Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Republicans: Want Some Mo’?

Well the US House passed the Obama stimulus package – a whopping $819 billion scheme to give our flagging national economy a much-needed shot in the arm.

The idea is to go aggressive and unleash a multi-pronged attack to launch both short-term and long-term projects that will begin to remedy what 8 years of a failed presidency has wreaked on working class Americans.

And in the spirit of bi-partisanship, President Obama met with the House Republicans yesterday to make his case.

And today, in the spirit of political polarization, not one House Republican voted for the stimulus package.

Unbelievable.

Republicans have not learned the lessons that American voters thought were delivered loudly and clearly last November. Their partisan behaviors before the November election brought out Democrats, moderate Republicans and Independents in droves to send two messages to the GOP: 1) knock it off and get serious -stop it with all the political games, and 2) Republican ideas are now out of favor with a majority of voters in a majority of states from coast to coast.

Or in the words of Barack Obama: “I won.”

But they didn’t get that message, did they?

Instead they delivered their own message to American voters: Sit on it.

But actually, it wasn’t completely unanimous among Republicans. All but 6 Republican congressmen voted against the bill. Those dissenting 6 abstained.

These six were Virginia Brown-Waite (R – FL-5), Jack Kingston (R – GA-1), John Linder (R – GA-7), Joseph Pitts (R – PA-16), Patrick Tiberi (R – OH-12), and Donald Young (R - AK).

My guess is that these 6 are from swing districts.

Democrats know how to be bi-partisan, Republicans apparently do not.

Twenty-seven Democrats voted against their party leader. Twenty-seven Nay votes. My assumption is that these are from the so-called Blue Dogs, the center aisle Democrats who vote with Republicans in funding votes.

Meaning, of course, that no matter what the election outcome in TX-22 last year, my congressional representative would have voted against the stimulus package.

So our work is still not done. Republicans still want some more punishing poll results.

No problem. Democrats can get behind that.

As the economy recovers, as it inevitably will, these Republicans will be labeled as partisan obstructionists, and more will find themselves booted out of office in 2010.

Not to be replaced by Democrats, mind you. Not all of them anyway. Republicans are starting a rebellion in their own party, one that rejects the kind of partisanship that finally ended the reigns of the Two Toms - Craddick and DeLay.

To this end, Pete Olson needs to be placed on notice. This TX-22 freshman congressman has launched his dubious career in elected office by siding with the rabid partisans – Culberson, Poe and the like. With the 2008 bluing of Harris County, and the imminent red to blue flip in Fort Bend, Olson could face a primary challenge by moderate Republicans who want their party to hold on to that seat.

And will definitely face a Democratic opponent.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sorry half, I would have to disagree on this one. I read only about 5-10% is directly linked to economic improvement and job creations.

We gave banks 700+ billion via the repubs and now another borrowed 820+ billion that the recession will just gobble up too.

I wonder how much we are going to owe China when all is said and done. I watch B Clinton trying to reassure the public that we will know this works in about 1-2 years, which just happens to be the normal global recession cycle. What a coincidence.

So it looks like we traded gifts to special interests for one group over another and now are making up for it and ALL on borrowed money.

When will we learn? I know I can't afford more taxes and borrowing and certainly my kids can't.

And no I'm not supporting either party anymore. It's nothing more than a shell game to pick our pockets!

Anonymous said...

"Republican ideas are now out of favor with a majority of voters in a majority of states from coast to coast."

I disagree with this statement. Moderate republicans rejected the home party this time because they betrayed there base. What they haven't figured out yet is that there isn't any real choice with only 2 parties dictating to us.

Clark Bowers said...

Who exactly was disappointed? The Republicans weren't. They were probably excited to vote against this piece of trash. After all, they got back the mantle of fiscal responsibility 8 short days after Obama took office. There has never been a clearer fiscal distinction between the two parties as there is today.

The Democrats are clearly not disappointed. They are empowering all their interest groups with huge giveaways to try to cement their power.

The American people are the ones who will be disappointed when they realize they got the screw job of a lifetime from the Democrat Party.

Just to prove this is just a giant Democrat pork bill in "stimulus" clothing, most of the money will not even be spent this year.

"We gave banks 700+ billion via the repubs and now another borrowed 820+ billion that the recession will just gobble up too. " -Exactly right!!

California and New York (Liberal) just spent, spent, spent, and were bailing them out? Texan's tax dollars!!!? How is this right Hal?

Texas conservative values have this state going strong. Obama's wants to keep printing money we don't have and increase the deficit Hal?

There’s $1 billion for Amtrak, the federal railroad that hasn’t turned a profit in 40 years; $2 billion for child-care subsidies; $50 million for that great engine of job creation, the National Endowment for the Arts; $400 million for global-warming research and another $2.4 billion for carbon-capture demonstration projects. There’s even $650 million on top of the billions already doled out to pay for digital TV conversion coupons.

In selling the plan, President Obama has said this bill will make “dramatic investments to revive our flagging economy.” Well, you be the judge. Some $30 billion, or less than 5% of the spending in the bill, is for fixing bridges or other highway projects.

Two UCLA economists say they have figured out why the Great Depression dragged on for almost 15 years, and they blame a suspect previously thought to be beyond reproach: President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

After scrutinizing Roosevelt’s record for four years, Harold L. Cole and Lee E. Ohanian conclude in a new study that New Deal policies signed into law 71 years ago thwarted economic recovery for seven long years.

Tax and spend didn’t work then and it won’t work now.

This corrupt “Pay to Play” ripoff of the American people may be the liberals idea of “hope and change”,but people in touch with reality know this will only make our situation worse and usher in INFLATION like a tidal wave.

You can’t call this an infrastructure bill when only 5% if
is dedicated to it!!

Clark Bowers said...

Also, "Republican ideas are now out of favor with a majority of voters in a majority of states from coast to coast.". ----Is your honest perception in Obamaland with Obama as your lord and Savior???

McCain was more middle then Obama was to reach accross the party lines and always has been. He's as conservative as John Kerry, maybe that's why the Republicans didn't vote. Or that Conservatives have lost touch with reality, but will resurrect with LOL-Obama at the helm. $819 b-i-l-l-i-o-n!! Say that with me. Deficit come to mind??

Here is an interesting example of your perception from a conservative independent. The View had soon to be imprisoned Governor D-Blogo of Obama's Chicago Ill corruption machine on the show. They all treated this criminal better then a man that spent 7 years in a Vietnamese prison for their freedom(aka McCain). What is wrong with you liberals?

Wow, let me also get this straight. ObamaJesus hires a Tax evader as the treasury secretary, someone who excepts bribes as the secretary of state, and an attorney general who pardoned terrorists. Oooooh yeah, Obama, I mean your new god is on a role.

Hal said...

Time to take a break now, Clark. While I appreciate that your comments have been a boon to my Technorati blog reaction rate, it looks to me like you are getting a little too obsessive. Why not go and comment on FortBendNow with your ideological equivalent, Megabite?

Anonymous said...

Here's a way to stimulate the economy by putting more money in each person's bank account to spend.

Follow the lead of BHO cabinet nominees and only pay taxes on that portion of your income that you want to.

That would work for me and millions of others. Now that would stimulate the economy.

Hal said...

This reminds me of an old workmate, a Republican, who once confided to me his methodology for filing his income taxes: start at the end and work backwards from the refund.

Anonymous said...

So Hal,
You don't have any problem with Cabinet nominees that only pay a portion of their taxes until they are nominated to BHO's cabinet.

Hal said...

My point, Anon, in case you missed it, is that tax paying habits do not fall according to party lines, but rather across them. I expect Democrats to toe the line and pay their taxes as I expect Republicans to. Unfortunately because paying your taxes is pretty much self-reporting affair neither have tax payment records that are as pure as the driven show.

Now given the choice between having the smartest most talented people in our government right now, and having well-meaning people of mediocre intelligence running things, I think I'd prefer the former because I've suffered through 8 years of the latter.

Anonymous said...

Clark, since when have republicans followed conservative principles. Both parties feed their special interest. The republicans are corporatist and discarded the constitution years ago in the sole name of economic development and new age "anything goes" and the dems do what the dems have always done. In my opinion there is no major party representing the middle classes. Both major groups simply manipulate them differently.

Anonymous said...

At least the democrats don't lie about what they are trying to do.