The polls speak for themselves. A majority of Americans are either skeptical or outright dismissive of this "plan." Barack Obama better get his left wing allies under control or he will see the democrats start to lose control in 2010.
1. We need to dramatically slash corporate taxes to promote job growth.
2. Tax cuts to people who actually pay income taxes, not welfare checks to people that don't.
3. Provide immediate credit relief to qualified holders of mortgages, and allowing foreclosures and write-offs to unqualified home owners. The government would then provide insurance to banks for the loss of asset value.
Apart from the stimulus package we need to:
4. Bring to justice the "thugs" that got us into this economic mess, wherever the trail leads. This would help restore confidence to our economic system, but will the dems do it?
How does that promote job growth?
How does not providing welware checks to people who do not pay income taxes promote job growth?
This behavior is not just petty and immature..it is dishonest, unethical and underhanded. If this is the way the Republican minority wants to deal with Obama and the Democrats, then so be it. Let them continue to destroy their party and the trust of the American people.
#1 You promote job growth by encouraging business expansion. Tax cuts accomplish this.
#2 You must get money into the hands of the real consumer, the back bone of this economy is the true tax paying middle class. Spending increases demand, demand increases production, production increases lead to job growth.
I disagree with this very simplistic approach. If that were true than all of the tax cuts enacted during Bush's Administration would have stimulated the economy more than they did.
#2 You must get money into the hands of the real consumer, the back bone of this economy is the true tax paying middle class. Spending increases demand, demand increases production, production increases lead to job growth.
True but the workers need to produce something of value. What the economy is lacking are value-added jobs, like manufacturing.
I also have to agree with Sheryl O.'s point, that tax cuts to corporations and the wealthy has already proven it won't create jobs. The tax cuts that 43 gave to those niches over the past eight years seem only to have helped corporations and the wealthy have more money for themselves, which they then spent on offshore contracting and investing, or on bonuses for themselves and their favorite people.
Our consumer based economy needs a base with strong purchasing power, and you only get that by making sure the middle and lower classes have strong earning power; and we just don't have that in today's realities.
Sheryl O., Jan 30, 2009, 10:19am EST
Sheryl as painful as it may be for you, you simply must come out of your liberal coma and look at the facts. Sorry you refuse to have an intelligent discussion.
You can have a Roosevelt style "new deal." But remember, Roosevelt's spending spree kept us in the depression for ten years. Only WWII bailed him out. Spending alone, isn't the answer, unless you want to prolong this recession.
Wall Street on the other hand reminds me of a 2 year old standing on a chair next to an open cookie jar. Then he looks you straight in the eye. And with melted chocolate chips and cookie crumbs smeared all over his face, will tell you as a matter of fact that it was not him.
This myth about tax cuts for corporations and businesses being the best mechanism for job creation has to be burst. When you cut taxes for corporations, small businesses, or just the highest earners, it's all the same thing. When we talk about this top 1 percent or even the top 10 percent wealthiest Americans, we're talking about a world where everything is connected. The wealth of these people is so intertwined and cross invested in the corporate and business world that it's nearly impossible to delineate where one person's wealth ends and another's begins.
And referring to small businesses in such sweeping general terms is another smoke screen. Some so-called small businesses aren't so small. Just because you've sneaked under some arbitrarily assigned employee number that qualifies your business as "small" doesn't mean you are not big enough to be counted among the big power players of US industry. So targeting tax cuts to any of these groups results in the same bunch of people getting them. And what did they do with the last round of huge tax cuts visa vi their man Bush? They invested it, but not in job creating endeavors. No, they focused on the financial industry. Focused on it like they were in Las Vegas that is. So in essence you could say that they took the billions of dollars the American people were told would trickle down to them like manna from heaven and lost it in a crap game.
To all you whining democrats, you do not need one republican vote to pass his
Obama-nation bill! Why does he not just pass it.
Here is another lie being told by Pres. Obama. This economy the worst in 3 decades is a lie. In 1982 the GDP was - 6.3% far worse than the GDP announced today. In 2001 W. also inherited a minus GDP and a Clinton recession, plus he had to deal with 9/11 and a crash of the market.
Mr. President, please stop using fear mongering and scare tactics for partisan political purposes just to pass a trillion dollar pork wish list for your liberal agenda. This time it's not the linguine spined liberal republicans who are speaking out against this porky pig bill, this time conservative opposistion is standing up to you.
Devin, how to explain socialism to a young child: Billy half your toys do not belong to you -you have to give 1/2 of them away to others.
Voters are going to be shocked by what is contained in the bill.... If they take the time to read it objectively, they will find ery little stimulus... a lot of pork... and some underhanded politics!
This is the difference between a stick wielding leader and a coalition building leader. The stick wielder pressures, ridicules and dismisses people that are in a weaker position, and then does whatever the leader feels like; whereas the coalition builder always seeks to include the weaker components in the process, and then enact something which includes at least part of the weaker's ideas.
Obama does not want to pass this idiotic pork bill without republican support because when it fails Obama can say-Hey don't blame just me the republicans also voted for it. It was bi-partisan. Coalition builder?-- or A weak President- Mr. President, again pass the bill, you have the votes---Man-Up!
On another note, ramrodding an economic recovery bill through without bi-partisan support has already proven to be a bad idea. Consider what has been happening with that massive "Bailout Bill" that 43 shoved through congress. Obama, wisely, does not want a repeat of that fiasco.
Remember Bill, Obama was pushing for 43's bail-out very hard.
Big huge manly balls-whining about Rush Limbaugh. President Obama, this is a crisis demand an immediate vote and then pass it with your own party. The country can not afford to wait one more day. Mr. President you keep scaring us everyday telling us things are getting worse and worse *** So please for the sake of the country- Pass it now, call a special session and LEAD!
The 11 Dems that voted against it did so because they were protesting the consessions that were given to the ungrateful GOPs. Only a rabid neocon would assume they were on their side... shaking head!
We've had eight years of corporate hand outs. Know what it got us? Corporate BAIL-OUTS.
The concern that I have with some of the programs in the stimulus package is whether they will inject funds into the economy quickly enough.
http://appropriations.house.gov/pdf/PressSummary01-15-09.pdf
They spent eight years breaking everything in sight and fixing nothing. Now, suddenly, they think someone should believe they have the answers? Is this like McCain's, "I know right where bin Laden is but I'm not telling unless you let me be president?"
A serve base economy requires a constant influx of capital to survive. We are seeing a continuous reduction in disposable income within the American middle class. Wages weren't keeping up with cost of living before this depression (YES IT IS!) and now, we have an irreversable snowball effect of job losses resulting in the reduction of free-flowing capital in the econonmy, resulting in more job losses, resulting in less capital, resulting in fewer jobs so on and so on and so on.
It doesn't matter what the idiots in Congress do. They created the mess. The only thing that really concerns them is not being the one holding the hot potato when the song ends. So they argue over who has the right idea to fix it, but none of them do. Why? Because all their ideas revolve around saving a financial industry that has already failed. They are shocking a patient that has been flat-line for. . .months now. What a circle of stupid we are stuck in.
1) To solve a problem, one must first admit that there is a problem and accept the full extent of the problem. The house is on fire, but the "experts" will only acknowledge that there is smoke in the kitchen.
2) I am only a messenger. I bring the message. I must tell the message exactly as I have heard it. It is what it is. I can not make the desert blossom. I can only point out the desert and hope you can see it through the mirage.
3) There is no solution in the sense that people want. When it is time for a man to die, fate directs the man to the time and place of his death. The economy has come to it's time. And, sorry to mix analogies here, but: We must let the Phoenix die if it is to rise again from the ashes. Anything else is postponing the inevitable.
encourage investors to spend sooner rather than later. A looming tax increase in the
capital gains tax would provide an incentive to investors " to cash out their capital gains now to avoid paying higher taxes later". If people cashed out, and spent the money, it would stimulate the economy.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/23/opinion/23burman.html
Boehner made fun of resodding the national mall, lets show some pride in our nation's capitol!
News flash..the left won. They get to call the shots. They don't need the Republicans to help them push in the "New-New Deal". It would make me happy to see them not participate in the left's imposition of socialism. Let them hang alone ,for the 3 headed snake of Obama,Reid,Pelosi will surely fail. Then we'll see ya in 2010 and hope the Republicans can bring in a new blood of true Reagan Conservativism....instead of these old blue blood republicans/ aka/ RINOS.
That's a BALD-FACED LIE !!!.....wow,even Air America wouldn't be that stupid. At least try to be a little bit nuanced. Throw a half truth in there or something,the kool-aid drinkers would be more apt to go for it.
Republicans you have had your chace now go stand in the corner and be quite.
Let us begin by skinning the fat cats.
LOL!
Reagan was a conservative? Ha ha, you have to be joking.
Reagan left the biggest deficit in the history of the nation, until Bush43 came along.
All Reagan did was shift the burden of taxes from the wealthy to the middle class.
And he did everything possible to deregulate, making it ever easier for the wealthy to make money more easily.
And he did everything possible to cause wages and benefits for the middle class to decline, like busting unions.
Bush43 has followed in lockstep exactly with Reagan's ideals, and look where it got us - a depression.
Let us begin by skinning the fat cats.,/b>
I'ts no surprise to me that you GOPs can't get down with Obama reaching out to you. But to call me a liar is pretty bizarre considering what reality is. Of course I suppose expecting a GOP to acknowledge reality is a waste of time. You just don't get it. President Obama actually wants the GOPs at the table, but they have their heads shoved so far up thier asses they can't see anything happening unless it's thier way. So they sit in the corner pouting. I say fine, whine all you want, you're day is over.
LOL... this is going to be another one term President much like Carter. And this democrat majority is going to get tossed out on it's ass next election. These dems are horrible.
Thank you.
A prediction that Obama will be a one term President and that the Democratic majority will "get tossed out on it's ass" is laughable in the extreme. Perhaps if you tried paying attention to the REAL news instead of that fringe bunch over at Faux Noise you'd understand what is actually happening. You see the reality of this is that average folks see the Republicans opposing THE most popular President in our nations history at a time of national crisis. So, to most American's it looks like the Republican Party let Rush Limbaugh get behind the steering wheel and he's headed right for a cliff.
The Republicans are counting on the Stimulus Package to fail. That's why they're sitting this one out. They are convinced it will fail and the American people will blame the Democrats. There is just one problem with their logic. They were just as convinced back in 2000 that they would succeed. But they didn't succeed did they. No, with Team Bush at the helm they systematically destroyed out international reputation and bankrupt our country with ideological wars. Turned a projected Federal budget surplus into the largest budget deficit in our nation's history. And fumbled domestic management so badly we are experiencing the worst economic crisis our nation has experienced in 70 years.
The days of the Redneck Republican extremists are over. Here’s an example of just how clueless you brain dead Rednecks are. You think we voted for Obama just because he’s black... Now that’s truly sad...
That's you Rich...
You don't know what I watch, but it does beg the question... if the demographics have tipped, why is Fox still the number one cable news channel by leaps and bounds?
Why don't you check the date on this comment I made about race NOT being the issue.
"Aside from the black vote, I don't think race played a role in this election. Did you not notice that Bush had the most blacks in senior cabinet positions ever in our history? The election of Obama did not prove that would could finally be over the race issue, rather it proved that we've been over it for a long time. It seems to me the only ones complaining about race are liberals. And please, with all the blacks in positions of power under Bush can you show me one instance of a Republican mentioning race in a derogatory way? I think not.
Obama did not win because of race. He won because the guy he ran against was not as good a speaker, did not have the liberal media behind him, and he chose public funding and as a result was out spent five to one, and lastly, you may have also noticed that almost all of the liberal Republicans got tossed... by Republicans. Obama won because of Republicans being fed up with their own party. Racism did not play any significant role worth mentioning, yet libs are still screaming about it. Get over it... it's not 1965 anymore."
15% said yes, they support it.
59% said NO.
The rest of the morons weren't sure.
The average American does not want our Government to grow and spend more money. We are sick of the government taking out money and wasting it. The ONLY people who are for more spending are those who have nothing and HOPE to get some via socialist programs.
Instead of facing facts you call us (GOP) whiners of whatever...by the way I'm not a Republican. You might as well lump Republicans in with Independants. Conservatives and Libertarians are the hope for this country. Liberals have co-opted the name Progressives from the socialists....what a coincidence they did the same with their policies. And Your Still A Liar. Politics Correspondent ???? LOL another co-opt for the mal-informed !!!
Liberals ignore everything President Bush had to deal with. Recall: tight election in 2000, Enron/WorldCom scandal, Internet Bubble Burst, Economy on downward spiral, 911 (!!!), War in Afghanistan, War in Iraq, four hurricanes in one season in Florida 2004, Katrina (a city under water is handed off to Bush... yea, and Brownie had no experience even though he shined in 2004, but whatever), N Korea tests nukes, Iran trying to get nukes, fighting terrorism through out the world, housing bubble bursts (caused by dems).... and I am sure I am leaving so much out.... and on top of all that we had the highly disrespectful liberals from every facet beating up on Bush. You had MoveOn, CodePink, Michael Moore movies, a cottage industry of Bush bashing books.... it was effing endless and sickening and totally unfair.
So screw you libs that tried to tear down this country. We don't want your socialism -- we don't want to PAY for your mistakes.
Thank you.
Maybe we should treat the Empty Suit Obama....now B. Hussein the liar,with just a tenth of the contempt that W. was ,he wouldn't stop stuttering and stammering for a week !!!! Keep a tele-prompter handy and keep telling everyone "I won"
Isn't it amazing how the Progressives{aka: the new socialists}have the Presidency and big enough majorities in both the House and Senate that they pass anything they want...ANYTHING !!! Who's stopping them ? ....... the voice of the American people.
and the small minds of the left are mired in the fallacy of Bi-partisanship.
Yeap I'm a proud republican, and I don't like Obama or 99% of whats in his stimulus bill, it does not do a lot to help the economy as much as it does line his and other politicians pockets.
And I don't want his health care either.
Mooch
Another moobat easily misled by liberal trash. No critical thought.