HuffPost's Howard Fineman appeared Thursday night on MSNBC's 'Hardball with Chris Matthews' to discuss the falling popularity of Republican governors in places like Florida and Ohio.
In reference to Florida, Fineman explained:
"Well I think what's going on there, Chris, and what's going on in a lot of other places is that Republican governors who were elected as reformers are running up against the fact that their states have run out of money. The stimulus money from the federal government has disappeared, state budgets are hemorrhaging, Republican governors are having to make tough, unpopular choices, whether it's cutting education or money for schools or for health care or for roads and bridges, for all the things that state government does. People wanted reform, but they wanted somebody else's welfare program to be cut."
Fineman also pointed to a larger potential cause for these falling poll numbers:
"The other thing that's happening here is that the national economy isn't recovering that vigorously ... so in states like Ohio and Pennsylvania and Florida and all these states, the economy just isn't good and that makes whoever is in power, including the governors, unpopular."
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They convinced voters that by voting against incumbents, they would be establishing some sort of mandate. They were not, only giving those politicians a green light to legislate their way of life into their constituents. The polls reflect a case of buyer's remorse.
These newly elected officials resorted to attacking women, the poor, the unemployed, workers, the middle class, immigrants, minorities, Planned Parenthood, NPR and anyone who didn't support their far-right agenda. An effort to disenfranchise voters and garner support, then pass idiotic, repressive legislation. No wonder their numbers are falling when you look at some of the legislation they've enacted, and the lives of the everyday people that are affected. Education cuts, services cuts like firemen, police and teachers, withholding and cutting unemployment insurance are not easy to stomach, is not in the public's best interests. They wouldn't admit that that was their plan all along. Voters are beginning to see that, although too late for the last round of voting, but the next time, its these politicians offices that will be on the chopping block. Their hopes of retaining their power are getting slimmer by the day.
There was no mandate, no demand by "The American People" to shackle Obama and revert to the strict right wing agenda ot do away with women's health care etc.
The wrost part of it to me is the control the GOP has over the redistricting because it was a census year. THAT is a problem.
The problem is that the dogma of these governors is presenting them only with options that their constituents do not support. Their dogma does not allow any notion of shared sacrifice but calls for the entire burden of budget balancing to be carried by the middle class and other workers. Their dogma also often calls for taking the increased burden they are asking these groups to bear and passing that money onto big corporations (ie. not really solving any budget issues at all).
Their dogma has also called for and led them to sponsor and ratify radical social engineering that they were not elected to undertake. Their dogma has not led them to legislation to first and foremost create new jobs as promised.
That is the discussion that should have been had by these two men, but as usual the media pundits failed terribly and only played footsies with the issues.
Is Mr. Fineman aware that Gov. Walker got a break on corporate taxes before he claimed that Wisconsin couldn't afford to honor the union contracts? Does he know that Gov. Christie refused to raise income taxes on the superrich in New Jersey?
He's in the business of telling others what's happening in the world, shouldn't he have a better idea of that reality?
Again, I absolutely want them to be re-built and believe that my tax dollars go for making our nation bigger and better than before when disaster strikes, but the GOTP cannot stand in their convictions.
http://madmikesamerica.com/2011/04/gabby-giffords-update-small-steps/
But this is the problem with the GOP rhetorical position for the last two years. If the Dems are evil. If we hate America, if we're corrupt, and our policies are socialism, then guess what? You can't negotiate with us. If Obama is the devil then you can't ask him for help. Right? I mean if you ask the devil for help what does that say about you? So the GOP govs, thanks for winning in 2010 by the way, have to eat this sht sandwich the GOP congress and rhetorical position has created. Shakespeare called it hoist on your own petard. Which was a clever way of say you just fd yourself. So, as the GOP flames out, and as their party, fighting social battles while the world falls apart around them, dies, you can look back on their obamamania, their hatred of O and their inability to behave like adults during the worst crisis facing this nation since WWII as the reasons why the cease to exist.
Granted that it still probably wasn't big enough, President Obama, with atmospheric approval numbers and a national election victory, was heading to the White House with a clear, simple, and easy to message plan for a "stimulus package"; a "temporary, timely, and targeted" two-year, $950 billion package, made up of $50 billion to "test run" some of the major ideas of his campaign, like Race To The Top, rural broadband, and expanding research funding, $300 billion in aid for state/local governments, $300 billion in funds for the "bottom 95%" and small businesses, and $300 billion in funds for public infrastructure projects.
If people had just taken Obama's lead, stuck to the simple messaging of a "targeted, timely and temporary package, with aid for state/local governments, small business, and the 'bottom 95%', with a serious commitment to improving public infrastructure", I don't see how President Obama doesn't get the package he wanted.
Anyway, the Republican's "chickens are coming home to roost".
It is not that we do not have the money, it is just the money is not where it belongs to keep our economy healthy.
Profits are being made at the expense of The People, jeopardizing our country’s future.
Which Republican governors? Not Christie (NJ) not Kasich (OH), not Scott (FL), not Walker (WI). Look at their cancelling high speed rail projects. Would an "adult in the room" put the profits of Big Oil ahead of their constituents?