It is critical for future Republican prospects that the Obama Economic Plan fail. Another Great Depression is their only path to regaining their former majorities!
Anybody looking for bi-partisanship in Washington concerning Obama's economic plan better stop drinking the kool-aid. Mitch McConnell and company know that if the Obama plans passes and the economy recovers they will be in the minority for many years and possibly decades to come.
Conversely, they know if they can water the plan down to the point where it is worse than doing nothing at all, they can blame Obama and the Democrats for a colossal failure and hopefully regain the high ground again.
You are already seeing the groundwork laid. First Pelosi and Reid have caved into the Republican demand to slow the process down so that nothing gets signed before mid to late February at the earliest (not January 20th as originally promised). Pelosi's line in the sand about working President's Day would be laughable if it weren't so pathetic. They should be working nights and weekends right now. The stock market and bond markets are expecting aggressive and prompt action by the Congress and will crash again to new lows if this thing stalls into late February or March.
Secondly, watch the AP and Politico headlines, where you will hear nothing but dissent over the next few weeks from both sides of the aisle. All minor disagreements within the Democratic caucus will be seen as eventual death nails. Republican blustering about the total dollar amount and not enough tax cuts for the rich, will be given plenty of airplay by our fair and balanced media.
Thirdly, the Karl Rove narrative and re-write of history will come into play. See Steve Benen's column today:
"THE RIGHT TARGETS FDR.... In keeping with the recent trend, Fox News personality Brit Hume became the latest in a series of conservatives to demonstrate bizarre confusion about the Great Depression. Hume insisted this morning that "the New Deal -- everybody agrees, I think, on both sides of the spectrum now, that the New Deal failed." He added, "President [Franklin] Roosevelt waged what could only be called a jihad against private enterprise."
The right has been repeating similar nonsense for a couple of months now. It's demonstrably ridiculous, but that's not stopping them...
It's easy to mock Fox News and the rest of the Republicans for pushing obvious nonsense, but I'm afraid the economic conditions are so dire, the right's ridiculous sense of history is actually kind of dangerous. Americans, I hope, know better, but I'd feel a whole lot better if there wasn't an organized campaign from conservatives trying to convince Americans to reject the lifesaver while the nation drowns."
Fooling America is the Republican Way. Anybody who thinks saving this country will be easy, or that the Republican leadership will put country first, needs a strong slap upside the head.