It wasn't that long ago that Eric Cantor was asked at the Heritage Foundation what more Obama would have to do to be considered a Domestic Enemy.
A question sparked cheers - yes, cheers and applause - from the assembled crowd.
QUESTION: My question is – and this is something I personally don’t understand – if it’s a naïve question then I apologize: in light of what Obama has done to leave us vulnerable, to cut defense spending, to make us vulnerable to outside enemies, and to slight our allies, how (pause) – what would he have to do differently to be defined as a domestic enemy? (applause & laughter)
Now a very similar question is being openly asked by Democrats in the Senate. They have begun to seriously wonder - are the Republicans trying to Sabotage the Country?
They've made it explicit. Democrats are accusing Republicans of trying to sabotage the recovery -- or at least stall it -- by blocking all short-term measures to boost the economy, even ones they previously supported.
In a Capitol press conference Wednesday, the Senate's top Democrats argued that Republicans don't want to pass measures like a temporary payroll tax holiday for employers because they'll improve President Obama's re-election chances.
"Our Republican colleagues in the House and Senate are driven by putting one man out of work: President Obama," said Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL).
If they can force Obama out of his job, by keeping Americans out of there's, these guys are more than willing to do it. Why not? They've already shown that don't give an armadillo's anus about the 45,000 people who die every year without Healthcare - why should they care how many people are struggling through high unemployment?
Just as was mentioned by Dan Pfieffer at Netroots Nation,Lawrence discusses the GOP blockade of Barabara Boxers Jobs Bill the Economy Development Revitalization Act of 2011.
Here's what CBO Says about the Bill.
S. 782 would authorize the appropriation of $500 million in each of fiscal years 2011 through 2015 for EDA to provide various types of assistance to encourage economic development in distressed areas. For 2011, the Congress has thus far provided a total of $246 million to EDA (see Public Law 112-10), leaving $254 million remaining from the authorization level in the bill for 2011 of $500 million.
Of amounts authorized by the bill for each year, at least $31 million would be spent on a
grant program for planning and administrative expenses (the amount authorized for this activity would vary based on actual appropriations). This amount is roughly equivalent to the amount allocated for this activity in 2011, CBO estimates. The bill also would allocate $5 million per year for grants to redevelop abandoned or underdeveloped property through the use of renewable energy technologies.
Frankly, it's a pretty modest bill.
The Roll Call Vote is Here.
51 Nay Votes including every single Republican and 2 Dems (Claire McGaskill and Ben Nelson).
So what's the excuse here? Not only is this a bill specifically targeted to help directly product jobs - it also happens to be a Tax Cut BIll which normally Republicans would salivate over like a Schnauzer with a Soup Bone.
But for some odd, strange, unknown reasons - the Repubs are suddenly Against Tax Cuts!
Chuck Schumer is sure curious why they'd do such a thing.
Schumer: John Boehner called it a gimmick, Paul Ryan called it sugar high. Lamar Alexander and Jeb Hensarling both criticized it as short-term stimulus -- apparently that's a bad thing. Would Republicans really oppose a tax cut for business that created jobs?
Um.. Yes!
This is sort of beyond the pale. So if they'd oppose even something so suited to their tastes ideologically, it shows that they're just opposing anything that would help create jobs. It almost makes you wonder if they aren't trying to slow down the economic recovery for political gain.
Ding! Ding! Ding! You are a Winner Senator Schumer, because it just so happens that the CBO estimates that the Unemployement Rate will probably drop below 7% by 2012.
That would be really Bad News for the GOP.
Basically while the Republicans Own "Jobs Bill" is nothing but Tax Cuts and Regulatory Stagnation - they're standing in lock step opposition to this bill.
After opposing, stalling, stonewalling and filibustering almost every recession-related bill for the past year, Republican lawmakers have finally proposed a jobs plan of their own: a bigger, more expensive version of George W. Bush's tax cuts for the rich.
The Economic Freedom Act of 2010 -- introduced by Reps. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) -- proposes deep tax cuts favoring the wealthiest in America, a reduction in regulatory oversight and the elimination of a federal tax on the estates of millionaires, which will allow wealthy investors to escape taxes entirely on a significant portion of their income.
Republicans say the bill will create jobs where President Obama's policies have failed to do so.
"The multi-trillion dollar government stimulus programs and taxpayer-funded bailouts have failed," reads the bill's official press release. "A growing private sector economy is the only 'stimulus program' that will create the jobs needed to restore America's economic strength."
Failed? FAILED!?
This is what the Recovery Act had done leading to the beginning of this year.
The Republican Bill Costs 20 times what the Democratic Bill does to the ultimately tune of $10 Trillion over the next ten years according to the Center for American Progress
We calculate that today’s recycled conservative economic policy prescriptions would cost about $10 trillion in new deficit spending over 10 years relative to the current Congressional Budget Office baseline, which is the CBO’s estimate of spending over 10 years figuring in no changes to current tax law and discretionary spending. This nearly $10 trillion surge in deficit spending would flow overwhelmingly to the rich and corporations, with the rest of us picking up the tab to pay the cost of borrowing these vast sums. The Economic Freedom Act alone would add about $6.9 trillion to the deficit relative to current law, while the rest comes from Republican refusal to allow any of the Bush tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 to expire.
With the economic recovery currently stalled at 9.1% Unemployment, it should be a National Scandal that Republican controlled House and the Republicans captured Senate - Can't Get a Jobs Bill Passed because it might help Obama's Re-election next year. Some things should be beyond the water's edge of politics, but apparently getting Americans back to work isn't one of those things for the GOP.
Man don't I wish there was a group of really agitated Americans who could get together and March on the National Mall, shout, scream, wave flags, put on three-corner hats, and snare drums on their hips to really let Congress know that the American people expect them to Do Their Damn Jobs!
Yeah, wouldn't that be nice?
Vyan