The Germans Get It ...
...but I'm not sure President Obama does.
What amazes and profoundly annoys me is President Barack Obama's insistence on operating under some pie-in-the-sky sense of "bipartisanship" (whatever in the hell that is). He frequently seems to forget that in November, the American electorate resoundingly rejected the principles of the Republican Party as they were manifested the past eight years. He got elected because he promised change, something new, something that was based on the welfare of the country as a whole, rather than the welfare of the have-mores. His handling of the stimulus package certainly doesn't give much evidence that he understands that.
Everything we've seen the last two weeks makes it clear that the GOP, itself in profound disarray, is reduced to hoping that the Obama administration fails, fails miserably, and fails quickly. Republicans have no intention of cooperating with a Democratic program to get the nation back on its feet economically, diplomatically, or morally. They want the red meat of failure, and they will do everything in their power to facilitate that failure. That is their only hope for a return to relevance, especially since they have made it clear that they don't have a clue how to undue the havoc they, with their boy king, have wreaked the past eight (and more) years. Yet President Obama continues to kowtow to them, forcing off the agenda certain portions of the stimulus plan because it offended the sensibilities of the GOP.
I don't get it. Neither does the rest of the world, if this article in Germany's Die Zeit is any indication.
...In order to gain support for his $820 billion economic rescue plan and to win over as many conservative congressional representatives as possible, Barack Obama spent days flattering and beguiling Republicans. On the evening before his inauguration, he threw a banquet for his former opponent, John McCain. He invited well-known conservatives to the White House during the first week of his administration. He sent his closest economic advisors as well as his chief of staff on promotional tours and he visited Congress personally to exchange views with selected Republican senators and representatives.
But flattery got him nowhere. Not a single Republican voted in favor of his economic plan. Even 11 Democrats deserted him. The fact that the bill passed 244 to 188 was due solely to the Democrats’ overwhelming majority in the House of Representatives. That wasn’t the way Obama had expected his first dealings with Congress to go. He had promised to bury the political hatchet and put forth new policies designed to garner broad, bipartisan support. But the old battle lines remained in place on Wednesday with Republicans and Democrats apparently implacably opposed to one another.
And why is that?
Obama’s rescue plan is now bringing up moral issues in Republican ranks. Republicans have believed for years that reducing taxes alone would stimulate the economy. The more money individuals and businesses were allowed to hold on to, the more they would spend and invest and the better off they would be. Theoretically. Tax money used to improve infrastructure, to build new roads and repair schools, for early childhood development and health care, to develop alternative energy sources and public transportation was and still is to them an expression of liberal wastefulness and therefore the work of Satan. [Emphasis added]
That is as clear a description of the GOP mindset as I've seen, right down to the religious metaphor. That much is clear to everyone but President Obama and to certain key members of Congress. What those individuals refuse to understand is that the last election made it clear that a huge majority of this nation recognized the failure of Republican principles and rejected them.
This nation will probably forgive Obama and the Democratic Congress for being too bold in their proposals, but we will never forgive them for being too timid, too tentative, too touchy-feely when it comes to the delicate sensibilities of the troglodytes who are still clinging to trickle-down economics even after the global failure of that theory.
Time to face reality, Mr. Obama. And Ms. Pelosi and Mr. Reid.
As my late father would say, "Time to fish or cut bait." Or, as I am wont to say, "Get outta my way, I got stuff to do."
What amazes and profoundly annoys me is President Barack Obama's insistence on operating under some pie-in-the-sky sense of "bipartisanship" (whatever in the hell that is). He frequently seems to forget that in November, the American electorate resoundingly rejected the principles of the Republican Party as they were manifested the past eight years. He got elected because he promised change, something new, something that was based on the welfare of the country as a whole, rather than the welfare of the have-mores. His handling of the stimulus package certainly doesn't give much evidence that he understands that.
Everything we've seen the last two weeks makes it clear that the GOP, itself in profound disarray, is reduced to hoping that the Obama administration fails, fails miserably, and fails quickly. Republicans have no intention of cooperating with a Democratic program to get the nation back on its feet economically, diplomatically, or morally. They want the red meat of failure, and they will do everything in their power to facilitate that failure. That is their only hope for a return to relevance, especially since they have made it clear that they don't have a clue how to undue the havoc they, with their boy king, have wreaked the past eight (and more) years. Yet President Obama continues to kowtow to them, forcing off the agenda certain portions of the stimulus plan because it offended the sensibilities of the GOP.
I don't get it. Neither does the rest of the world, if this article in Germany's Die Zeit is any indication.
...In order to gain support for his $820 billion economic rescue plan and to win over as many conservative congressional representatives as possible, Barack Obama spent days flattering and beguiling Republicans. On the evening before his inauguration, he threw a banquet for his former opponent, John McCain. He invited well-known conservatives to the White House during the first week of his administration. He sent his closest economic advisors as well as his chief of staff on promotional tours and he visited Congress personally to exchange views with selected Republican senators and representatives.
But flattery got him nowhere. Not a single Republican voted in favor of his economic plan. Even 11 Democrats deserted him. The fact that the bill passed 244 to 188 was due solely to the Democrats’ overwhelming majority in the House of Representatives. That wasn’t the way Obama had expected his first dealings with Congress to go. He had promised to bury the political hatchet and put forth new policies designed to garner broad, bipartisan support. But the old battle lines remained in place on Wednesday with Republicans and Democrats apparently implacably opposed to one another.
And why is that?
Obama’s rescue plan is now bringing up moral issues in Republican ranks. Republicans have believed for years that reducing taxes alone would stimulate the economy. The more money individuals and businesses were allowed to hold on to, the more they would spend and invest and the better off they would be. Theoretically. Tax money used to improve infrastructure, to build new roads and repair schools, for early childhood development and health care, to develop alternative energy sources and public transportation was and still is to them an expression of liberal wastefulness and therefore the work of Satan. [Emphasis added]
That is as clear a description of the GOP mindset as I've seen, right down to the religious metaphor. That much is clear to everyone but President Obama and to certain key members of Congress. What those individuals refuse to understand is that the last election made it clear that a huge majority of this nation recognized the failure of Republican principles and rejected them.
This nation will probably forgive Obama and the Democratic Congress for being too bold in their proposals, but we will never forgive them for being too timid, too tentative, too touchy-feely when it comes to the delicate sensibilities of the troglodytes who are still clinging to trickle-down economics even after the global failure of that theory.
Time to face reality, Mr. Obama. And Ms. Pelosi and Mr. Reid.
As my late father would say, "Time to fish or cut bait." Or, as I am wont to say, "Get outta my way, I got stuff to do."
Labels: 111th Congress, Bipartisanship, Change
posted by Diane at 3:30 PM
1 Comments:
"Bi-partisanship" fits right into the "there's not a nickel's worth of difference between 'em" meme.
(That's the one to which I am a life-time subscriber, much to Ruth's dismay.)
You'll note they never use the phrase 'non-partisan.'
That would be too muckin fuch like doing 'the People's business,' which would never go over with their Bosses and Paymasters, who require that BOTH "parties" do THEIR business, and if the people happen to get served a little, then it was probably unavoidable.
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