It's like a very bad cartoon being played out in the midst of a horror show. Our economy is tanking and Barack Obama is acting like he is the head of a consensus government.
Bob Herbert wrote a terrific column called "the Same Old Song" this morning. He sums up what should be the Democratic rallying cry for the next 8 years:
When the G.O.P. talks, nobody should listen. Republicans have argued, with the collaboration of much of the media, that they could radically cut taxes while simultaneously balancing the federal budget, when, in fact, big income-tax cuts inevitably lead to big budget deficits. We listened to the G.O.P. and what do we have now? A trillion-dollar-plus deficit and an economy in shambles.
This is the party that preached fiscal discipline and then cut taxes in time of war. This is the party that still wants to put the torch to Social Security and Medicare. This is a party that, given a choice between Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan, would choose Ronald Reagan in a heartbeat.
Why is anyone still listening?
http://www.nytimes.com/...
The real question is "WHY THE HECK IS OBAMA BEING SO DEFERENTIAL TO THESE MORONS?"
Josh Marshall indicts the traditional media when he asks why they are choosing not to "state the obvious." His assessment of the GOP strategy is as follows:
They want to criticize as many provisions of the bill as possible, push for as many non-stimulus inducing tax cuts as possible at the expense of spending on infrastructure, and then vote against the final bill en masse. I think it's possible Obama will get a smattering of moderate Republicans in the senate. But that is the Boehner/McConnell approach -- and the one few if any reporters seem to have the wherewithal to say out loud.
Later he adds that:
The McConnell/Boehner plan is to fix the Bush mess by pushing through more of the former president's policies. Again. Totally clear. I don't think they'd even deny it. Why is this off-limits to say out loud?
President Obama is a smart man. One has to wonder what game he is playing here.
I think that Taegan Goddard has it right today when he wrote on his blog:
It's becoming clear that Obama may need a dual strategy in dealing with Congress: Use bipartisanship for public relations purposes and to get additional votes in the Senate while pushing legislation through the House on party line votes.
This is enough to make any American of good faith SICK TO THE STOMACH. The GOP is not acting in good faith and the sooner President Obama returns his Charlie Brown Halloween costume, the better.
Update from First Read after Obama's meeting with House Republicans:
Bottom line, the differences are both ideological and political. The House GOP, fresh off big losses in two cycles and trying to reestablish their fiscal conservative bona fides, isn't going to vote in large numbers for an $825 billion big-government measure that includes measures like the EITC, provisions that essentially give tax breaks to people who don't pay taxes, in their view.
The traditional media continues to parrot GOP talking points with words like "big-government" etc...