Tag Archives: The party of NO
What the GOP Costs America
The Party of NO is like an expensive frat party!
There may be “no shame in being the party of no,” according to Sarah Palin, but it sure is damned expensive, Vanity Fair says. In honor of Tax Day, the magazine set out to discover “Just how much money are taxpayers spending on the Republican Party’s commitment to doing exactly nothing.” The answer is evidently $1.32 billion, which includes $47.9 million for congressional salaries; $231.3 million for congressional aides; $163.1 million in health, retirement and other benefits; $533.1 million in paper clips, free postage, and other office expenses; $281.4 million in building maintenance; and $63.5 million in lost federal revenue due to tax-exempt donations to conservative think tanks. As for the latter, as Vanity Fair put it, “Sure, they’ve come up with some interesting ideas. When Republicans enact any of them, you can take this item off the list.”
Filed under Republicans, Wingnuts!
The Carvile Plan…
The following is James Carvile’s suggestions on dealing with the GOP when it comes to healthcare reform:
“And strategist James Carvile became the first leading Democrat to suggest publicly that there might be political advantage in letting the Republicans kill healthcare.
“‘Put a bill out there, make them filibuster it, make them be what they are, the party of no,’ Carvile said. ‘Let them kill it. Let them kill it with the interest group money, then run against them. That’s what we ought to do.'” Read more at this Politico article.
I think that the GOP needs to pay in a big way for this disaster. What do you bloggers think ?
iggy donnelly
Filed under Healthcare, Republicans, Universal Healthcre
Obama needs to call their bluff
New polls show a growing number of Americans are worried about growing deficits and debt. The former president has added his voice to the noise, the GOP is using this deficit tactic to court Independents who pretty much stay out of social issues but take fiscal issues seriously.
Health care reform is jeopardized and this is important.
President Obama needs to call their bluff!
I have confidence that most Americans are intelligent adults and will listen when issues are explained. Who knows? If bush the lesser had been able to communicate we may have been able to understand some of his motives. A leader is a person who both makes and explains the hard decisions and actions that are necessary for the common good. Americans are capable of understanding and even appreciate being respected and having our interests acknowledged — whether we agree or not.
First, Obama must explain that Uncle Sam has to spend until we’re past the worst of this recession which nearly reached depression status. Our economy isn’t healthy enough to really do anything about deficits yet. He must make the honest case for temporarily running high deficits to rescue our future. He has to lay out the reasons the deficits will get us past the worst and back to financial safety. He must acknowledge the cure isn’t instantaneous. He must explain rising unemployment rates, and what he is doing to address those rates. He has to state the goals that will lead us to stability and allow growth to resume. He must go on the offensive and speak directly to the American people with an honest plan and achievable goals. We will understand and it will take the wind out of those who have NO PLAN.
He has to call their bluff, involve the American people once again and as often as necessary to take the steam out of this issue. This can’t be a one-time interaction, but the beginning of a conversation that points out this is my plan, then updates the progress and / or adjustments to the plan — all the while (maybe silently) pointing out detractors have no plan, and aren’t part of the solutions.
Most Americans will be ready to support the team with a solution over those who simply have criticisms. Something does beat nothing every time!
fnord
Filed under Economics, Obama, The Economy
Will The GOP Survive?
A new Gallup poll shows 63% of the Republican Party are white conservatives, with another 26% saying they are white but not conservative. Only 11 % represent Hispanics, Black, Asians, or members of other races.
By contrast, only 12% of Democrats are white conservatives, while about half are white moderates or liberals and a third are nonwhite. Democrats have a significantly more diverse party composition. Well over a third (36%) of Democrats are nonwhite (Hispanic, or black or some other race) and the 64% of Democrats who are white are strongly skewed — by more than a 4-to-1 ratio — toward an ideological position that is moderate or liberal rather than conservative.
Independents, as would be expected, are somewhere between Republicans and Democrats in terms of their racial, ethnic, and ideological composition. Twenty-seven percent of independents are Hispanic, or are black or identify with another race, and, by about a 2-to-1 ratio, white independents split toward the nonconservative ideological position.
Republicans have a clear monopoly on the allegiance of white conservative Americans.
Does the Republican Party cling to its core conservative principles? Or should the Republicans make an effort to expand their base? The decision the party makes in response to this question could be pivotal in helping determine its future.
fnord
Filed under Elections, Republicans