(no subject)
John McCain needs to ask himself whether people actually care what he says
Does he think that he actually won the election and that he's president now instead of Obama? We voted for Obama, not McCain, and given his very high approval rating it seems that Obama has managed to win over even some of those who voted against him in the election. Worse yet, he's opening his mouth to criticize something that most people support. The Republicans seem content to just sit back and pontificate about free market economics while that free market goes flying off a cliff. Their ideas have done considerable harm to the country, in fact they're the reason why we're in this mess in the first place, and yet the Republicans treat these ideas as if they're religious truth. It's not possible to run a government when you're putting the greatest tax burden on those who make the least money, which is essentially what happens in "trickle-down" economics. Of course, for many Republicans the very point is to bleed the Treasury dry and destroy the federal government so that their unpopular concept of "Articles of Confederation" style federalism can finally become a reality. Unfortunately, such an impotent government is only beneficial to those who have already made their fortunes and have no threat of losing it. Rich people and corporations will be able to safeguard their interests in the absence of a strong government, and they'll use the weakness of ordinary people to take away the little that those people have if they're given the chance.
"If this is going to be bipartisanship, the country's screwed," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, told ABC's "This Week." "I know bipartisanship when I see it."
That's the most hilarious thing I've ever heard. The Republicans wouldn't know bipartisanship if it ran up and punched them in the face. They blocked Clinton at almost every opportunity, and they'll do the same to Obama. Do they forget how unconcerned they were with bipartisanship when they were the majority party? They paralyzed the judiciary under Clinton by refusing to approve judges who weren't ultra-conservative. When they managed to take the presidency in 2000 they ran the government like a one-party regime, treating the Democrats as unimportant at best and pushing through anything they wanted with brute force regardless of how even moderate Republicans felt about it. Even when the Democrats took back Congress in 2006, Republicans used the Democrats' razor-thin majority to filibuster anything that they didn't support.
The problem lies in how the Republicans view bipartisanship. To people like McCain and Graham, bipartisanship means the Democrats laying down and allowing the Republicans to run everything. When Republicans are in power, they have no interest in listening to what the minority party is saying. When the Republicans lose that power, on the other hand, they immediately start talking about sharing power and criticize the Democrats for not inviting them to the table. If the Democrats had followed this vision of bipartisanship on the stimulus, of course, it would have been disastrous. The Republican leadership is upset because they didn't get every concession they wanted. It doesn't matter that Obama cut valuable programs from the bill, losing many potential jobs that could have been created and adding many more tax cuts that primarily benefit the rich and don't do much else to help the economy or create jobs. The Republicans tried these tax cuts back in 2000 and they failed miserably, and yet they wouldn't be happy unless all of the stimulus was wasted on worthless "trickle-down" tax cuts. They weren't interested in compromise, they wanted the Democrats to ignore their own majority and allow the Republicans to run the government. Considering the mandate that has been given to Obama and the Democratic Congress by the American people, that would be foolish.
Personally I believe that the Democrats should give the Republicans a taste of their own medicine. They obviously don't have much need for Republican votes, considering that they got none for the bill in the House and only three in the Senate. Senator Specter of Pennsylvania and Sens. Snowe and Collins of Maine will probably work with the Democrats anyway because they're moderates and know the true meaning of bipartisanship. The Democrats should freeze the Republican leadership out of decision-making and push forward the policies that they want without regard to what the other party thinks. If the Republicans still had the filibuster option they probably would have used it with the stimulus, so the Democrats should get up in front of the nation and declare the Republicans irrelevant. I obviously wouldn't agree with some of the things that they'd push through with this attitude, but frankly the Republicans have no say in the policies of the next four or eight years because they didn't allow the Democrats a say in the policies of the last eight. Payback is a bitch, as they say.
Does he think that he actually won the election and that he's president now instead of Obama? We voted for Obama, not McCain, and given his very high approval rating it seems that Obama has managed to win over even some of those who voted against him in the election. Worse yet, he's opening his mouth to criticize something that most people support. The Republicans seem content to just sit back and pontificate about free market economics while that free market goes flying off a cliff. Their ideas have done considerable harm to the country, in fact they're the reason why we're in this mess in the first place, and yet the Republicans treat these ideas as if they're religious truth. It's not possible to run a government when you're putting the greatest tax burden on those who make the least money, which is essentially what happens in "trickle-down" economics. Of course, for many Republicans the very point is to bleed the Treasury dry and destroy the federal government so that their unpopular concept of "Articles of Confederation" style federalism can finally become a reality. Unfortunately, such an impotent government is only beneficial to those who have already made their fortunes and have no threat of losing it. Rich people and corporations will be able to safeguard their interests in the absence of a strong government, and they'll use the weakness of ordinary people to take away the little that those people have if they're given the chance.
"If this is going to be bipartisanship, the country's screwed," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, told ABC's "This Week." "I know bipartisanship when I see it."
That's the most hilarious thing I've ever heard. The Republicans wouldn't know bipartisanship if it ran up and punched them in the face. They blocked Clinton at almost every opportunity, and they'll do the same to Obama. Do they forget how unconcerned they were with bipartisanship when they were the majority party? They paralyzed the judiciary under Clinton by refusing to approve judges who weren't ultra-conservative. When they managed to take the presidency in 2000 they ran the government like a one-party regime, treating the Democrats as unimportant at best and pushing through anything they wanted with brute force regardless of how even moderate Republicans felt about it. Even when the Democrats took back Congress in 2006, Republicans used the Democrats' razor-thin majority to filibuster anything that they didn't support.
The problem lies in how the Republicans view bipartisanship. To people like McCain and Graham, bipartisanship means the Democrats laying down and allowing the Republicans to run everything. When Republicans are in power, they have no interest in listening to what the minority party is saying. When the Republicans lose that power, on the other hand, they immediately start talking about sharing power and criticize the Democrats for not inviting them to the table. If the Democrats had followed this vision of bipartisanship on the stimulus, of course, it would have been disastrous. The Republican leadership is upset because they didn't get every concession they wanted. It doesn't matter that Obama cut valuable programs from the bill, losing many potential jobs that could have been created and adding many more tax cuts that primarily benefit the rich and don't do much else to help the economy or create jobs. The Republicans tried these tax cuts back in 2000 and they failed miserably, and yet they wouldn't be happy unless all of the stimulus was wasted on worthless "trickle-down" tax cuts. They weren't interested in compromise, they wanted the Democrats to ignore their own majority and allow the Republicans to run the government. Considering the mandate that has been given to Obama and the Democratic Congress by the American people, that would be foolish.
Personally I believe that the Democrats should give the Republicans a taste of their own medicine. They obviously don't have much need for Republican votes, considering that they got none for the bill in the House and only three in the Senate. Senator Specter of Pennsylvania and Sens. Snowe and Collins of Maine will probably work with the Democrats anyway because they're moderates and know the true meaning of bipartisanship. The Democrats should freeze the Republican leadership out of decision-making and push forward the policies that they want without regard to what the other party thinks. If the Republicans still had the filibuster option they probably would have used it with the stimulus, so the Democrats should get up in front of the nation and declare the Republicans irrelevant. I obviously wouldn't agree with some of the things that they'd push through with this attitude, but frankly the Republicans have no say in the policies of the next four or eight years because they didn't allow the Democrats a say in the policies of the last eight. Payback is a bitch, as they say.