Republicans Threaten To Become Bigger Assholes

by: Chris Bowers

Thu Apr 23, 2009 at 18:54


If Democrats provide cheaper and more accessible health care to Americans, Republicans have promised to publicly turn themselves into the biggest partisan assholes of the last forty years.

Seriously. That is the actual political calculation Senate Democrats face on health care reform right now. It is the most obvious win-win political calculation Democrats have been presented with during my entire lifetime.

If Democrats use the budget reconciliation process, which denies Republicans a filibuster option, to invest two-thirds of a trillion dollars into health care, Republicans are "threatening" to do the following:

The GOP might first go after White House nominations. Republicans could require each appointee to get a separate hearing and a separate roll call vote. They could stop attending committee hearings, and decline to provide "unanimous consent" to move forward on even the most benign issues or routine Senate business. Republicans could also demand that the text of bills, which are often hundreds of pages long, be read aloud.

Yeah, that will really be a big electoral winner for Republicans. While Democrats give Americans cheaper and more affordable health care, Republicans give America extreme partisan gridlock. Oh please, please don't do this to us Republicans! How can we Democrats ever survive as a political party if Republicans were to engage in such brilliant political tactics?

Even Republicans know that these tactics won't work. If they did think that these gridlock tactics were a good idea, then they would be using them right now. The last three months have largely been dominated by Democrats passing legislation that Republicans claim they hate. As such, why didn't Republicans use these tactics to stop that legislation? Oh, that's right--because they knew that using these tactics to stop legislation that Americans want would make them look like even bigger assholes than they already are.

This isn't a threat from Republicans. This is handing Democrats a third consecutive landslide election on a silver platter. We would be idiotic not to take the opportunity and run.
Chris Bowers :: Republicans Threaten To Become Bigger Assholes

Tags: , , , , (All Tags)
Print Friendly View Send As Email
Republicans Threaten To Become Bigger Assholes | 25 comments
And yet.... (4.00 / 2)
don't you pretty much expect that the Democrats in Congress will cave over the threat, insofar as it is real?
Worry not (4.00 / 5)

 Harry Reid will ignore the beltway mediots, stand up to the Republicans, call their bluff, and get public-interest legislation passed.

 Harry Reid will ignore the beltway mediots, stand up to the Republicans, call their bluff, and get public-interest legislation passed.

 Harry Reid will ignore the beltway mediots, stand up to the Republicans, call their bluff, and get public-interest legislation passed.

 Harry Reid will ignore the beltway mediots, stand up to the Republicans, call their bluff, and get public-interest legislation passed.

 Harry Reid will ignore the beltway mediots, stand up to the Republicans, call their bluff, and get public-interest legislation passed.

 Harry Reid will ignore the beltway mediots, stand up to the Republicans, call their bluff, and get public-interest legislation passed.

 (clicking heels)

 That will work, right?
   

"We judge ourselves by our ideals; others by their actions. It is a great convenience." -- Howard Zinn

The title of the article (4.00 / 2)
States the impossible. But they needn't try. The Dems will cave in to pressure from K Street long before the Repubs have to get serious. They all know which side their bread is buttered on, and no one will risk dropping it, butter side down,in the dirt. The AMA, the AARP, big pharma and the hospital industry will kill this project while it is stillborn.    
Not idiotic, but suicidal (4.00 / 8)
If the Dems do not use reconciliation for healthcare legislation, then they will lose massively in 2010. After Republicans successfully obstruct any progress, they will claim that despite the Democratic majority, Democrats were unable to deliver on their highest priority. (Similar to what happened in 1994, except that the stakes are even higher.) And sad to say, they would be correct since this year, it could be done with a simple majority.

Whether reconciliation instructions are in the bill that emerges from the conference committee will be the biggest political decision of the year so far. I am cautiously optimistic that it will be there. Conservative Democrats like Bayh and Casey say they will support it. Senate Majority whip Durbin wants it in there.

http://www.kaisernetwork.org/d...

Obama and Durbin Will Definitely Get This Through, One Way or The Other (0.00 / 0)

[ Parent ]
Heh... (4.00 / 4)
The GOP might first go after White House nominations.

You mean they haven't already?

REID: Voting against us was never part of our arrangement!
SPECTER: I am altering the deal! Pray I don't alter it any further!
REID: This deal keeps getting worse all the time!

The problem (4.00 / 7)
is how this gets spun in the media. Republicans position their  stance as anti "big government," when in fact it is really about pro-corporatism, and the MSM continues to act as an echo chamber to reinforce the perception that the Republicans are riding the wave of populism. In the meantime, the Democratic party fails to harness the populist anger at insurance and pharmaceutical companies because after all those  business sectors are major contributors. I, frankly, don't get it. Everybody I meet in my community and in my travels believes that our health care system, and insurance companies in particular, is totally dysfunctional. And I'm sure there is survey data to back up my qualitative experience. Yet the leadership from the top seems totally disconnected.  
at this point, the problem is not the malice of the Republicans (4.00 / 4)
it's the fecklessness of the Democrats.

I wouldn't be surprised if they fucked up health care, EFCA, and climate protection. Obstructionists like Bayh will hem and haw about "balancing the budget" and how the government shouldn't be "infringing on individual liberties", and Obama will, as is his wont, let them have their way to avoid rocking the boat. There will be a few cosmetic reforms--the Democrats do have to at least pretend to do something, after all. (That's the role they play in the Great Beltway Kabuki--the GOP breaks things, the Democrats pretend to fix them, then the GOP gets back into power and breaks them even more)--but overall nothing significant will change.

And people will be left bitter and angry at the government, jobless and starving--fertile ground for the GOP to ply its usual mixture of flag-waving, God talk, and backlash politics.

Whether the Democrats stay in power will depend entirely on them. It's all about smart policymaking now.

For once (4.00 / 3)
I really think we might not cave on this. I sure hope so. I don't know how much bigger dicks the Republicans can look like, but it sure looks like they are going to try. I can't see much downside of this. Yes, it will slow things down a bit and be annoying. But Republicans are looking more and more like the extreme, obstructionist party they are. The RNC Vice Chair and many of the conservative members are calling for a official resolution that would urge the Democratic Party to change it's name to the Democrat Socialist Party to reflect it's shift from a tax and spend party to a tax and nationalize party (if only). I'm not making that up.  

John McCain: Beacuse lobbyists should have more power
Well, now that we have someone leading the party... (4.00 / 1)
...who actually understands politics, I think the point has been made clear by the president.  If congress fails on health care, they are done.  Anyone with half a brain knows it...  Of course they want to cave.. they are democrats... that's what they do... but, the president isn't going to allow the Democratic party to commit suicide.  It will get pushed and it will get done...

I also think we'll get a 60 vote bill that's pretty good... Armbinder at The Atlantic has gotten details on what the bill is probably going to look like, and he also says that the threat of reconciliation isn't directed towards republicans... it's directed towards lobbyists to play ball or get a bill that screws them totally...

I'm for the latter, of course, but I'd rather have a 60 vote bill... A reconciliation bill would only last 5 years... and each provision could be voted in our out arbitrarily...  

I think we'll be able to do it, actually...

REID: Voting against us was never part of our arrangement!
SPECTER: I am altering the deal! Pray I don't alter it any further!
REID: This deal keeps getting worse all the time!

[ Parent ]
I agree. (1.00 / 8)
Good luck on this, Same here I'm hoping this will work.

Photo Collage

This is an automated spammer (4.00 / 1)
Please could whoever recced it remove that? It makes it harder to disappear the comment, which just encourages them to keep coming back.

Forgotten Countries - a foreign policy-focused blog
[ Parent ]
90s redux (4.00 / 3)
Back in the 90s, Republican discovered that obstructionism was rewarded, see the 1994 election.  Complete shut down the government idiocy otoh was an electoral loser for Newt leading to Clinton's re-election and modest Democratic gains in the House.

So while Republicans copy the 1993-94 obstructionism, particularly on health care, they would seem to have reason not to go the final mile.  Unfortunately for them, reason does not always rule and the talk radio Rush/Glenn Beck mode takes over.

Acting like adults and doing what is best for the country?  Now that is completely off the table.

Maybe Obama should use recess appointments and get (4.00 / 5)
every single person he wants in - including some way more progressive than the Republicans would ever stand for - at least to fill all these empty positions such as in the Treasury department.

When the Republicans hypocritically try to spin it as commu-fascist-dictatorhipism, Obama could say having vacancies in these positions was hurting and threatening America, and when political obstructionism hurts and threatens America, he will act to defend the nation.

Help support "CRASHING THE STATES"--a Netroots Film!

I so agree, and . . . (1.33 / 3)
I like your humor, heh.

It's true that the Republicans think us Democrats are just idiots. Oh well, we must best take advantage of how they perceive us as naive fools, and surprise them with how much we are actually better than them. And, as you say, "take the opportunity and run" with it. I really don't think the Republicans know how distasteful they look in the public eye. Oh well, that can only help us in the long run.

Regards,
Ava Brown of the Adult Acne project.

D'oh! Another account just created today. Possibly a spammer. (0.00 / 0)
Just look at that site linked, the "Adult Acne" project! But at least she tries to contributes an opinion. Hmm, what are we going to do with these more discreet spammers???
[ Parent ]
Sry, Ava, I may do you wrong, but... (0.00 / 0)
..there has been a significant increase in comment spamming for commercial purposes recently, so there's a bit of suspicion towards new commenters who (mis)use the comments to place links. And while you don't promote any product on  your site, this may change in the future. Again, sry, but I can't see any connection between your Acne project and OpenLeft's issues. What are you up to?
[ Parent ]
I don't think it's a "she." (4.00 / 2)
The comments are always generic, "I agree" and the like. The only specific words are "Democrats" and "Republicans."

I think it's an algorithm that produces vaguely humanoid comments, with appropriate pro-Democratic or pro-Republican angles, and sends them to thousands of blogs. Sometimes it cuts and pastes from the body of the main post.



Montani semper liberi

[ Parent ]
Uh . . . (0.00 / 0)
I am a "she", actually . . .

I'm sorry if my comment isn't up to your standards.

My "Adult Acne" project is just a little signature I use - it's me and my project. I'm sorry if it's spamming; I just figured since I commented on something, I could use my "signature" tag, too, since on other ends of the interweb, that's how I identify myself in my posts.

[ Parent ]
Your comment is ok. We've just become a bit unnerved recently... (0.00 / 0)
..because of all the spammers. And, sry, you linking to your Acne project in a comment on political issues seemed somewhat strange. I really expected to find a commercial for ClearSkin or something like that there. Even when I found none, I remained suspicious. Sry for that.

Ava, I hope you don't feel intimidated by this. Welcome to OpenLeft!

[ Parent ]
Hide ratings (0.00 / 0)
I hide rated your comment out of reflex more than anything, as the format looks exactly like the format of the recent spammer onslaught.  Nothing to do with content, really.  I removed it once I read this comment.

If you're planning on sticking around, I'd say the sig is fine but you should have a little more clarification on what exactly the project is.  It really does look just like a sales pitch that very few people will bother to click through.

[ Parent ]
If you want clicks (4.00 / 1)
buy an ad.  

Montani semper liberi
[ Parent ]
i give a hardy haw. haw ,haw (0.00 / 0)
to this threat, it has no merit, i mean really, can the gop possibly become more of an asshole party then they are now, impossible i say impossible!
The Right Has Gone Crazy... (0.00 / 0)
And that's only a positive development if you're looking at the world through beltway-colored glasses.

But for those of us outside the beltway, the level of fanaticism from the Right is dangerous.  They are indeed the minority, but if you look at history, a passionate, compact minority backed by big-money interests can be especially effective at a time of declining Empire.

I suggest we stop laughing and start looking at how to organize a positive progressive movement that goes beyond the Democratic party beltway in response to them.  

We're living in times where comedy can turn to tragedy on a dime.

maybe the Repubs should change their mascot from elephant to goatse (0.00 / 0)
sorry, I couldn't resist.
Republicans Threaten To Become Bigger Assholes | 25 comments
Donate to Open Left







QUICK HITS

Friends of the Earth thanks the OpenLeft community for the ideas you generate and your contributions to the progressive movement.
As an anti-spam measure, there is a 24-hour waiting period after registering before new users can comment.
blog advertising is good for you
blog advertising is good for you
LIBERAL INSTITUTIONS
STATE BLOGS
SEARCH

   

Advanced Search

Home | RSS/XML Feed | Register | Contact

  © OpenLeft 2007-2009, Powered by SoapBlox