Stu Rothenberg says “the Republican Party continues to fracture more seriously than I expected following last year’s re-election of President Barack Obama.” And Democrats continue to help them out with that, most recently by voting “present” on the Republican Study Committee’s (RSC) budget, forcing 118 Republicans to vote against the bill. It’s not the first time the Democrats have pulled this stunt, but Republican opposition to the RSC budget hit an an all-time high.
Most people don’t even know that the Republican Study Committee exists, but it’s been around since Paul Weyrich conceived it in 1973. Every year since 1995, the RSC has offered an alternative budget. Their budgets are always ludicrous, and this year is no different. They would raise the retirement age of Social Security to seventy, slash Medicare benefits, and slash discretionary spending so radically that it would balance the budget in four years. Even the lunatics at American Thinker laughed at the RSC budget.
Vacuuming that much money out of the economy with massive cuts in government spending is likely to trigger the kind of economic crisis the budget hawks profess to want to avoid.
Offering a budget like this is deranged and childish, and the Democrats were happy to let it pass so that they could destroy the Republicans over it in the next election. But what really happened is that the Democrats refused to give the GOP a free ride. They maximized the number of Republicans who would have to vote ‘no.’ In the end, more Republicans voted against the budget than for it (104-118). And this is in spite of the fact that the current member list of the RSC shows that they have about 175 votes in Congress.
Meanwhile, the Tea Party caucus is dead and Michele Bachmann is on the run.
How serious are D.C. Democrats about taking back the House? All this Grand Bargain bullcrap makes me think not that serious.
WTF do you expect them to do? You want them to stomp and pout?
Do you really think people give a shit about the Grand Bargain. Why are we even talking about austerity? Do you understand why people vote? Why should people vote when the government is working against them?
And that’s why the Republicans are now marinating in their own bullshit. Let it take its natural course.
I expect them to say, over and over again, variants of:
Every one of those statements is simple, straightforward truth, yet you never hear them in the media and I’ll bet most Americans don’t realize them. The Democrats need to get those truths out to the American people and the people will crucify the Republicans once they realize what’s been going on.
If, somehow, the Republicans manage to blackmail the Democrats into a SS cut, the Democrats should scream bloody murder about it, and then switch to stating, over and over again, how the Republicans demanded SS cuts over their opposition, and what the Republicans threatened to get the cuts.
We’re winning. Why are you crying about how we’re losing?
The sequester is sticking, the only reason we haven’t already gotten benefit cuts is that the Republicans won’t accept the cave, and the massive cuts from April 2011 aren’t being discussed even here. It’s a pretty disappointing “win” which basically amounts to waiting for demographic change to bail our asses out of the fire.
If the American people understood the economics of Social Security there would be scarcely a single Republican district in the country. How can I not be disappointed that the Democrats refuse to use such simple, powerful, and truthful rhetoric tools and instead propose lousy compromises that will make the situation worse?
What compromises?
Here’s how I see it. Either the Republicans have the power to destroy social security, etc., or the president will do it all by himself, just for the hell of it, because he’s so evil.
Since I don’t see either of these to be the case, I’m not worried about it.
The rest of it is just jaw exercise.
Boo, either the Chained CPI really cuts benefits in order to decrease the deficit, or it comes with so many politically or ideologically motivated exceptions that it has an insignificant impact on the deficit. But the latter, if true, would make little sense strategically, because the Republicans can figure out that it’s no real concession while it simultaneously tarnishes the Democratic brand as advocates for the working class or seniors.
In the meantime, Obama’s offering up Chained CPI makes the President’s spokesman say things like this:
and this:
and this:
It’s March 2009 rhetoric all over again.
Now look, the Democrats can play on whatever hidden dimension they want, or they can appeal plainly to the American electorate for support of their positions, but they can’t do both at the same time. If they’re faking Republicans out, they’re also faking out their own constituency. And if we don’t understand why we should support the President on this, it’s not our failure. It’s the failure of the administration’s communications team and of progressive bloggers. Because from where I’m sitting, the Democrats are failing to appreciate the power that a real populist message would have.
Well this is a fine kettle of fish. Rothenberg is just now recognizing that the Rep party has left the planet? Fracture? In order to fracture there have to be bits left to scoop up, we’re talking pulverized dust here!
So that’s why Boehner is talking about debt-ceiling hostages again.
They’re up Shit’s Creek without a paddle.
Yeah, caught a whiff of panic there.
He had to pacify his caucus into accepting the budget deal by promising a big fight later. He’s been using this pattern for almost two years – make a reasonable (to Beltway mentality) compromise on the current issue and promise his caucus he’ll throttle Obama in the next negotiation.
What compromises?
Here’s how I see it. Either the Republicans have the power to destroy social security, etc., or the president will do it all by himself, just for the hell of it, because he’s so evil.
Since I don’t see either of these to be the case, I’m not worried about it.
The rest of it is just jaw exercise.