What Do We Have To Look Forward To If The GOP Takes Over?
There’s been a lot of talk recently about a new Republican wave led by the teabaggers. This is a very different election year. The economy is horrible and voters are fed up. I can’t really blame them. The Democrats story is “it would have been a whole lot worse” is not very compelling nor is “the Republicans won’t let us do anything.”
The problem is, these are not your father’s Republicans. Many of them are just batsh*t insane. They’re birthers, tenthers, “2nd amendment solutions” candidates. In a sane political year, Sharron Angle, Jan Brewer, Joe Miller and Rand Paul wouldn’t stand a chance. We’re not in a sane political year, though.
What we have to look forward to is government shutdowns, endless nuisance subpoenas and perhaps even impeachment proceedings. Some Republicans have already talked about this. The Republicans will put their top assholes in charge – Joe “apologize to BP” Barton will be in charge of energy, Paul “privatize Social Security” Ryan will be in charge of finance and Joe “You Lie!” Wilson will be in charge of Armed Services. Daniel Larison at American Conservative (one of the few actual real life thinking conservatives) has some thoughts on how this will play out:
As I have said before, I don’t think the GOP will win the House, but if that did happen it would primarily be bad news for the Republican Party and the conservative movement. If that seems a little too counterintuitive for you, let me explain. Should the GOP somehow win the House, they will not have earned it and they will not deserve it, and they will proceed to destroy themselves in very short order. Arguably, there was nothing worse for the American right than to be given the free gift of winning the 2002 midterms, because this win encouraged them to pursue the policies that proved to be their undoing, and a similar win in 2010 would have the same effect of enabling Republicans’ most destructively self-indulgent impulses. As one horrified by the prospect of Republicans in power, Erik should look forward to this.
After all, even if the Republicans won the House there would not be much that they could do once in office, except waste their time as they did in the ’90s hauling executive branch officials before committees to testify on this or that outrage of the week. They would likely be stymied by the Democratic majority in the Senate on any major legislation, and Obama would veto just about anything they passed if it somehow got to his desk. At the same time, Obama would make them into a much more effective foil for his arguments once they had some hold on power, and out of frustration they would become increasingly obsessed with “getting” Obama and become even less interested in representing the interests of their constituents.
I think this is likely true, but how many people will pay attention? Perhaps the GOP’s ability to dominate the news cycle will play against them here. People are bound to get pretty upset if we still have a crappy economy and the GOP is spending their time in Congress talking about birth certificates and teleprompters. However, if we do finally see a change in the economy will Republicans get credit for it? I think the economy will improve very slowly but surely – there’s a large overhang to get rid of and I doubt Republican policies will help very much.
Tags: Election 2010, Republicans
One of the comments on the post perfectly captures what I think is the modern left:
I wish the left and current Democrats were better at articulating this.
Grist has an article on what Congress will be like from the perspective of environment and climate change.
Great post, U.I., particularly the Spiffy McBang quote. Unfortunately, the current White House openly despises the kind of liberals described in that comment (“like Digby or Glenn Greenwald”) while constantly begging them for their support and money.
If the House and/or Senate is lost in 2010 to the republicans, the blame will fall squarely on the Obomba.
If the house falls to Republicans *shudder* then the dynamics between the tea party Rs and the establishment Rs could lead to a civil war. More party purging – which could lead to certain moderate R congresspeople being kicked out, or leaving like Specter.
Hmmm… perhaps the house would flip back? 🙂
“Hmmm… perhaps the house would flip back?”
…and perhaps make Obama’s re-election a sure thing in 2012? Hmmm…indeed, pandora!! Melikes how you think!
I have to agree with A1. The White House has been at war with centrists and left of center dems in order to prove what a great bipartisan he is to the Fox News viewers. When they win a majority he’ll probably cooperate fully with the congressional impeachment investigations.
Actually I do think a GOP congress makes Obama’s election in 2012 much more likely. The likely GOP overreach will certainly fire up the emo Democratic voters.
Impeachment does not rule out re-election. It will make it hard for him to implement his HOPE & CHANGE agenda, whatever that is.
In the words of Rachel Maddow ( via deaniac83 at kos ):
Now, that doesn’t mean you can’t criticize, but how about a little praise for things such as:
* Health reform.
* Wall Street reform.
* Credit card reform.
* Ending combat operations in Iraq ahead of time, as troops head home.
* Ending torture under American custody.
* Saving the economy from falling into a second Great Depression.
* Saving the American auto industry.
* Growing American manufacturing jobs for the first time in a long time.
* Protecting and strengthening equal pay for women.
* Funding lifesaving embryonic stem cell research.
* Adding federal protection against crimes on the LGBT community for the first time in history.
* Putting DADT repeal on track.
* Requiring hospitals accepting Medicare or Medicaid to give equal treatment to same sex couples.
* Standing up to Arizona Republcans’ racism in federal court.
* Single-handedly ensuring a $20 billion fund to make the BP Gulf spill victims whole.
* Restoring America’s status in the world as the most admired country.
I’m sick to death of all the focusing on negativity. I’m also sick to death of the “not enough” brigade – who, if left to them, would have accomplished nothing over the last 20 months. NOTHING, since none of the things done was ever good enough.
Know what’s wrong with liberals? We’re so much better at suffering than we are at governing. We want everything now! We actually miss George W. Bush, because at least with W. we could live in a constant state of outrage.
Another thing… quit laughing at the tea party. I see very little difference between their absolutism and certain factions of the left.
You want to criticize Obama? Fine. Do it in a way that encourages discussion… and solutions. Hmmm… solutions? Another thing the far left is lacking.
/end of rant
Oh my. I think I am on the record for wanting everything. All that stuff, plus the political instincts of Bill Clinton and the heart of Bobby Kennedy. Is that too much to ask?
Anyway, none of the accomplishments (praise worthy as they might be) will prevent the Republicans from moving on impeachment. If you think so you are living in a dreamland. The ony thing that keep impeachment at bay is keeping them in the minority – and if BARACK OBAMA does not give a shit about keeping the Republicans in the minority, why should I?
Pandora,
“Health reform”. Mandating purchase of a defective product 4 years into the future is “reform”? Let’s stop calling ObamaCare “reform” instead of the Single-Payer Prevention and Corporate Health Insurance Preservation Act.
“Ending combat operations in Iraq ahead of time, as troops head home.” Obomba just calls combat operations, “counterterrorism” now. The troops are heading to Afghanistan while 50K remain to “train” the US funded and equipped, all-Iraqi unit of the US military.
“Saving the economy from falling into a second Great Depression.” Huh? If Mr. Pandora were pounding the pavement, you’d know otherwise.
“Restoring America’s status in the world as the most admired country.” Yeah, try trading that admiration for a loaf of bread.
It’s not that “none of the things done was ever ‘good enough’ .” It’s that they are not good at all.
way to prove Pandora’s point about constantly malcontent liberals who will never be satisfied unless Palin is president, delacrat.
Im pretty convinced you have no idea how our government works.
see, in america… as opposed to whatever dictatorship you seem to be familiar with, if almost half of the congress decides nothing is getting done,….. (as the teapublicans have done)
it is (here is a shocker) impossible to the president to just decree whatever he wants.
hope that helps.
and pandora, i will never stop laughing at the teaparty. Mel Brooks believes it is important for the world to laugh at Adolph Hitler, i think it is important to laugh at the Bags.
A few inaccuracies notwithstanding, that was a thought provoking rant, Pandora.
Seriously.
A. losing is part of life B.losing is not always what it seems
“Defeat is never Total and Victory is never Final”
And who defines losing anyway?
Health reform: Political band aid. Forcing people to buy expensive health insurance that they can’t afford and to pay high deductibles on top of it, which they also can’t afford, is not reform. There was no public option and no cost controls in the bill. Insurance costs and health care costs are still soaring. It isn’t health care reform, and the things that he promised to fight for, he didn’t. He just lied about them instead.
* Wall Street reform: Political band aid. Will not prevent another crisis like the one we just had. Read why Russ Feingold voted against it to understand why.
* Credit card reform: Maybe – the credit card companies are rapidly finding the loopholes in that bill, though.
* Ending combat operations in Iraq ahead of time, as troops head home: Ahead of whose time? Tell me that we’re out of Iraq when the 50,000 re-named “non-combat” troops and tens of thousands of contractors still there come home. Meanwhile, tens of thousands have been re-assigned from Iraq to the meat grinder in Afghanistan. $33 billion for a war in a country that hasa GDP of $13 billion.
* Ending torture under American custody: And you know this, how? Obomba still has secret “black” prisons and Gitmo is still in full operation. War crimes continue un-prosecuted in Afghanistan. Not to mention Obomba giving orders to assassinate American citizens outside of war zones. Oh, and have you ever heard of Tasers? Domestic torture of American citizens by police is becoming routine.
* Saving the economy from falling into a second Great Depression: And you know this, how? Unemployment is still over 9.5 percent with no real plans in place to reduce it by Obomba. He took care of Wall Street, not Main Street.
* Saving the American auto industry: Yes – but we don’t know the cost yet.
* Growing American manufacturing jobs for the first time in a long time: Are you sure about this? What kind of jobs are these?
* Protecting and strengthening equal pay for women: Yes
* Funding lifesaving embryonic stem cell research: Yes
* Adding federal protection against crimes on the LGBT community for the first time in history: Yes
* Putting DADT repeal on track: Not really. He has passed the buck and he could implement a stop loss to prevent discharges with an order but he hasn’t.
* Requiring hospitals accepting Medicare or Medicaid to give equal treatment to same sex couples: Yes, good.
* Standing up to Arizona Republicans’ racism in federal court: Yes
* Single-handedly ensuring a $20 billion fund to make the BP Gulf spill victims whole: Hasn’t happened yet, and BP is now threatening to renege. His handling of the crisis was abysmal, with a cover-up of the extent of the damage continuing.
* Restoring America’s status in the world as the most admired country: America turned into a police state under George Bush and Obomba has done nothing to rollback the undermining of our civil liberties our prosecute anybody for the crimes of the past administration. He has just cemented them in-place.
You did forget to mention his work to control nuclear arms, which is another good thing that he has done.
You can be “sick to death of all the focusing on negativity,” but the fact is that there is a lot of negativity that deserves to be focused on and is, in fact, actually killing people now and endangering the planet for our children. And accusing “the far left” of lacking solutions is absurd and disingenuous. We have lots of solutions that are much more than the political band aids like “health care reform” that you think is progress.
You are so dumb. By hating everything about Obama you lose credibility. Here is some home work. Think of five things you like about the President.
Here’s an example of what’s bugging me. You mention the Public Option. Fine, we all wanted that. Now, tell me how you could have made that happen – in other words, tell me your solution.
Honestly, the possibility of Republicans taking back the house is only 80% of the problem. The “progressive” Obama haters are the other 20%. And I don’t expect you to stop criticizing; I expect your voice to be raised just as loudly for the successes.
That will keep him occupied through November:)
Pandora, you say that we all wanted the public option. Even Obama said that he wanted it in his campaign. Once he was elected, though, he didn’t even try for it. Instead, he simply lied about ever saying that he was for it. Same thing with controlling pharmaceutical costs and not taxing health care benefits. He lied about both of them.
The public option could have at least happened in reconciliation, if Obama had fought for it. He didn’t, and you can’t deny that. The PO was the one thing that the public was overwhelmingly for. The secret deals with the pharmaceutical companies were all Obama’s. Taxing health care benefits was something he eviscerated Mcinsane for in the campaign and then promoted once he was elected. The fact is that Obama never even tried, and then flat-out lied about it.
The undeniable facts are that health care costs and insurance costs continue to grow at double digits, and the HCR bill does little to control those costs. Those chickens are going to come home to roost big time in a few years when people see their paycheck docked 8% to pay for healthcare insurance and they can’t afford to pay their living expenses. Obama had an historic opportunity to get real HCR and he blew it. He failed to lead and lied about it. And that, to me, is a big effin’ deal, to quote Joe Biden.
And if HCR was the only screw-up, well, I could overlook it. But the pattern of failed dishonest leadership is clear on civil liberties, economic recovery, the environment, and Justice. Why, for example, is the position of the top federal prosecutor in Delaware unfilled after two years?
As I mentioned in response to your list, he deserves credit for some good things (there were at least 5 that I agreed with you on), including the nuclear arms agreement with the Russians. But don’t expect me to sing loudly the praises of a dishonest president who is continuing to destroy American civil liberties as Bush did, is escalating an unjust war, and is failing to address the horrific economic conditions and environmental threats our country faces.
Not to mention that the White House holds open and vocal contempt for liberals like me. And I am not the only one. There are many people who supported Obama passionately with work and with donations that are utterly disillusioned with him. He had an opportunity for historic change, but he has blown it.
“Not to mention that the White House holds open and vocal contempt for liberals like me.” By, “liberals like me” you mean crazed harpies of doom, right?
I think we all have open and vocal contempt for liberals like you. It isn’t really fair to single out the President on that.
Jason, while I know you fancy yourself as the quintessential arbitrator of all things liberal, the day that you actually engage anyone in serious discussion of policy might be the first since Obomba became President. Note that “crazed harpies of doom” like me (also known as “dirty fucking hippies” by the very serious people (h/t atrios)) are usually advocating for positions that you agree with. At least you did when Bush was President.
You might note that the topic of this thread is about doom of sorts. But keep cheering for this, because this is what you’re getting thanks to the Emperor Obomba’s wardrobe:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_9ks36c549BI/TILDSO_fTfI/AAAAAAAABnk/08Zt1Db9gvM/s1600/Cartoon_Conrad.jpg
“Jason, while I know you fancy yourself as the quintessential arbitrator of all things liberal…”
Yes. I am, so get your shit together. The country needs engaged thinking liberals, not crazed harpies who are only concerned with proving how pure they are. BTW – How is that new liberal blog coming. Lazy bitch.
So, you were saying what about Obomba “ending combat operations in Iraq?”
“Days after the U.S. officially ended combat operations and touted Iraq’s ability to defend itself, American troops found themselves battling heavily armed militants assaulting an Iraqi military headquarters in the center of Baghdad on Sunday. The fighting killed 12 people and wounded dozens.”
But only a crazed harpy wouldn’t believe everything Obomba says is true…
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100905/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iraq
But we have stopped torturing people under American custody if you don’t include electrocuting people to death as torture:
“96 Taser-Related Deaths in the United States”
“Today we added Adam Colliers (Gold Bar, WA) as the 96th taser-death on our list since January 2009. Something is wrong in America when the police electrocute folks on a WEEKLY basis with their taser arsenal … and the public is mute in its response.”
I personally don’t think this is good, but then I am apparently not an “engaged thinking liberal.” I guess I should join the “mute” public because pointing stuff like this out makes the arbitrators of all things liberal upset.
http://electronicvillage.blogspot.com/2009/05/taser-related-deaths-in-united-states.html
What happened to that homework? Dog eat it?
Read my reply to pandora’s post at 8:40 – there were five things that I agreed with, plus 1 that I added that I deserve extra credit for. You will need both of your hands to count that high, though.
You know how I know you are an asswipe? You are picking fights with the only guy around here that agrees with your basic premise.
It was never my intent to pick a fight with you, but your condescending attitude (see exhibit #297: “stupid asswipe”) deserves an in-kind response.
So, what happens if the Republicans win control of the House of Representatives? The best thing of all: nothing will happen. Government spending will be cut — though not enough — because, eventually, appropriations have to go through, but big changes in policy and big increases in the government control of our lives, those won’t happen.
Of course, our taxes will go up, because the Democrats in the Senate will never go along with the extension of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts that the House Republicans will pass, and we all know that an extension won’t be passed by the current Congress: if they haven’t passed it now, and aren’t even working on it now, with an election approaching, they sure as Hell won’t pass it in a lame duck session.
What do you have to look forward to?
Death camps for liberals.
Lobotomized women forced to be breeding machines by Christofascists.
The return of slavery in the United States.
The slaughter of Barack Obama’s herd of Skittle-shitting unicorns.
In other words, all sorts of unspeakable things that warm the hearts of those of us on the conservative side of the political spectrum.
Your comic skills are right up there with Blech, Painlin and our very own Crazy Chrissie, Don’t quit our day job!
What do you have to look forward to?
Death camps for liberals.
Lobotomized women forced to be breeding machines by Christofascists.
The return of slavery in the United States.
The slaughter of Barack Obama’s herd of Skittle-shitting unicorns.
I’m not laughing. That was a main stream O’Donnell conservative. Perhaps a little less guarded than most.
Of course, our taxes will go up, because the Democrats in the Senate will never go along with the extension of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts that the House Republicans will pass
No – First of all, our taxes will go up because that’s the way Bush and the Republicans planned it. They couldn’t figure out a tax cut that didn’t explode the deficit. So they had to sunset it after ten years. Live by Senate rules, die by Senate rules.
But proximately, our taxes will go up because a Republican House – if there is one – will refuse to send Obama a middle-class tax cut without tax cuts for the rich attached.
Send a clean middle-class tax cut bill, and Obama will sign it.
UI: Great topic intro!
Pandora: Fantastic information and comments!
Also, some comments by the progressive leftist articulately highlighted differences and frustrations with Obama/Dems.
Obama’s first two years were an experiment with bipartisanship, in his attempt to govern from the center like Clinton did. His failure was that he did not realize soon enough that his approach was failing, in the Fall of 2009 during the health care reform efforts. That is when he should have played hardball with his own bluedogs, while continuing to attempt to bring in the two Senators from Maine.
In spite of all that, considering the severe economic ditch we were/are in, and considering the expert wingnut demonizers he was/is up against, Obama’s list of accomplishments is noteworthy, and will be appreciated in hindsight, in my view.
This is why Democrat centrists and progressives need to unite now to give November our best shot, in spite of the doom and gloom that envelopes us at this moment.
I personally have been in a funk, observing extemist Repub demonizations and lies hitting their targets effectively, observing the challenges of those struggling with job losses, and those losing their homes, watching wealth continuing to float to the top couple of a percent, and sickened by the continually growing power of wealth and money over Congress.
The time is ripe to end this funk, open my checkbook, and get involved actively, as in the past. We obviously have no chance if we just sit back and watch the bad news go by without getting stirred into action, finally!