Republicans in the House Are Behaving Like the Collapse of Bush's Policies Never Happened

Say you belonged to a charitable organization, and you and your friends were appointed to the steering committee for a big fundraiser, so you chose to have a combination bake sale and casino night. And let's say that you scheduled it on the same night as the town's homecoming football game, so nearly nobody showed up, and the peanut butter cookies in the bake sale gave the few guests that did visit salmonella. Oh, and let's say that in setting up the casino equipment, you accidentally cut off the electricity for the entire block. When the time rolled around the next year for the annual fundraiser, would you stand up and advocate a salmonella bake sale held on the same night as the big game? Of course not. You'd sit down, shut up, and wait for someone else to come up with a new idea. Even if you thought a bake sale/casino night could work under the right circumstances, you would probably be able to figure out that having overseen a colossal failure, the timing might not be right for you to pitch the same idea again.

Unless, apparently, you are a Republican member of the House.

Look, I had no illusions that everything would change the minute Barack Obama took the oath of office, and that the Republicans would immediately burn their Ronald Reagan pictures and pledge allegiance to Obama. But I did think that Obama's solid victory in November, if nothing else, would make it clear that the bankrupt (literally) policies of the last eight years would no longer be seriously considered as a solution. I certainly knew that the Republicans would try to claw their way back to power, but I never imagined they would pull a Groundhog Day, acting as if the absolute meltdown of the last eight years hadn't happened. After all, by electing Obama, the American people pretty directly rejected the failed ways of doing business.

Of the myriad problems George W. Bush and his enablers in Congress left on Obama's desk, the most pressing is perceived to be the economy. So Obama's first major legislative initiative was the stimulus package. Under the market-cures-all philosophy of the last administration (and, in fairness, every administration going back to Ronald Reagan), the financial system collapsed as the greed and irresponsibility of institutions finally reached a tipping point. But what was even more acute during the last eight years was the historic and devastating redistribution of wealth, whereby Bush's tax cuts for the rich and unfailing support for corporate interests led to a situation where, as former Rep. David Bonior put it on Meet the Press on January 11:

"over the last 20 years, the top 10 percent took 90 percent of the income gains in this -- in the country. And the top 1 percent took roughly 60 percent. And the top 1/10th of 1 percent took 35 percent of that. I mean, it's skewed the wrong way."

The system of tax cuts and the like turned the surplus of the Clinton years into a massive deficit, even before the $700 billion financial bailout and current stimulus package came into play. And the Bush years allowed massive gains for the wealthy, all while middle class wages, in real dollars, fell.

So, if nothing else, we should all be in agreement that the Bush years were a debacle, and that the policies of the administration need to be rejected, much like the bake sale/casino night of my analogy.

And yet, on the first major piece of legislation that the popular new president advanced, what did the Republicans in the House do? Suggest a bake sale/casino night.

On the January 11 Meet the Press episode I mentioned above, all of the economists, liberals and conservatives, agreed that some kind of stimulus is necessary to kick-start the economy. Economists will also tell you that if you genuinely want to stimulate consumer spending, tax cuts, especially for the middle class and wealthy, are less effective than government spending, since those tax cuts are more likely to be saved than spent. Programs that aid those in trouble (like food stamps and extended unemployment insurance), as well as programs that create jobs (like infrastructure projects), are far more effective in stimulating consumer spending.

And despite all of this information, not one single Republican member of the House voted for the stimulus bill yesterday. (It still passed, 244-188, with 11 Democrats joining the 177 Republicans in opposing the bill.) Not one. Zero. Zippo. Nada. Nil. None. There wasn't one Republican in the whole House of Representatives who could see his or her way clear to support legislation to help our tanking economy, even if they thought the bill wasn't perfect. And what was the primary objection of the Republicans, based on the GOP's suggested alternative bill (that was voted down by the House)? They wanted more tax cuts.

Seriously? More freakin' tax cuts? What's next? Are they going to be asking for less regulations on Wall Street? Another invasion of Iraq? Were they not watching what happened the last eight years (and, more importantly, what the American people voted for in November)?

Th vote on the stimulus bill was not an isolated incident. The Republicans in the House made a less important but more egregious move out of the Bush-era repertoire when they killed a measure to extend the deadline for the transition from analog to digital television broadcasting. A two-thirds majority was necessary for passage in the House, but thanks to the GOP, the vote in support was only 258-168, with 155 Republicans joining 13 Democrats in opposition to the measure. It was such a noncontroversial proposal that the Senate unanimously approved it without a single objection.

In killing the extension, the Republicans in the House were choosing the bottom lines of major corporations over the day-to-day lives of, mainly, working class, elderly and poor Americans. The extension was sought because millions still do not have the adapter boxes necessary to receive digital transmissions on their analog television sets. Those affected tend to be the least well-to-do and most vulnerable citizens, those who can't afford cable television and rely on old-fashioned over-the-airways reception to watch. And the government's program to help pay for the adaptor boxes is out of money (they can't issue any new coupons until unused ones that were already issued expire). The legislation was meant to help these people avoid losing access to television.

But the Republicans in the House was more concerned that stations might lose money having to devote advertising time to announcements about the transition. It was a move right out of the Bush years, prioritizing the earnings of corporations over the lives of less-than-wealthy individuals.

The bottom line is that this country is in a very dark place right now, and the reason we're there is not a mystery. It is, in large part, the direct result of a set of policies advocated and carried out by the Bush administration. Those policies, including tax cuts for the rich and the facilitation of movement of wealth from the lower and middle classes to the upper class, have failed. While Republicans are free to oppose President Obama's solutions to this mess if they think they have better ideas, merely advocating the old failed policies should not be tolerated.

Obama deserves credit for trying to foster a bipartisan atmosphere in Washington, and I laud his efforts in this regards. But if the Republicans are going to be obstructionist, clinging to failed policies and trying to score political points by keeping the new president from passing the programs he wants (or at least making them look partisan), Obama and the Democrats have to move forward on their own. They have large majorities in both houses and, more importantly, the mandate of a solid presidential election win.

It's time for the House Republicans to offer something useful or shut up and let the rest of us try and undo the mess they helped make. We're just not interested in their bake sale/casino night ideas. I'm not sure we can survive another salmonella outbreak or blackout. We're still picking up the pieces from the last ones.

Comments

[Navision]

CAN YOU SAY, PORK

GO TO shelby.senate.gov

Senator Richard Shelby, State of Alabama Republican --- GOP

Go to his home page Click on Shelby: “We Cannot Spend Our Way to Prosperity”
Opening Statement of Senator Shelby to Senate Appropriations , scroll down
and you will millions and millions of dollars appropiated to Shelby, mostly from
Homeland Security. Note --- how conveniently these pork barrel projects are okay
if they are given to a red state. Plus, the fact he is one of the biggest obstructionists.

Why isn't John McCain all over this??????

[CAPTAINSKIPPY]

Too many Repubs have been committed to serving those who have always opposed everything FDR stood for, while peddling the Friedman/Reaganite trickle down theories as "the" economic gospel. They are apparently unaware that Judgement Day has come!

[gorideabike]

Strom Thurmond lived a long while and walked backwards the whole time. It is unlikely that the current cohort of Republicans will ever own up to the fantasy based policies their party adopted since Reagan. They will take their beliefs to the grave and never change. And with their excellent health care plan, unlike us, they will likely live long and prosper. The rank and file Republicans who work for a living and believe in the reality they experience as opposed to Neocon bull, have had about enough. If the incumbent won't leave, party support will continue to fall off. The longer they stay the more power they acquire. More power means more softish lobbiest cashola in the re-election coffers.
We need term limits.
For Dems too.

[StillAmused]

First challenge for next Surgeon General: Identifying the underlying link between arrested development and attraction, on the part of its candidates and incumbents, to the GOP .

Then comes the hard part... Which came first? The chicken or the egg?

[MAH1952]

As an old-fashioned (i.e. pre-Reagan) Republican I have only one thing to say. If the American people let this crop of pseudo-Republicans get away with this crap then they deserve what they get. I am sick of the income disparity that has arisen these last twenty-five years, of the entitlements that a few workers have used to block meaningful health reform, of the culture of greed exhibited by the average American. This mess is the fault of both parties and for one to act holier than thou is sickening. But it will take more than one election to change things. As long as the Bushies and their fellow travellers are in office they will play these games. If the American people allow it then they deserve whatever happens.

[kkayralene]

A suggestion to the republicans: Remeber the inauguaration--and the millions who attended it...

[adaugeo]

We are enjoying the fruits of 100 years of FAILED policies, and the only Stimulation from the Fiscal Madness will be in citizen ANGER & FRUSTRATION.

[ExpositOne]

Let me get this right . . . We have a deficit that has nearly doubled under Bush (and two years of the demo congress) . . . Our government has no money to give only to print . . . We have a "stimulus" bill that for all intense and purposes demonstrates more of the same kind of fiscal irresponsibility that we were promised we'd move away from . . . and you're upset when someone speaks out against it?

Put the bipartisanship aside and for once show me someone from either side of the aisle that has the backbone to stop the madness. As I've read though most of the comments there seems to be little discernment that speaks out against thowing money to the Pelosi "wish list" . . .

And this is change? Sad. Very very sad.

Our children are in trouble.

[Wake-up]

Awesome... I think you got it. Also, anytime a Politician says; "We need to quickly ... this is the time we (the people) need to demand investigation.

[ExpositOne]

Debt started the problem, so what is the current plan to fix the problem? More debt! It has never been proven that government can drive the economy . . . and going into $1 TRILLION in debt will only prolong the inevitable economic disaster. If anything government should do everything to allow small business to prosper and then GET OUT OF THE WAY.

[Gusto2]

I don't think people are upset because someone is against the proposal, the truth is people are upset at the hypocrisy of the GOP members, who stood silence for 8 years of the GW Bush economic policies and now are pretending to be the defenders of our taxes. They only supported tax cut for the rich and allowed Bush to spend our money on a lot of nonsense and now are crying foul. That is what people are upset about.

[rr52]

Same thing I thought when I heard they opposed it for lack of tax cuts. WhAAAAAT? They are what can be termed "Gourd Heads." Got melons like rocks. There is absolutely no comprehension, just listen to Limbaugh. Duh.

About the digital conversion. I already have a big dish, little dish. I have two old TV's and a little Aquos on high powered rabbit ears gets beautiful HD. I know about digital. If the signal isn't stroing enough, you're getting nothing. I hooked up converters on two TV's. Paid another $65.00 for amplified indoor antennas. I get no ABC, NBC, or Fox but I do get CBS on all 3 channels. I wrote to the ABC affiliate in Detroit. They called me. They put up a new tower and can't figure why I can't get them but do get local CBS right down the road from where they broadcast. I warned them that they are really going to get the phone calls when the switch happens. My aunt lives 20 miles away and lost the same stations.

The delay wouldn't help this mess waiting to happen when people who can't affort it are forced to buy a big antenna, or pay $10/mo for specials offered by cable and others, which means they are paying $120.00 a year for something that should be free. When there are commercials, those channels should be free to air!

[mjc]

Think the premise of your blog is quite accurate: they never wanted to believe that the Bush administration was doing anything to harm this nation, and that the emphasis on the the corporations and wealthy "investor" class was the only way America SHOULD go. The trouble is they do still believe that, believe that it is ordinary Americans who bought homes they couldn't afford and thus brought the economy down. One of their cheerleaders has told them that the reason Obama wanted to be "bipartisan" is so that the Repugs could share the defeat if things didn't go quite right. Actually, it is a given that an administration should want all parties on board since this crisis is deepening and some of the solutions in the stimulus bill are mainly untested ones; FDR and the Congress he had to work with knew that and adjusted for it. The Republicans in THIS Congress doesn't want to accept anything from "the other party" so that if things go awry they can jump on the point the finger bandwagon. This recession/­depression is not going to easily dealt with considering the way one particular party, the GOP, refuses to accept responsibility for governance. Another November is coming, however, and hope the tea leaves will change for the GOPPERS; otherwise, they'll be on their way out the door.

[twocrows]

What part of, "The Bush policies failed," don't the GOPpers understand?
They don't seem to understand that fingers can point both ways.

And they seem to have jumped on Rush's bandwagon and hope that Obama fails -- and the hell with the country if they can be proved right.

[ebanks84]

It's truly a sin and a shame that this country have been so blind all these years and are just awakening to the atrocities of the Bush administration. That just goes to show you how brainwashed we have been via the MSM. The media is our only source of information other than newspapers and the internet. Well, thank God for the internet because every other source has betrayed the people.

Now the media can see what Bush was doing behind his closed doors but while he was doing it, the media was telling us he "wasn't" doing anything. The media was lauding over his every word of how he was protecting us against the terrorist when HE and his administration WERE THE TERRORIST insofar as Americans are concerned.

We have been punked big time by not only our president, but by our media also. The MSM should be as much ashamed of their actions as Bush. Don't throw out the bathwater without putting yourself back in it.

[kjwhite]

To Mitchell Bard - Please accept my applause! You got right to the heart of the matter. While watching the pundits the other night, one especially obnoxious female republican columnist said, "Obama is only trying for bi-partisan support so when his plan fails WE republicans can SHARE THE BLAME."
I looked at my husband and said, "Are these people insane? Have they forgotten that THEY were the cause of the problem in the first place?"

I thought the bizarre flights from reality and re-writing of history that we saw during the campaigns would end once the election was over, but now I see that republicans have absolutely no intention of coming home to Kansas... they've gained an invite from the Wicked Witch and plan to stay in Oz as long as possible.

[Jesster]

Insanity? Probably. Delusional? Most definitely! Both Obama and the Dems in Congress must stand up to these out of control dittoheads (Mike Steele may be the new face/figurehead of the GOP - but Rush Limbaugh is their "idol" and clearly their point man.

For years the Bush Administration AND GOP have arrogantly claimed / insisted that reality is whatever they say it is. And so it is with the GOPee-ers in Congress.

If we wear red shoes/slippers (definitely NOT Palin style) and we click our heels together three times - will they just disappear, go away and literally move to Oz? Please.

[bellabeach]

The GOP is running scared, they know they are losing and they think Mr. Steele is their answer, well guess what he isn't!! People who never paid attention before are now focusing on the big picture and they don't like what the last eight years has wrought! Get them out of office before they do more harm! You know when they hold up Limbought as their hero, we are all in trouble, do you think Rush cares about this administration or the good it can and will do, no, he would rather throw stones, but it isn't going to work, cause he lives in a 25,000 sq ft. house and makes $400 million a year, do you really think he cares about the working class?!!

[Navision]

Someday, when the USA does wake up , we will find that the rest of the world wants Euros instead of
Dollars. Bush and his evil disciples have, committed the "Jim Jones Kool-Aid Suicide Pact" if you don't
support and believe what we say, we will destroy the Middle Class.

Their mantra has been but we have keep you safe, Safe from what the economic collapse of the USA.

[ageless]

Do you really think more tax cuts will bring the jobs back to America?
They are also after cheap labor, so tax cuts will not bring back the jobs.
All you blogers trying to trash Obama's actions are really not looking at the big picture.
Even if there were no tax on the corporations, they would still stay out of America.
Get your thoughts together. And stop being simple minded. The only way to get the jobs
back is to tax the h3ll out of any American based corp., with part of their company overseas.
THIS IS THE ONLY WAY. Nothing else will work.Off shore bank accounts?
Tax the h3ll out of it, and watch the funds come back.