The GOP Congresscritters have clearly decided that they are more interested in scoring points than in helping people. It’s not just a matter of fiddling while Rome burns — it’s blocking the door to the hose so someone else doesn’t take credit for helping get the fire under control.
Fear not America. The Republican Party is focused on the real problem — money for honeybees. And just for the record, the “honeybee insurance” — which is actually livestock disaster insurance for all sorts of farmers (via Drum) — is 0.0001% of the proposed stimulus plan.
So let’s review. It’s not just that the GOP is focusing on a minuscule fraction of the stimulus bill. It’s not even that they’re misrepresenting what that minuscule fraction of spending would do. It’s that they’re doing all of this to hold up a massive stimulus bill aimed to help millions of unemployed and frightened people.
I know they’ve got the big head right now, but Fortune is fickle, and this nonsense could blowback on them rather quickly. People are hurting out there, and the GOP is doing absolutely nothing about it other than fighting for tax cuts for rich people.
Granted that the stimulus package is imperfect, and granted that there are broader policy debates that could take place over the “best” way to get the economy moving, the GOP (which has zero chance of getting a bill of its own passed — sorry folks, that’s what happens when you lose the presidency and both houses of Congress) has decided that it’s better that everyone loses rather than the Democrats “win.” Never mind what happens to people out there without a stimulus bill — they’ve made a calculated gamble that the voters will have forgotten all this in two years, and any points they score now (by keeping them away from the Dems) will count for more in the next election then than any folks crushed in the staggering economy.
It’s an ghastly zero-sum game. The GOP thinks the only way they win points is if they take them away from the Dems. The consequences today, this week, next month, next year — all of that is meaningless, so long as Rush doesn’t call them names and they can high-five each other in the cloakroom.
There’s a reason they lost power. The problem is, they seem eager to drag us after them.
More on the honeybee controversy. Disgusting.
NPR Money has a great little podcast that compares our current woes to Japans lost decade…right now the US is mimicking exactly what happened to Japan in the 90’s…they got out of it when they started a big government spending package and got better control over the banks…I mean come on, the answer is right in front of us…
I was also looking at the things GOP wants to cut like money for Amtrak, National Science Foundation prevention of STD..All things that will add value to the country instead of lining the pockets of some rich person..
The GOP is absolutely infuriating…