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Friday, January 30. 2009
The Vanishing
Not a single member of the Republican House caucus voted for the stimulus package. It’s no surprise actually. As pointed out a couple days ago John Boehner, the congressman from Ohio, instructed his confederates not to vote “yea” for the bill — before they even had a chance to view the bill. So, the House Republicans marched in lock step behind Boehner.Makes one wonder if there are any Republicans, elected in soft districts that could go either way in the next election, who are now wondering if they made the right decision. Right now the Republicans have no leadership, they actually admit as much on television, and they rely on Boehner, the Minority Leader, to give them direction.
The Republicans complained that there weren’t enough tax cuts, so the Democrats put in more tax cuts. Then they complained about the family planning portion of the bill, calling it $300 million for contraception, which was a lie, so the Democrats took it out of the bill. And yet, they still voted “no.”
Boehner, in a press release, called it a “bipartisan rejection of a partisan bill” because 11 Democrats voted against it as well, but that hardly qualifies as “bipartisan” when you consider 244 other Democrats voted for the stimulus bill.
Still, on purely ideological grounds, opposing Obama makes sense to Boehner and his Republicans. They can show their base and their constituents they are tough! They stood up to the Democrats!
What’s been developing the past few days is that the Republicans are trying to split the president from his fellow Republicans, in particular Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid. Boehner made that pitch Tuesday and now we can here the various Republican politicians and their mouthpieces echoing that divide and conquer tactic.
Every one of them has been on television, praising President Obama — a no-brainer considering the president has the highest approval rating of any president in his first month in office — but then they attack Pelosi and Reid. Pelosi is their favorite target, mainly because she is from San Francisco, the gayest, most liberal city in America!
Remember during the campaign when John McCain sneered at San Francisco after then-candidate Obama spoke there? San Francisco is one of America’s favorite vacation destinations. What makes Republicans think the majority of Americans dislike San Francisco?
Just this morning on MSNBC Republican strategist Brad Blakeman came right out and made it absolutely clear they, the Republicans, were satisfied with president Obama, but said it wasn’t up to the president, the impasse with the GOP was the fault of Pelosi and Reid.
Well, who is Brad Blakeman,” you ask? He is one of the guys tapped by President Bush in 2006 to start a lobby group, Freedom’s Watch, specifically to lean on members of Congress who began wavering in their support of Bush’s war in Iraq.
That group spent $15 million advertising in the districts and states where Republican members were backing away from their support of the war.
Blakeman was also a member of Bush’s staff of advisors: Deputy Assistant to the President for Appointments and Scheduling. Wonder what that position entails [insert laughing smiley here]. Before that he was appointed into government service by President-elect Reagan in 1980 and served Reagan for both terms and then served President George H.W. Bush (41).
Look for Blakeman and other Republicans to advance this divide and conquer strategy. Of course, the Democrats are coming out to challenge that strategy, especially considering Pelosi and Reid have already agreed to have more tax cuts in the stimulus plan and to remove such items as the family planning package the republicans falsely label as $300 million for “contraception.”
The truth is, the perception is, for most Americans, the Republicans are being obstructionists and this will backfire on them, or at least on those Republicans in states like New Hampshire, where the electorate can swing either way, Republican or Democrat. Ask John Sununu, Jr., who, until this month, was the Republican senator from the Granite State. He lost his bid for re-election to Democrat Jeanne Shaheen. The other Republican senator from New Hampshire, Judd Gregg, is up for re-election in 2010 so he’s looking at the prospect of being labeled obstructionist in 18 months.That is of course, should he turn down the offer to work in the Obama cabinet as Commerce Secretary. That’s got to look like a nice offer to Senator Gregg, even though, as Commerce Secretary, he would have to promote the stimulus package he opposed in the Senate Finance Committee.
The thinking for Republicans is that they can rehabilitate their street cred by opposing the plan and blaming Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Reid, without appearing to oppose the president, and then vote for the plan later, when, possibly, they get more concessions to their plan.On Thursday John Boehner spoke of a Republican stimulus plan—almost all tax cuts — but as of Friday, that plan has disappeared into the ether. And that’s what the Republicans are most afraid of — disappearing as a real political force in American politics. Should the Democrats gain more ground in the 2010 elections, they, as a national party, will truly be irrelevant.
Super Bowl Sunday is just about here. Does anyone truly believe the Arizona Cardinals will win? On the other hand, the Cards have a quarterback who has won the big game twice, Kurt Warner. Matt Leinart is injured, metaphorically speaking.
Well physically as well, he broke his collarbone and is out ’til next season, but it’s really no surprise to football fanatics the Cardinals had a change of prospects once Kurt Warner went under center. Warner is not just a game-changer, he’s a proven winner. Leinart is not.
Kimberlee Ann is fully rooting for the Steelers. She’s so cute! I’d like to root for the Steelers too, just because! But call me a sentimentalist, I think it would be great for the Cards to win, just to honor the memory of Pat Tillman.
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