It is interesting to watch the GOP setting up a 2010 slam dunk like a bunch of beach vollyball players. After the House Dems served the bail-out bill across the political net, the House GOP tapped the ball vertically to give the Senate a chance to scramble under it and slam it in the face of president Obama who’s standing next to the net, doe-eyed with optimism.
While Obama is making nice with the GOP by trying to be cooperative, the House Dems load the bill with goodies like ravenous college students load their scuffed melamine plates at an all-you-can-eat salad bar. To the delight of the GOP, they now have a plausibly deniable excuse for being uncooperative with the Obama administration. And the Housed Dems have served it up on a garnished platter.
The GOP leadership exclaims with alligator tears dripping onto their tailored suits, “How can we possibly accept the imposition of such tremendous debt on future generations of Americans? We believe, like Ronald Reagan, that tax cuts are the best stimulus for America.” Harumph, grunt, snort.
The Dem world view is to embrace new ideas and use government as a lever for doing good. The GOP world view is that government is bad, except for defense of property, and the economic Darwinism of the market should determine how civilization is shaped. Liberals tend to be eclectic and less focused on tangible goals. Conservatives tend to be doctrinaire and acquisitive. Obviously, there are exceptions.
President Obama is foolishly assuming that GOPers are just like Dems at heart. If only they could sup together they could find common ground. What the Obama Dems have failed to grasp is that the GOP wants to annex that common ground for their own new subdivision.
The GOP is plainly setting up for a turnaround in the upcoming 2010 midterm election. They are priming their huddled supporters for a campaign of Limbaugh bile and Hannity disaffection with the Obama administration, in the same manner that Gingrich did in 1994 to the Clinton Administration by riling up the bible-belt like a nest of hornets.
The truth is that the GOP does not share the aspirations annunciated by the Obama Dems. The GOP leadership are more like Mongolian horsemen and the Dems are like a bunch of sod farmers. The only hope the sod farmers have is that the Mongolians will fall off their horses again.
It’s too painful to watch.
Lamentations on Chemistry 
“Tremendous debt on generations of future Americans” — how much has the Iraq war cost, again?
Exactly. Now that Bush/Cheney have left town, suddenly they have religion.
If Obama’s choice of Geithner and Summers didn’t clue you in: Aheemm….NOTHING’S CHANGED. The Bush adminstration’s masters are still in charge.
The best course would be to nationalize these bad banks and wipe out the shareholders. That won’t happen because we are living in a true plutocracy run by genuine oligarchs. They are going to bring this country to its knees so a handful of rich Americans (only several thousand) can remain in power.
John Stewart put it best on the daily show -He asked a guest- “Why don’t we just pay off people’s loans and debt’s directly? That means the people can spend and the banks are paid as well?
The guest had no answer. The banks want their money from the tax-payer, plus an army of indentured slaves.
The banks own you Gaussling.
Give me any money and I’m not going to spend it. I’m too worried about losing my job. I don’t think I am alone.
I’m just curious – if the ‘pubs were so good at that financial prudence thing, why was >60% of the national debt (8e12/13e12?) run up during Republican presidencies (much of which, particularly six of the previous eight, also had Republican Congresses), and particularly ones that trumpeted their prudence and tax cuts? Kind of like federal preemption for EPA and FDA for people that claim they want a smaller federal government and more power to the states, or wanting to choose Constitutionally sound judges while deciding that the 1st, 4th, and 8th Amendments really don’t mean what they say.
Derek Lowe said it best (or quoted it, anyway) – “Look at their hands, not at their lips.” What did the ‘pubs do when the had the power? How well did they actually adhere to their principles? Since they appear neither to have had any actual competence at governing nor the courage of their (ahem) convictions, why do they have any more credibility than Kevin Trudeau on health or taxes? They’ve been really good at enriching the wealthy with the money of the middle class and poor (I can hardly wait for the “class war” rhetoric to come from the ‘pubs), but not much else, and any credibility they have can only come from people who either do not care about the outcomes (W-ites), people who wish to actively destroy the government (funny, didn’t they used to be called traitors once upon a time? I guess that doesn’t apply to ‘pubs), or people too dumb to notice or with too little short-term memory to remember anything from the last three decades.
I think the Dems are susceptible to spend more than they should, they rarely seem to have the courage of their convictions, and they seem to believe in the magic of government (as opposed to the ‘pubs and the “magic of the market”) more often than I would like. I can’t figure, though, why I would root for active evil over passive good (or at least neutral). There are lots of ways history might have seen us destroy ourselves, but I wouldn’t have thought being too bored and stupid to do anything else was one of the main options.
The John Stewart comment is great.
Somebody said last night that the conservatives are like the Taliban- good at insurgency but bad at governance.
Republicants are the party of bad ideas. Democraps are the party of no ideas. The House of Reprehensibles under Nancy Bellicosi is only exceeded by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner stating we are now waging “an aggressive two-front battle.” One can hardly wait for the draft, burgeoning casualty lists… and calls for national sacrifice to defeat the enemy – followed by temporary confiscation of privately owned weapons and ammunition “to safeguard the Homeland in these dificult times”.
Will you be a multiple Gold Star Family?