I'm taking you down, suckers!
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.
Hey, it comes as no surprise to Daily Kos readers that Congressional Republicans are in the business of making sure nothing happens, and most importantly, making sure nothing good happens. Not while there are still Democrats in office, at least. Because if that happened, people might vote for them.
So it's all about blocking anything that might reflect creditably on Democrats. And that means pulling out all the stops. Including the one—commonly known as integrity—that ordinarily would compel an elected official to support and vote for policies he's advocated in the recent past and asked be put to a vote.
There's no dealing with these people, and as difficult as it is to realize that everything you've ever been taught about how government or society at large actually is supposed to function simply doesn't apply here, the plain fact is that there are no consequences to the GOP for abandoning those social norms and simply saying two different things on two consecutive days. The Memory Hole is an integral part of their plan.
So maybe, just maybe, the once reliable tactic of at least trying to make it look like you want to work something out just isn't worth it anymore.
