{"id":13254,"date":"2009-02-05T10:35:35","date_gmt":"2009-02-05T17:35:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/2009\/02\/05\/playing-for-points.html"},"modified":"2009-02-05T10:35:35","modified_gmt":"2009-02-05T17:35:35","slug":"playing_for_points","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2009\/02\/05\/playing_for_points.html","title":{"rendered":"Playing for points"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

The GOP Congresscritters have clearly decided that they are more interested in scoring points than in helping people<\/a>. 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.<\/p>\n

\n

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<\/a> for all sorts of farmers (via Drum<\/a>) — is 0.0001% of the proposed stimulus plan.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

I know they’ve got the big head<\/a> 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<\/em> about it other than fighting for tax cuts for rich people<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

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 <\/em>loses rather than the Democrats <\/em>“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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

There’s a reason they lost power. The problem is, they seem eager to drag us after them.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

More on the honeybee<\/a> controversy<\/a>. Disgusting.<\/p>\n

<\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 –…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[77,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13254","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-economy","category-politics-law"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":133646,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/06\/10\/health-insurance-reform-behind-closed-doors.html","url_meta":{"origin":13254,"position":0},"title":"Health insurance reform behind closed doors","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 10-Jun-17 1:48pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) rakes Orrin Hatch and Tom Price and the Senate GOP for their handling of the American Health Care Act (AHCA), and the lack of any public hearings over the bill they are planning on bringing to the Senate floor.' I heard you, Mr Secretary, just say,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":133151,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/03\/24\/does-the-ahca-defeat-signal-that-the-health-insurance-debate-is-settled.html","url_meta":{"origin":13254,"position":1},"title":"Does the AHCA defeat signal that the Health Insurance debate is settled?","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 24-Mar-17 11:42pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Or, put another way, has the Overton Window[1] on public discourse around how health care is made accessible in this country solidly moved further to the \"left\" than it was a decade ago? While there are certainly hard-core folk in Congress who balk at the very idea of the federal\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/obamacare-cartoon-2-a5B15D.jpgimgmax%3D660.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":132989,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/03\/07\/its-been-a-busy-day-in-gop-land.html","url_meta":{"origin":13254,"position":2},"title":"It's been a busy day in GOP Land","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 7-Mar-17 12:24am","format":false,"excerpt":"So I feel some obligation to comment on the Big News Items that the GOP (White House and Congress) threw out into the commentariat today.1. I am at my Mom's house, helping her through some difficult decisions. My time and inclination to do deep dives into policy debates are highly\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/trump1.gifimgmax%3D660.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":132492,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/01\/03\/house-gop-returns-foxes-to-watch-over-henhouse.html","url_meta":{"origin":13254,"position":3},"title":"House GOP returns foxes to watch over henhouse","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 3-Jan-17 8:41am","format":false,"excerpt":"Wow. Great way to set the tone for the new Congress: kick things off by trashing the independent ethics office that reined in naughtiness by congresscritters. Inspirational, House Republicans, truly inspirational! Originally shared by +The Atlantic: The GOP's Ethics Disaster http:\/\/trib.al\/DruWibu Republicans Gut the Office of Congressional Ethics - The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":133673,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/06\/14\/shooting-politicians-is-wrong-shooting-anybody-is-wrong.html","url_meta":{"origin":13254,"position":4},"title":"Shooting politicians is wrong. Shooting anybody is wrong","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 14-Jun-17 6:57am","format":false,"excerpt":"For all the disdain I might have for GOP congresscritters, and for politicians in general, trying to kill people is a much greater moral wrong. And from a pragmatic standpoint, the damage this sort of action can have on society and politics is profound. If this is, in fact, a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13286,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2009\/01\/29\/okay_this_has_gotten_offi.html","url_meta":{"origin":13254,"position":5},"title":"Okay, this has gotten officially scary","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 29-Jan-09 4:17pm","format":false,"excerpt":"I mean, it's one thing when Rush Limbaugh spouts off his usual brand of dreck. It's quite another when GOP Congresscritters who dare to tell Rush to back off...","rel":"","context":"In "Fourth Estate"","block_context":{"text":"Fourth Estate","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/media\/fourth-estate"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13254"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13254\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}