Paul Krugman: The Party Of “Look, You Know, I Was, Uh, Yeah”

[babylonsister]

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/01/the-party-of-look-you-know-i-was-uh-yeah/

The Party Of “Look, You Know, I Was, Uh, Yeah”


Last week Mike Pence, the third-ranking Republican in the House, was asked what compromise he would agree to on health care. His answer, word for word, was

Well, look, you know, I was, uh, yeah, yeah, look, uh.

Today Tim Pawlenty has an article in Politico, which is a bit more articulate than that — but as Bruce Bartlett says,

he rants about the deficit without proposing any spending cuts and insisting on still more tax cuts.

Well, look, you know, he was, uh, yeah.

The moral here is that right now the GOP literally has no ideas about how the nation should actually be governed.

And the scary thing is that lack of ideas seems to be a winning platform.

[Kber]

1. I'm recommending, even though it's too true to be really funny.

Well, it's a little funny, in a "f*ck, we're screwed" kind of way.

[Name removed]

2. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[polichick]

3. Well said - uh, yeah. nt

[Jennicut]

4. A winning platform....scary that doing nothing is considered by the public to be okay.

[DrToast]

5. It is scary, but the Dems left the door wide open for them to rebuild

[depakid]

7. Not only left the door opened, but invited the vacuous ideologues right back in

virtually guaranteeing them many more opportunities to coopt populist resentment in an election year.

[bertman]

6. Rec. But I have to agree with Dr. Toast.

[boppers]

8. Well, uh, Kick, uh, Recommend, and uh...yeah. eom

[LuckyLib]

9. He's right about MN Pawlenty -- all he can do is rant about hyperspending, then

propose tax cuts.
The state is in a fine mess -- hospitals, roads, schools, social service programs. Timmy wants to carry his stupid message nationwide with his eye on the WH. He'll be palatable to Repugs because he's clean-cut, semi-articulate and earnest. AND he isn't McCain or Palin.

[lib_wit_it]

10. K & R and is there video available of Pence's brilliant articulation of a

typical RW idea for bipartisanship.

[D23MIURG23]

11. Isn't it obvious that Americans think "you know uh yeah" is the best way forward?

You must be one of those nazi socialists I keep hearing about. Everyone knows ideas are for wimps.

:sarcasm: (if it wasn't bleedingly obvious)

[DisgustedInMN]

12. Ask us that have the jerkwad as a governer..

.. where Good Ol'Boy Tim does the cutting.

100% of this ASSHOLE'S cuts fall on education, health care and programs for the hardest hit members of our society. Hanging is too good for Pawlenty.

:rant:

[flpoljunkie]

13. GOP ideas: Tax cuts for top 2%, tort reform, sell insurance across state lines (in race to bottom)

That's pretty much it--except they want us all (including those on Medicare) to get a voucher for health insurance--which would be almost enough buy an affordable 'across state lines' catastrophic health insurance policy (required for a Health Savings Account).

(If you think it's hard now to get your insurance company to pay when you get sick, just imagine how this HSA 'across state lines' system would work.)

[NewJeffCT]

18. Oh, don't forget

corporate tax cuts and cuts to the capital gains tax, too. In their hearts, they also want to get rid of Medicare, Medicaid & Social Security as well, but know it's political suicide to even propose that.

[nxylas]

25. And the Paris Hilton tax

Sorry, I mean "death tax".

[lark]

31. Exactly

Now, when our patient's complain that the insurance co. isn't honoring their contracts, we refer them to the State Insurance Commissioner. Who would pick up this job if the insurance company was in a different state?

[Ganja Ninja]

14. James O'Keeffe

'Well, look, you know, I was, uh, yeah, yeah, look, uh.'

[freddie mertz]

15. Excellent piece.

Thanks Paul.

[phantom power]

16. And the Dems are still being outmaneuvered by them.

With a majority in both houses.

:banghead:

[NewJeffCT]

19. It's not that the Dems are being outmanuevered

they're just not standing up strongly for Democratic values.

[ieoeja]

21. Because the Conservatives still have a majority in both houses. (nt)

[Javaman]

17. the repukes have painted themselves into a corner by embracing the

ball lickers.

Any idea they propose now that has even a whiff of anything partisan or intelligent will be burned at the stake by the ball lickers.

They have sold their intellect for the promise of ignorant support.

Heck of a campaign slogan, huh? LOL

[dflprincess]

20. Good ol' "No new taxes Pawlenty"

What he actually meant was, "no new taxes on the rich - especially income tax". Timmy's policies have resulted in big raises in local property taxes as the counties and cities around the state try to find ways to continue to fund such "extravagant" spending as schools, police, fire and snow plowing.

He has allowed various "fees" to be raised (including a "health impact fee" that was added to cigarettes because calling it a fee, means he didn't raise a state level tax). If there is a regressive way to raise revenue, Timmy will be all for it - but do not suggest raising the income tax as that will hit his rich friends harder.

He vetoed a budget passed by the state legislature and, once it was out of session, took it upon himself to cut programs like General Assistance Medical Coverage - a program that covers the poorest of the poor in the state.

[droidamus2]

22. Consider this

The Republicans, since they continually claim it doesn't work, have a vested interest in making sure the federal government doesn't work. When you couple that with the fact that Obama has presented some of their ideas as things he would like to do and they have then decided that is not a good idea there is only one conclusion. The Republicans have no intention of governing. The only reason they are in office is for their and their cronies economic benefit. They don't really give a damn about every day citizens except being able to hoodwink them into voting Republican or get them to go off and fight another useless war. The conservatives/Republicans will never let themselves be nailed down to specifics because then they may lose votes so all you get is 'cut spending' and 'cut taxes' no specifics. This is particularly true when the Democrats are in charge and it becomes 'let the Democrats cut spending where it effects their constituents and let the Republicans lower taxes for their constituents'. The Democrats need to learn this and make the decision that if the Republicans aren't interested in governing then it is up to the Democrats to be the adults and get something done.

[lib2DaBone]

23. We are in (or some say just entering) Great Depression II... Washington should

be making changes, legislation, brainstorms, any and everything they can think of to pull us out of this death spiral.

Instead.. it's business as usual.. nothing is being done except phony patriotism, evangelical emotional hot button issues.. John Edwards sex tapes and Tiger Woods stories.. nothing
to steer the Titanic away from the iceberg.

I think the paychecks of all CONgress and Senate should be frozen until they get off their fat lazy behinds and do something.

[Paranoid Pessimist]

26. We'll be lucky if we get off with only a Great Depression II

I think we're heading into global civilizational collapse, with bloodshed, anarchy, and a major die off. But I could be wrong. I frequently am.

[rapturedbyrobots]

24. the fact that no ideas is a winning platform reflects a failure of the DEMS

noam chomsky recently talked about this and put it this way...to paraphrase...

the 'tea-baggers' as we call them are people with real grievances...real economic grievances...they are un(der)employed and poor. and should be part of the segment of the population that is energized by a true progressive politics (economic, not necessarily social). that they are instead being eaten up by the right...against their own economic interests...AGAIN...shows a massive failure of the left and of the democratic party.

the last bit i'll add on my own: this is largely due to the move to the mythical 'center' (really a code for being pro-business) and crushing of non-neoliberal candidates thanks to the dlc dems headed by rahm emmanuel. thanks guys.

[pundaint]

30. Clearly stated. It is pretty disheartening to have to defeat the dragon holding

your party hostage before engaging the dragons holding the country hostage. That's not a donkey anymore, that's just Dragon ass.

[Lorien]

27. They have ideas. About three of them: Tax cuts, more deregulation, more war

the very ideas that got us into this mess in the first place. Dems should be hammering home the fact that repug ideas are what got us here and could bring about the complete downfall of this Nation, but instead they're seeking bipartisanship-which requires that they incorporate those failed ideas into more policies. :banghead:

[kestrel91316]

28. They sure don't. I just found out that a kid I went to junior high with,

who served in the Treasury Dept under Bush, was the guy in charge of changing regulations on derivatives and such.

(facepalm) Randy broke the economy. Personally. http://www.carlyle.com/Team/item9821.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~
Before joining Carlyle, Mr. Quarles was Under Secretary of the U.S. Treasury, where he led the Department’s activities in financial sector and capital markets policy, including coordination of the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets, development of administration policy on hedge funds and derivatives, regulatory reform of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, developing policy on terrorism risk insurance, and proposing fundamental reform of the U.S. financial regulatory structure. Before serving as Under Secretary, Mr. Quarles was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs, where he was responsible for a wide range of international financial matters, focusing particularly on financial structure and stability, cross-border investment and financial regulation, and promotion of free trade in financial services.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They rewarded him with a management position at The Carlyle Group.

[lsewpershad]

29. A winning platform?????

Only if we decide to F...up and make it so.