Retro-Hooverites All

We're lucky the Democrats have large majorities in Congress because every Republican member of the House of Representatives voted against the $825 billion stimulus bill today. The vote was 244 to 188, with eleven like-minded Democrats joining in the betrayal. Even a face-to-face meeting with the President on Capitol Hill failed to sway any of them. The Republicans voted against their country today. Their fellow citizens needed them to act on their behalf and instead they chose to abandon them. Theirs is an ersatz patriotism.

The American Society of Civil Engineers released a report today documenting the nation's crumbling infrastructure. The GOP agenda of starving the public sector while spending lavishly on war and corporate welfare has allowed the nation's bridges, roads, and levees to reach this sorry state.

Texas Republican Representative Michael Burgess denounced the stimulus bill: "It's raining money," he said. But I don't think we really need to hear anymore from Texas Republicans after what Tom DeLay, Karl Rove, Phil Gramm, Dick Armey, and George W. Bush have done to the country.

These Retro-Hooverites want to block President Barack Obama from undoing part of the damage thirty years of failed Republican economic policies has produced. If Republican economics worked we wouldn't be in this predicament. And we wouldn't be debating the merits of a gigantic stimulus bill. Where's Arthur Laffer? Or Alan Greenspan? Doesn't anyone remember that Ronald Reagan's Office of Management and Budget director, David Stockman, already blew the whistle on the supply-side scam back in the early 1980s?

Here's a little of what the report from the American Society of Civil Engineers had to say:

Crumbling infrastructure has a direct impact on our personal and economic health, and the nation's infrastructure crisis is endangering our future prosperity. Our leaders are looking for solutions to the nation's current economic crisis. Not only could investment in these critical foundations have a positive impact, but if done responsibly, it would also provide tangible benefits to the American people, such as reduced traffic congestion, improved air quality, clean and abundant water supplies and protection against natural hazards.

The Republicans claim to represent the Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, and the National Retail Federation (all opposed the bill). But their actions today in the House will do nothing but help to undermine commerce, cripple manufacturing, and tank retail.

Strange philosophy.

Opinion polls and election results show the GOP is on the wrong side on the issues of health care, green jobs, infrastructure, education, and poverty relief. I guess everyone who lives in a Republican district in this country is doing just fine economically, right? I guess those eleven Democrats who joined the Republicans also come from districts that are just booming right along.

It's all peace and prosperity in Republican Land.

President Obama won North Carolina, Virginia, Indiana, New Mexico, Ohio, and Florida. I hope he visits some of those Republican (and Democratic) districts whose representatives voted against the stimulus bill today in those states during the heat of the 2010 midterm campaigns.

There is real suffering out there and the federal government is the only institution in the country that can do anything about it. It's possible that the Republicans just voted themselves out of power for a very long time.

Comments

[DLSprague]

A little out there, far removed from reality, but at least they are consistent. Bailouts for the rich, no bid contracts for their own special interests, but not a dime to ease the pain of the average citizen of the U.S.A.

[ProgressiveVoice]

I see that many people still believe the myth that FDR's New Deal didn't end the depression, WW2 did. I thought that myth had been exploded with facts and figures . . .

[Bladernr1001]

So let's your facts and figures......

[vesaversa1]

I AGREE

[Joseph A. Palermo - Huffpost Blogger]

I hope the GOP approves Saltsman as RNC chair because they should have a racist in the top spot because they're a bunch of racists in the Congress -- sorry.

[gro]

Most Republicans in the US Congress are millionaires. They want to destroy unions and depress wages any way they can. Unemployment is irrelevant.
There will be no cooperation on health care issues, government accountability, or tax reform. Like their favorite investments in the war industries, they only know how to destroy, obstruct, and impede progress.

[wak84]

I totally agree. I never understood Reagan's admonition that government is the problem. What, was he an anarchist? When the private sector is tanking it is the government's responsibility to care for its citizens in the way most needed at the time. Or else, why bother with the whole institution???

Repubs complaining about spending on infrastructure and public transportation (like Amtrack) is ludicrious. Their answer is to give tax breaks to businesses and everything will be okay??? Small businesses are going to build their own private roads, bridges,rail lines and local schools? Businesses are motivated by profit only, not the common good. The common good is government's responsibility and when is it guarded and enhanced, everyone, and every business, benefits.

The Repubs I see on tv complaining seem to believe they're living in the booming 1990's. I saw one this morning complaining about increasing food stamps. Seriously??? Tax cuts won't help those that don't have a paycheck. I think they are really living outside reality to say that increasing expenditures on food stamps is wrong when unemployment is rising signficantly. What planet are they living on?

[SonofLiberty1]

Funny you should mention that Republicans say government is the problem since they are so much against government?

If they are, why do they run for office?

I think they are against government giving the rest of us needed help.

They don't want the rest of us to be ok...

[Infokronea]

I agree with your posting. I would like to add that I believe that the GOP is being held hostage by a far-right faction that is sociopathic in nature and very dangerous. Thus, the GOP continues to rationalize and hide this sector's criminal behavior like the long suffering wife of a violent alcoholic. But we all know how those relationships end without outside intervention. President Obama is clearly trying to provide said service in order to move the country forward, much in the same way FDR did during the Great Depression. Sadly, he does so at considerable risk to himself and his policies, not just from the far-right, but from members of his own base that do not fully understand the gravity of the situation. But that is what is required. That is how FDR was able to move America forward at a time when the KKK was at its peak and the far right was having a love affair with the NAZIs. And if FDR could do it, odds are, so can President Obama, assuming, of course, that he gets the chance. In that spirit, I say how 'bout we take it upon ourselves to become part of the solution and do what we can to help better his odds, not only for his sake, but for ours?

[DennyCrane]

In the minds of Republicans, they have nothing to lose by being obstructionists. If Obama succeeds, it will only further repudiate Republican ideas about the economy. Their best hope is that he and the Democrats fail and this is the only way they can bring about that failure.

[HHarvey]

5% towards infrastructure sounds like a lousy package to me. Does anyone know who crafted this?

[theone718]

There is 20 percent towards infrastructure. There should be more though. Statistics show the most bang for the buck is actually in food stamps. Go figure.

[sdskelton03]

"The Republicans voted against their country today."

Mr. Palermo

It is possible to disagree with you and still love the country. It is possible to vote against this bill for reasons other than wanting America to fail.

[VSamuels]

O.K.

So list the solutions and your alternative plan?

[sdskelton03]

A good start would be to allocate more than 5% of the stimulus money to infrastructure.

[HHarvey]

Anything that doesn't create jobs should be cut, otherwise it's just pork. I've been a donator to Planned Parenthood for over twenty years with every paycheck I get and even I didn't think funding for birth control programs and the such belong in this economic stimulus package. This is just one example, but there is more in there like this. I'm torn on education too because it is a huge importance for me and my family but I have to question funding for that in the stimulus package. Will it create jobs? This is what the stimulus package should be used for and nothing else. The money for these programs should come from another reserve.

[scared4ALL]

This is true. I'm torn. I don't want to see our people losing all the jobs should the money not be there. But we hate seeing the same corrupt CEO's benefit, too. On the other hand I believe this quick fix with the bailouts are just a band aid postponing the inevitable. I've heard some say the longer the crash takes to happen, the longer it will take "US" to recover. Isn't there a way that will work for "US" all as a whole? Why can't somehow the CEO's lose their clout in controlling things as well as getting richer? Obama says he's open for ideas at his website. Can't you guys out there who have insight and smarts come up with an answer?

[vesaversa1]

WHAT IS IT ?

[jules233]

Republicans to American people (with the exception of their "fellow travelers", "We're just not that into you"!

[Doofus]

But... Not much in this stimulus bill is for 'infrastructure', correct?

Says EJ Dionne in the WashPost:

...' another group of progressives sees the bills as shorting investments for infrastructure: roads, bridges and particularly mass transit. This camp was buoyed by a report released yesterday by the American Society of Civil Engineers concluding that it would take $2.2 trillion to bring the nation's infrastructure into good repair. ' ...

If it's Infrastructure we need, then 'they' had better sell it that way.

If there's to be 'short-term quick fixes' also, make sure it's understood to be separate.

[Doofus]

Only 5 percent of $819b plan would go toward infrastructure
Critics say transportation is shortchanged

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2009/01/29/only_5_percent_of_819b_plan_would_go_toward_infrastructure/

Michael Kranish - Boston Globe - January 29, 2009

WASHINGTON - Five weeks before becoming president, Barack Obama urged passage of a massive economic stimulus package, vowing that it would "create millions of jobs by making the single largest new investment in our national infrastructure since the creation of the federal highway system in the 1950s."

But the bill passed by the House yesterday dedicates only about 5 percent of the $819 billion measure to highway, mass transit, and rail projects, analysts said. That has prompted even some Democratic supporters to complain that the transportation spending was gutted by Republicans who insisted on more tax cuts - none of whom voted for the measure anyway - and by Obama advisers who shifted priorities to advance policy goals.

Many economists have argued in recent weeks that spending on infrastructure would do more to quickly create jobs and pull the country out of recession than tax cuts for individuals and businesses, or investments in healthcare and alternative energy - such as grants for health information technology and for a smart electricity grid. The tax cuts and investments are now sizable elements of the recovery package, with Obama's assent." ...

[bayside]

Who were those dems that voted against help for us. Memo. We will not be prey to the rich and powerful anymore..

[Torus34]

The lockstep nay-ing [neighing?] of the House Republicans demonstrates that they are not, the election just passed notwithstanding, educable. It remains to be seen if they are trainable.

[Bladernr1001]

Well you guys are all giddy with the passage of liberal spending plans.

We will see what happens.........This whole package is being created with money we do not really have. It is literally being printed.....being created out of thin air.

What does this mean? A dollar will be worth less. I suppose if we create enough new products and services with that money then everything will be ok. I do not see that happening given what they are about to spend this on. Fixing bridges and bulding roads is all well and good but those things should have been happening all along.....what happened there?...I will tell you.

Pols do not get re-elected making sure a bridge does not fall down. They get re-elected by handing out other peoples money. So all the tax money that should have been spent maintaining infrastructure all these years got diverted to other things....like welfare and corp subsidies. So now that we have overspent ourselves into oblivion we are about to overspend even more in a gambit to get ourselves out it. Does that seem like sound economic policy to you?

[Rogan]

Part of the comment I'm responding to, claims that money we shoul have been spending in past years on infrastructure, was diverted, in part, to pay for "welfare."

You need to turn off the conservative radio, buddy. It has addled your thought process.

[arvay]

"So all the tax money that should have been spent maintaining infrastructure all these years got diverted to other things....like welfare and corp subsidies."

Sorry, pal, try the Iraq war for starters.

A history lesson. FDR turned around the US economy with the massive spending for WWII. Without a war (we can wind down the two we have running right now) we need a much, much more massive outlay than this puny effort the Republicans won't even spring for.

Plus, a lot of partial nationalizations. For openers diverting much of the oil companies' profits to new energy research. Profit caps on key industries. Removal of resistant executives with no chance of re-employment in their industry. They can try Somalia, a truly "free" market.

As things get worse, the Democrats need to focus the ensuing anger at these targets. We need a total redesign of our economic system. National health care. Redirection of investment from military to civilian projects. No more wildly overspending consumers to drive zillion-dollar executive salaries.

It's over, get used to it.

[Bladernr1001]

The Iraq war has only been going on since 2003. The welfare/entitlement state has been sucking up money for 50 years.

Nationalization of industry is socialism. Just ask Russia how well that worked.

[Bladernr1001]

News for you.

FDR's New Deal failed to solve the depression. The economy of the early 1940's was marginally better most likely because the government finally diverted money form useless WPA type programs and into private business to support the war effort.

Obama would do well to slow down and really study the historical lessons of the depression. He would probably come to a different decision than what he is about to embark.

[LaFlow]

Google this: "deflation + great depression"

Inflation ain't our biggest worry right now dude.

[Bladernr1001]

Devaluating the currency has never solved anything.

[waverly]

Let's see...we had money flowing out of the USA to pay foreign workers without receiving any tax revenue in return for 8 very long years. So now you are complaining about no money in the pot. Where have you been all these years? Now to counteract this trend the Fed has to pour money into the USA to pay American workers which in turn provides tax revenue to correct all of the Republican sins. "Wars, free market, free trade conservatism" made us a debtor nation and now to undo it all we have no choice but, yes, go further into debt. Republicans are now a dead party for their insanity.

[Bladernr1001]

Almost all US debt held by foreign governments was created by government not by oursourced labor.