Originally Posted By DyGDisney And yet again, nothing positive will be done in our country for the next two years. I'm SO glad these leaders care about what's best for our country....sigh :/. <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101104/ap_on_re_us/us_bipartisan_challenge" target="_blank">http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/201...hallenge</a> "Obama hinted that he might be willing to extend Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans for a year or two but not make them permanent, as Republicans have advocated. Republicans, meanwhile, spoke of working with Democrats only in vague terms. Mostly, they seemed defiant. McConnell was unapologetic for the unified resistance of the Republican Party to Obama initiatives over the past two years. "By sticking together in principled opposition to policies we viewed as harmful, we made it perfectly clear to the American people where we stood," he said. "And we gave voters a real choice on Election Day." " Apparently that choice was that nothing's going to get done until you elect a Republican President.
Originally Posted By hopemax I've been meaning to ask the conservative posters, if any are still around... Is it really okay with you that the GOP leadership is insistent that the only ideas they are willing to accept are GOP ideas presented by GOP people? The ideas from the Bob Dole healthcare compromise from the Clinton attempt at getting healthcare passed have been decried as socialism. What we got was a variation of Mitt Romney's plan, also socialist. So even GOP ideas presented by Dems as compromises are bad. But then again, even legislation introduced by John McCain is now unacceptable to John McCain. I am getting increasingly frustrated by the GOP demanding that they set the agenda when they have White House, and demanding they set the agenda when they don't. God forbid Democrats ask for things Democrats want. We should just drop the sham of having elected government if one party can hold the governmental process hostage. Just dissolve the government, and declare an oligarchy already.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt Why are conservative politicians so disagreeable? Mitch McConnell is a first class ass. Rather than trying to get Obama out of the way perhaps he should step aside so that some real progress can be made in this country.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan The strategy of being the party of NO has paid off for Republicans. I don't expect them to make even a tiny step towards bipartisanship, especially since several of the newbies are tea baggers. But the Democrats still control the Senate and the White House. They'd better be bold and make the most of it and give up the notion that the House is going to be reasonable about anything for the next two years.
Originally Posted By gadzuux Republicans don't know how to govern. They know how to demogogue, fingerpoint and fearmonger, but when it comes to actually governing, they've never been any good at it. Witness the infamous "government shutdown" of 1994. It didn't work - in fact it backfired on them - just ask Newt. Yet they're actually talking about doing it again. Throwing tantrums that impact tens of millions of people isn't going to help anybody. Will the teabaggers vote to raise the debt ceiling? If they don't, they jeopardize not only the US economy, but the global economy. Maybe they don't understand that. Yet.
Originally Posted By hopemax I'm just wondering how anything is going to pass a cloture vote in the Senate? How can they be bold when even some of their own are willing to hold the agenda hostage in order to obtain favors for their district. Those would be Ben Nelson and Mary Landrieu, for those not paying attention.
Originally Posted By DAR And this is disappointing because???? Politicians and yes I think they're all the same, you guys whine about that all you want, they don't work for me, are like the deadbeat divorced dad who says he'll pick you up for ice cream but is likely making it rain while helping a "dancer" named "Missy" get through "college"
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >>How can they be bold when even some of their own are willing to hold the agenda hostage in order to obtain favors for their district.<< The bully pulpit of the presidency remains the most powerful tool in US politics. Nothing else comes close. We have an articulate president well known for his ability to make powerful speeches. There's no excuse for not being bold and direct. And they need to get very clear and direct with the messaging. There's still a huge amount of centrists out there that will shift right or left based on what makes the most sense, quickly and clearly. That might even mean dumbing down the talking points a little more. When (not if) the Republicans start screwing around with healthcare, Obama needs to let Americans know exactly what the result of their throwing monkey wrenches in the works will be. More uninsuired Americans. Increased costs. Explain what it means to the average person, and make it very damn personal. Because it is.
Originally Posted By gadzuux Agreed. Obama has been pussyfooting around republican obstructionism. Instead of saying "congress has passed unemployment extensions but Jim DeMint filibustered it in the senate", or "democrats passed a small business lending bill but the republicans blocked passage" he simply says "couldn't get though the senate". Name names. Call them out on their own actions - or inactions as the case may be. In other news - in case some here think I'm guilty of hyperbole about republicans - soon to be Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell today doubled-down on his comments that his highest priority is undermining the US president ... >> "Some have said it was indelicate of me to suggest that our top political priority over the next two years should be to deny President Obama a second term in office. But the fact is, if our primary legislative goals are to repeal and replace the health spending bill; to end the bailouts; cut spending; and shrink the size and scope of government, the only way to do all these things is to put someone in the White House who won't veto any of these things." <<
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >>Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell<< Hey now, Harry Reid's still Senate majority leader. Bertle the Turtle is still minority leader.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >>I don't actually think that's a bad thing.<< What specifically do you want cut?
Originally Posted By hopemax > Name names. Call them out on their own actions - or inactions as the case may be. < Wait a minute, didn't we just get through a period of people saying they were tired of people tearing down their opponent in campaign ads? If Obama calls out people, the reaction will be up in arms about how it's just the same 'ol same 'ol, just personal attacks, and didn't Obama promise to change the tone in Washington? People don't want to be told how the other guy is stopping them. Even if it is true, they don't want to hear it. The best, I think they can say is: "We don't have the votes." We want to do X, Y, Z, but we don't have the votes."
Originally Posted By Dabob2 I disagree. Pointing out truthful things that people like McConnell and DeMint have done is not "tearing down the opponent." Presumably, they were proud of having done those things. So let's have that debate. But we can't if people have only a vague idea of why nothing's going through.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan It's called holding people accountable. I think Obama has been operating under the admirable but unfortunately mistaken impression that by being reasonable, he'll be able to get Republicans to work with him. He's tried that for 2 years now, and it is not going to happen. For 2 years people have just gone ahead and made stuff up about him, and incredibly, depressingly, it has worked. The GOP has been laser-focused on just one thing: They want him to fail. It paid off. They'll keep at it. The only hope for Democrats is to start making some of the truly dreadful things the GOP has planned stick to them. Make them own it when they start cutting "entitlements" -- show them who gets hurt and who caused the hurt. It'll be ugly but that's just where we're at.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan Perfect example is when they blocked unemployment benefits. That should have been a slam dunk for the Democrats and the president. They should have said that Mitch McConnell does not want to help out Americans who are hurting. And they could have done it just by amplifying his very own words on the matter. Keep pushing those sorts of comments right out in the spotlight and make them explain themselves again and again and again.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip <<That should have been a slam dunk for the Democrats and the president. They should have said that Mitch McConnell does not want to help out Americans who are hurting. And they could have done it just by amplifying his very own words on the matter. Keep pushing those sorts of comments right out in the spotlight and make them explain themselves again and again and again.>> I think the sad fact is that other than being able to use it to slam Obama, Republicans don't really give a rip about the unemployment rate. I've not seen any data... I doubt anyone asks... but I would guess the unemployment among Republicans is only 50% of what it is for Democrats. They have jobs... the only thing they care about is spending as little of their income on taxes as possible.
Originally Posted By mawnck >>I would guess the unemployment among Republicans is only 50% of what it is for Democrats.<< I don't think so. Conservative rural areas have been clobbered by the recession. Gives them more time to watch Fox News.
Originally Posted By FaMulan In two years time if the Republicans and uber-Conservative Teabaggers don't cause significant improvement to the economy I hope they find themselves out of office. Just like they did to the Democrats and Centrists. What goes around, comes around and now it's time for them to put up or shut up. (How many trite phrases can she use!)
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt I've been saying since the very start of Obama's presidency that he needs to move on past the negotiating with the other side and push though as much of his agenda as possible in order to help the middle class move forward. McConnell has made it clear that he and the Party of No are more interested in overthrowing Obama than they are in trying to help their constituents. It's baffling why Obama doesn't recognize this and fight back. Bill Clinton would be donning his boxing gloves right now, instead Obama is still offering olive branches.
