"A wise and frugal government which shall restrain men
from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government."
(Thomas Jefferson)


Monday, December 3, 2012

Paul Krugman: Republican's Operation "Rolling Tantrum"

Don't know when I have seen a title that describes Speaker John Boehner and the House Republicans better than "Operation Rolling Tantrum."  Last week, Boehner sent out the GOP Whip, Tom Cole (R-OK), to push for the House to pass the Bush Tax Cuts for those making less than $250,000.  Being the skeptic I am, I told some good friends that I thought this was a set-up as Cole was not going to break with leadership.  Lo and behold the truth came out yesterday:
"I don't think we need to put a formal proposal out on the table," Cole said on ABC's "This Week." "Speaker [John Boehner] has already said revenue is on the table. He has got an idea about how to get there in terms of not raises rates, but finding it in other ways through tax code reform. I think that makes a lot of sense, and that's a doable thing, but beyond that, you know, we'll wait and see how the negotiations go." 
Cole also bashed the plan Geithner brought to congressional leaders this week. "I want to thank the president and Tim Geithner for re-uniting and re-energizing the Republican caucus," he said. "Because that offer -- they must think John Boehner is Santa Claus, because that is a Christmas wish list, not a real proposal." 
The demeaning attitude of Cole and House Republicans toward the President and Treasury Secretary Geithner shows that the GOP did not learn one lesson from the November election -- they are as arrogant as ever.

While Republicans continue to promote the wealthy, the 3rd quarter has shown that Corporate Profits Hit Record High While Worker Wages Hit Record Low.  Yet we are supposed to want the wealthy to keep the Bush Tax Cuts which have all the loopholes for them including hedge fund managers?  The American people spoke in the recent Presidential election but seems Republicans in Congress have cotton balls in their ears as they didn't get the message.  

This article by Paul Krugman is classic on the tantrums being thrown by Republicans will probably continue until 2014 when the voters have a chance to send them to the unemployment line even in heavily gerrymandered districts and with voter suppression by the Republicans.  American people are fed up with the obstructionist tactics of Republicans.  It is not the Democrats this group of arrogant Republicans have to fear, it is Republicans like me who have had it with their obstructionist tactics, lies, and elitism.  

 
Operation Rolling Tantrum
Paul Krugman, New York Times  
Oh, boy. This isn’t going to end, even when or if a deal is reached on defusing the austerity bomb; John Boehner has just declared that he’s going to hold the full faith and credit of the United States hostage every time we hit the debt limit. Nor will it be a case of holding the nation at gunpoint until it meets GOP demands; Republicans are signaling that they don’t intend to make any specific proposals, they’re just going to yell and stamp their feet until Obama soothes them somehow. 
So this is going to be nightmarish, unless Obama surrenders — which I don’t think he will (because he shouldn’t). 
And one thing to think about: if the next two years are, as they seem likely to be, one long Republican tantrum, the 2014 election is not going to be a normal midterm. It will instead be a referendum on GOP obstructionism, which may attract a lot more attention — and much higher turnout — than normal. 
When the facts come out, McConnell is still the arrogant, underhanded Republican leader in the Senate.  Any Senator whose wife serves in the cabinet like his wife did for Bush is not someone I would trust.  Personally think that should be against the rules but even then it probably would have happened as this group of Republicans in leadership do not believe rules apply to them.

Rumor has McConnell offering a major aerospace company a safe haven from sequestering if they continue to build up their presence in Kentucky.  How many sole source contracts is McConnell going to promise to the same company in exchange for bringing business to Kentucky?  Inquiring minds want to know what the deal was to move company resources to Lexington which make no sense.  If McConnell said the sky was blue it would pay to go check.

No comments: