"We don't think it's going to work," says John Boehner of the Obama economic stimulus plan. Ever wonder how he maintains that tan in a D.C. winter? Joined by the rest of the right wing brain trust, including economics expert John McCain and those ubiquitous all-rounders Charles Krauthammer and David Brooks, the rump GOP is hell bent on shooting down Obama's economic resuscitation effort. Their argument: Far better to ratchet up unemployment, watch capacity utilization free-fall, and in general let the economy go down the toilet than to upset the status quo.
These usual suspects are entirely to, if not in, the right. Resources allocated to rebuilding infrastructure or to advances in green and bio tech are resources shifted away from propping up the banks, defense contractors, and oil companies. And that would be bad because if the banking, defense, and oil industries aren't given their traditional share of government welfare there'll be no one to fund Republican election campaigns and right wing think tank sinecures.
A program creating jobs for the working and middle classes is equally bad policy. It shrinks the pool of available labor, thereby driving wages up and shrinking corporate margins. That could threaten annual executive bonuses, ending civilization as we know it.
These Republican thinkers, true patriots every one, are absolutely right to insist that we stay the course and give Bush's economic policies more time to work. Tax cuts for the rich, massive corporate welfare for the biggest corporations balanced by massive cuts in government services, perma-war, deregulation – it's all worked so well so far, why change horses in mid-stream? Or as George W. himself would say, if it ain't broke, ahh, umm, it ain't broke.
And about that Boehner tan: It's true that D.C. in mid winter is no beach party. Boehner's home in the eighth district of Ohio, alongside Indiana's chilly eastern border, isn't exactly a destination for sun worshippers either. But there's a reason why the devil is always represented in reddish tones. If you spent all your spare time by the fires of hell, you'd be tanned too.