Boehner and Cantor have decided to challenge Obama to a staring contest over the stimulus bill. Any guesses as to who will blink first?
Per an aide, House Republican Whip Cantor told fellow Republicans that there is
"no reason to vote for it."
Nope. No reason, other than the fact that the US economy is in the tank and everything done on the GOP watch has so far failed miserably to have any positive effect.
Cantor is hoping for
100% against
and telling House members
We can do the most good by standing together against it
Gee, what was that the President said about listening to Rush Limbaugh and getting things done? Despite his warning, the GOP has apparently lined up solidly behind the man who announced to his millions of dittohead listeners that he wants to see the President fail. All hail El Rushbo, the new leader of the Republican Party.
The Mouth That Bores is basking what he views as renewed celebrity caused by Obama actually mentioning him by name. He’s putting way too much stock in being named an honorary member of congress back in 1994. The actual members of the House who share his viewpoint would do well to remember that they were elected, not anointed, like the self-identified king of conservative radio. They have constituencies, not listeners, to whom they owe their allegiance. Public service is after all, just that. The needs of the people who elected them must be their top priority, and the stimulus package being proposed by the Obama team is the first step towards actually doing something about the foundering economy.
Obama campaigned on bipartisanship, and even though it’s still early days, he has made unprecedented efforts at actually keeping that promise. Although he clearly has the voters’ mandate and the means to push through whatever legislation he deems best at this point, he has bent over backwards to let the other side know that he welcomes and will carefully consider their input. Note that he has not said that he will arbitrarily throw out all the excellent logic in his administration’s plans and replace it with whatever the Republicans want. That’s not how bipartisanship works.
The President is being 1000 times more respectful to the opposing party than Bush ever was, yet he’s getting nothing but impudence in return. On Meet the Press, Bohner flat out said the bill wouldn’t work. Mitch McConnell blamed the Democrats for making the bill hard to pass. But Limbaugh, was more insolent than either Republican leader, implying that the President could deal with the Republican leadership, but was withering under the heat of his remarks.
"He’s obviously more frightened of me than he is Mitch McConnell. He’s more frightened of me, than he is of say, John Boehner"
Well guess what? The Republican leadership and their media mouthpieces are about to find out that Obama’s not only not afraid of them, that now that he has given them their chance to play nice, he’s ready to get on with the business of fixing all the stuff Bush broke, and show them how absolutely irrelevant they are to that process.
It amazes me that the Republicans still seem to think they can throw their weight around, maintain their petulant, demanding ways, and survive over the long term. 2010 can’t come soon enough for me. With the recovery well underway, those who voted against the methods by which the economy was revived will have some ‘splainin’ to do. Dems will sweep into the House and Senate in lopsided contests across the US, as voters take out the trash.
The Republicans can continue to posture and sputter all they want, but they are out- numbered, out-classed, and if not careful, will find themselves out the door before they know what hit them.