GOP 100% Against Economic Recovery

[Joanne98]

This is impressive, even for the Republican Party:

Not a single vote in favor of the economic recovery plan passed today by the House. Nobody expected overwhelming GOP support. But for every single Republican member to oppose a new economic recovery plan?

After the 2008 election, that's just stunning.

But perhaps it shouldn't be a surprise. It's the same thing that happened in 1993, when not a single Republican voted for Clinton's stimulus bill after the first George Bush's presidency.

Hopefully the economy rebounds just as strongly this time as it did back then.

(Side note about the screen capture: the final vote was actually 244-188. One Democratic switched from 'nay' to 'yea' at the last second.)

Update (3:27PM): This type of partisan obstruction by Republicans is just another example of why Americans overwhelmingly favor the Democratic Party on issues like the economy.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/28/181833/100/369/690168

[Joanne98]

1. Rush Rooolz! GOP Congressmen Cower Before the Mighty Limbaugh

MSNBC's David Shuster had a segment this morning examining whether or Rush Limbaugh has become the de facto leader of the Republican Party. He and commentator Lawrence O'Donnell largely came to the conclusion that he had, despite the protests from such congressional Republicans as Rep. Phil Gingrey, R-Ga.

Of course, Limbaugh has been the acknowledged leader of the Conservative movement for quite some time. And ever since Reagan, the GOP has been a wholly owned subsidiary of the same movement. So it seems like kind of a silly question, like asking whether Steve Jobs is the de facto leader of Apple.

Still, as O'Donnell adroitly observes, this is a huge gift for Democrats. Go, Rush, go!

If there were any lingering questions about this, only a little while later, Andrea Mitchell brought us the news that Gingrey had caved and even called up Limbaugh's show to abjectly apologize.

Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.) apologized Wednesday to “my fellow conservatives” for comments critical of talk-radio host Rush Limbaugh – saying he sees “eye-to-eye” with Limbaugh and that his remarks defending House Republican leadership came across more harshly than intended.

He also took issue with a headline on a Politico story about his comments, saying he never told Limbaugh to “back off,” as the headline read.

“I regret and apologize for the fact that my comments have offended and upset my fellow conservatives—that was not my intent,” Gingrey said in a statement. “I am also sorry to see that my comments in defense of our Republican Leadership read much harsher than they actually were intended, but I recognize it is my responsibility to clarify my own comments.”

Gingrey said he issued the statement because of a high volume of calls and correspondence to his office after the Politico article and wanted to speak directly to “grassroots conservatives. Let me assure you, I am one of you. I believe I was sent to Washington to fight for and defend our traditional values of smaller government, lower taxes, a strong national defense, and the lives of the unborn.”

And if you want further evidence (as if it's needed) of how abjectly Republicans bow and scrape at Limbaugh's feet, watch Rep. Eric Cantor squirm and evade and refuse to answer Mitchell's questions about what he thinks of Limbaugh's remarks.

Wipe that toe jam off your lips, Congressman. You're already setting a fine example for the GOP troops as they march off into irrelevancy with Rush Limbaugh.

http://crooksandliars.com/david-neiwert/limbaugh-rooolz-gop-congressmen-cowe

[bhikkhu]

5. "For entertainment purposes only" should be the qualifier

or warning before each of rush's segments. Perhaps it should be the new slogan of the repug party?

[Joanne98]

2. Prediction of zero votes from the GOP zeroes in the House

I know I sound like a broken record here, but is this a surprise? The Republicans, under the leadership of George Bush, destroyed the American economy. We're on the precipice -- facing a depression. But, the House Republicans are being petulant - they got 33% of the House stimulus bill devoted to questionable tax cuts, but that's not enough. Obama tried. He did his part (more than he should have.) But, it's not worth the effort. Republicans don't want better policy. They just want political issues:
While GOP lawmakers said they appreciated Obama's visit, their leaders urged a "no" vote because of the bill's price tag. "All it does is burden our kids and their kids with more debt," said House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio, citing a non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimate that the plan would add $347 billion in interest on the national debt over 10 years.

Rep. Mike Castle, R-Del., said there could be as many as 10 to 15 Republicans supporting the package, but added, "If I had to bet, I would bet zero."
Zero from the zeroes. On the economy, Republicans have zero credibility. Zero.

Bi-partisanship only works when both sides come to the table. The GOP leaders are like little children. If they don't get their way 100%, they won't play. They don't seem to understand the precarious situation we're in. Or, maybe they don't care. The message from today should be pretty simple: A "NO" vote is a vote for a depression.

http://www.americablog.com/2009/01/prediction-of-zero-votes-from-gop.html

[4dsc]

3. Where's the JOB CREATION!!!

What's got rightie undies all in a bunch is the amount of PORK in this stimulas bill and very little that falls under immediate job creation.. That's their compliant.

[Warpy]

4. Conservatives in both parties will always be against

any recovery that doesn't favor the supply side and ignore the demand side.

That's because of their essential fallacy, that the economy works from the top down.

The fact that our economy is going bust because the demand side has been starved and forced into debt isn't going to change that belief.

You can always change an opinion. You can never change a belief.

[raccoon]

7. Makes you wonder why the dumbasses don't get that. Henry Ford got it. nt

[notesdev]

6. This ain't recovery

this is feeding at the trough. They found out they could get away with it once, and they will continue to feed until forced to stop, because that is their nature.