YET ANOTHER (yes, "another") EPIC FAIL WEEK FOR THE GOP

Recall when the GOP arrived on the scene after winning the House in 2010? They immediately went to work ... pursuing reckless and largely symbolic policies.

It was so pathetic (and transparent) that I wrote about their epic failures during their first few weeks in power here and here. Reading the Constitution on the House floor. Redefining rape. Passing symbolic bills with no chance of being signed by the president.

And let's not forget the crying. All that manly-man, "I'm so proud of myself" crying.

Anyways, the goal for the GOP then wasn't to govern. And it still isn't today. This helps explain why, in spite of an on-going recession that still threatens to slide into an all out depression, our GOP led House has done a fraction of the work that they could have.

At the end of the day, the goal of our House led GOP is to gum up the works so much that President Obama can't govern either. Check out this week's "Just Say No" nonsense:

* This past week our GOP led Congress decided to follow an idolatrous path and loudly reaffirm our nation's commitment to God ... like God really cares if we kiss His ass on the House floor. Like that's so much better than finding ways to create jobs for the unemployed, or working to fix our housing and mortgage mess.

* God, I'm sure, must be happy with the super committee's stalled talks over the GOP's decision to keep the richest Americans from seeing their taxes increased to help pay down our nation's debt (which forces us to borrow from China).  

* Related, not only did our Congress fail to deal with unemployment (or increasing revenue), but the Senate voted to block President Obama's $60-billion jobs plan this past Thursday (Nov. 3). This was a follow up to last month's "let's do nothing" filibuster of President Obama's larger $447-billion jobs plan, and their subsequent "let's continue doing nothing" rejection of Obama's $35-billion proposal to save the jobs of teachers and firefighters. Nice. 

* Incredibly, though, our GOP led House found the time to pass H.R. 2527, which allows for the creation of a baseball Hall of Fame commemorative coin.

So, there you have it. Nothing on jobs. Nothing on infrastructure. Nothing for teachers and firefighters. Nothing on revenue from those most able to pay. Not even a murmur about the Greek situation.

And, no, the GOP job proposal legislation that's "sitting in Congress" doesn't count. They're really deregulation-tax favor poison pills, which are industry favors and only serve to set us up for a replay of the Bush Titanic.

Still, we need to understand how politically useful all of this obstinacy and obstructionism is for the GOP. Simply put, it allows Republicans to point to President Obama as a president who "can't get it done."

Never mind that no president has ever had to work with a Senate that requires a filibuster proof 60 votes to pass a bill.

Never mind that just saying "no" is no way to govern.

Never mind that 30 years of a failed ideology should be proof that we can't do it all over again.

And never mind that all of this is destructive to our nation's democracy and our economic health.

As long as the GOP gets Americans to believe that President Obama is not fit to govern, all is good in their world. Which explains why this past week was yet another epic fail week for the GOP.

- Mark

ANOTHER EPIC FAIL WEEK FOR GOP?

Via the Washington Post, here's what House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va) had to say last week about the budget battle, and how we create law in America:

"What this bill says is it reiterates again the deadline, and that the Senate should act before the deadline, and that's what the American people are expecting ... The bill then says if the Senate does not act, then H.R. 1 [the House-passed bill that cuts $61 billion from the budget] will be the law of the land."

Huh?

If the Senate doesn't act on piece of legislation that the House passes it becomes "the law of the land"? I don't know which Constitution Eric Cantor is reading from but the last time I looked you still need the Senate and the President to agree to a piece of legislation the House passes before it becomes law.

Strike one.

But Cantor wasn't done.

If H.R. 1 isn't taken up by the Senate and "the Senate brings about a shutdown" Cantor told everyone that H.R. 1 "says" House members "should not get their pay." This is fine by me. I'm all for blocking the pay of anyone who doesn't get their job done.

Except for one thing ... Eric Cantor and other Republicans overwhelmingly voted "No" on another bill (H.R. 1255) that specifically denied pay to members of Congress and the President every day they can't come to an agreement on the budget.

Put another way, if the rest of the federal government is shut done Eric Cantor and everyone in Congress still get paid.

Another swing and a miss.

But we shouldn't be surprised. Coming from a group that stumbled big time during their first week in power, then embarrassed themselves by trying to redefine rape in early February ... only to follow this up by immediately failing to get the votes necessary to extend three Patriot Act surveillance tools critical to our nation's post- 9/11 security ... we should be accustomed to this level of political buffoonery by now.

Seriously. What more can you expect from a party that presents budgets with no numbers, and then makes "fact challenged" Paul Ryan (R-WI) their go-to-guy on the budget?

Whatever we get from Budget Battle 2012 this Friday something tells me no one's going to be happy. Least of all the Republican Party.

- Mark

IT'S NOT ABOUT THE BUDGET ... IT'S THE GOP'S TROJAN HORSE

The Rachel Maddow clip below makes it clear that what Republicans are up to is not about saving taxpayers money or balancing state budgets. Rather, under the pretext of a "fiscal emergency" the GOP wants to bust up unions (which challenge corporate America) and to turn public services over to private companies.

The goal of the GOP, after 30 years of financially starving the state with tax cuts for the rich, is to discredit the state and install what Naomi Klein calls a "corporate monopoly state."

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

In real simple terms, tax cuts have nothing to do with protecting "your money" or even good governance. These arguments are a ruse ... a Trojan Horse.

Instead, what the Republican Party has in mind is to continue collapsing the tax base with tax cuts, which makes their patrons wealthier, and creates the fiscal emergencies we're now seeing.

Let me repeat the point. The Republicans careful and patient race to the bottom strategy allows the GOP to claim that our cash-starved states don't work, while pushing for policies that replace state run services and institutions with privately managed services and contractors.

What we're seeing in Wisconsin is not about the budget. It never was.

- Mark

THE CHARLIE SHEENIFICATION OF THE GOP

Remember Iraq's Saddam Hussein? In the lead up to the war in Iraq one of the best things he left us with is the catch phrase "The Mother of all Wars" - as if the war in Iraq was the Alpha and the Omega of all wars. Since then the term "The Mother of ..."  has become synonymous with events that can (and should) be mocked because of the exaggerated claims and circumstances surrounding the event.

Today, the recent antics of Charlie Sheen suggest that we just might see the same mocking characterization applied to the term "winning" as we with the "Mother of all ..." Think about it. The exaggerated and misplaced sense of accomplishment assigned by Charlie Sheen to his recent successes doesn't strike most of us as the recipe for, well, winning.

To be sure, Charlie Sheen has a #1 program, has lots of money, and sleeps with two "goddesses." This is winning in the minds of many, right? Still, very few of us would consider his recent drug and alcohol fueled meltdowns, and having his hit program put on hiatus, as indicators of success, or winning (even if he does get the program back).

Simply put, if you're burning down the house and having meltdowns, winning the Charlie Sheen way doesn't necessarily imply that you're doing the right thing - even if you claim or think you're on the right path.
 
Well, so it is with the Republican Party and their morally tinged "winning" strategy. They might think they're winning but the facts suggest otherwise. Let's go back a few weeks to see what I mean.

As some of you might recall, House Republicans started off their tenure with some stellar political "strategery" during their first week in power. From, "did you read the fine print?" qualifiers on their budget cuts, to repealing health care when they knew the Senate would not support their efforts, to reading the Constitution on the House floor and failing to reveal which House members get government run health care, the GOP has been pursuing gimmicks that only Charlie Sheen's brain might consider part of a larger winning strategy.

 

Then they followed this up with efforts to redefine rape (because only GOP members of Congress know when it happens), cutting taxes on the rich, and then ignoring the plight of cash strapped cities and states. Sounds like the makings of a Charlie Sheen-like political hook up to me ...


But wait. We have more Charlie Sheen-like burning down the house political "strategery."

A few weeks back, led by Speaker Boehner, Republicans fought to keep building jet engines that Defense Secretary Gates says the Defense Department doesn't want, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff say we don't need. Boehner's reason for wanting to keep the jet fighter? Because the federally funded jobs that build those engines are located close to his district.

So ... what do you think? Is this a winning strategy for trimming budget deficits? Or is it akin to claiming Tiger blood and Adonis DNA when you're really just a schmuck?

Then, to make matters worse, when it comes to other federally funded jobs disappearing outside of his district we learned that John Boenher apparently doesn't give a damn. Specifically, when asked about job cuts if the GOP plan to trim $100 billion from the budget were put into effect, Boehner flippantly replied "so be it."

Somehow killing close to 1 million jobs and then pretending that you can ignore it's effects doesn't strike me as a winning strategy.

There's more. But you get the point. Over thirty years of ideologically rigid but failed policy prescriptions, combined with years of morally hypocritical approaches to politics and life, have turned the GOP into a party that might be able to "win" elections. They just can't govern, and it shows.

Sounds like winning to me ... the Charlie Sheen way.

- Mark

Addendum: If you like the cartoons, check out The New Yorker piece here.

GOP'S LATEST FAIL

As some of you may have noted, I've been noting republican political failures since they took over. In a few words, because of their desire to derail President Obama they've largely focused on fluff issues that are short on substance but long on symbolism. Nothing gets done, but they make a point. This is what makes this so hilarious (and a little sad).

Yesterday the House failed to get the 2/3 vote necessary to extend three Patriot Act surveillance tools that are supposed to be critical for our nation's post- 9/11 security. The House voted 277-148 to keep three provisions of the USA Patriot Act on the books until Dec. 8., which left the bill seven short of 2/3 vote necessary for expedited measures. The three provisions (which expire Feb. 28) are roving wiretaps of multiple phones, surveillance of library records for anything "tangible" or relevant to a terrorist investigation, and the "lone wolf" provision which allows us to follow pretty much any non-U.S. citizen, even if they have no known terrorist affiliations.

You know ... the kind of Big Brother, Big Government provisions which the GOP claims to hate.

 

The GOP leadership will be following this fail with their much touted meeting with President Obama today, where they'll draw a line in the sand on their priorities, while telling the President "No" to his agenda items.

- Mark

Addendum: And, in the FYI category, the person in charge of keeping tabs of votes on the House floor for the GOP is Bakersfield's very own Kevin McCarthy. He's the Majority Whip ... I can't imagine him delegating this one out.

ANOTHER EPIC FAIL WEEK FOR THE GOP

Remember the republicans first week in power? I wrote about it here. Check out the low lights.

* When asked about their pledge to cut or save $100 billion from the budget during their first year in power republican leaders fell over themselves, after assuming power, to say "Did you read the fine print? There are qualifiers ..."

* Then we learned that they were going to go through with their political charade to repeal health care reform - in spite of the fact that they knew the Senate would not support them, and that the President would veto the bill.

* Then they read the U.S. Constitution on the House floor, because reading is so educational.

* Then, for good measure, House Republicans voted against requiring members of Congress to disclose whether they're taking advantage of taxpayer funded health insurance plans, or if they've purchased private plan in the free market (so much for transparency).

Since then - rather than focusing on the economy - the GOP announced they would redefine what constitutes rape, only to follow this up by suddenly announcing that they would pull back from this effort. Then, on Thursday, they proposed a budget proposal that falls $68 billion short of their election season promise to cut $100 billion from the budget.

Governing isn't so easy when your political strategy depends on blowing smoke, scoring cheap political points and being obstinate, is it?

Still, in spite of passing legislation in the House that the Senate rejected (as everyone knew it would), and failing to cut $100 billion from the budget, republicans are claiming that defeat on issues that they campaigned on puts them right where they need to be for victory in 2012.  Seriously. Check it out here.

Fortunately for the GOP they have a neat photo ready to help convey their sense of accomplishment in the midst of mission failure ...

And, in case you missed it, the GOP still has no new proposals on a jobs program, or any plans to assist financially strapped cities and states. But their tax cuts for the rich and "Just say No" to Obama platform are right on track.

Oh, and under Speaker Boehner's watch, women in Congress are going to get a new bathroom.

That's progress. I guess.

- Mark

THE REPUBLICAN'S FIRST WEEK ... IMPRESSIVE

What a week it's been for the GOP. Check it out ...

* Read the Fine Print: Republicans fell over themselves backing away from their solemn pledge to cut $100 billion from the budget during their first year in power. Their "read the fine print" excuses are classic.

* No Amendments, Please: After whining that they weren't allowed to make amendments to the Democratic-led health care bill - and then promising to do better - Republicans have determined that they won't allow any amendments to their "let's repeal the health care" bill coming down the pike.

* Constitutional Follies: In spite of unemployment running at close to 10% the Republicans spent more than 2 hours reading a clipped version of the U.S. Constitution (with no reference to the 3/5 person-slave clause). But their deep, deep respect for the U.S. Constitution allowed them to lose sight of the fact that ...

* I Don't Need No Stinking Oath: Incredibly, two Republican House members - Reps. Pete Sessions and Mike Fitzpatrick - weren't sworn in because they were busy with a fundraising event (presumably doing the people's work). But they voted on legislation anyways.

* Can't Think of a Program to Cut: After railing against government spending for years, and being a member of congress for over 20 years, new Speaker of the House John Boehner capped off the GOP's first week in power by saying he can't think of a single program that he would cut from the budget. Seriously. None.

Oh, and let's not forget the crying ... all that manly-man, "I'm so proud of myself" crying.

Can hardly wait for next week.

- Mark

SCARE THE BEJESUS OUT OF WHITE AMERICA ... THE GOP'S SOUTHERN STRATEGY, 2.0

Salon.com's Glenn Greenwald has an interesting article detailing how the economic insecurities caused by the market meltdown have been supercharged by racial and ethnic tensions stirred up by the far right. This isn't the first time this has happened.

For those of you not old enough to remember, Richard Nixon's 1968 presidential campaign targeted Southern whites by getting them to think about the political and social mayhem (cultural upheaval) that would follow because of the new found rights women and people of color were going to exercise. Scaring the bejesus out of white America, especially in the south, became know as the republican's Southern strategy.

Today's GOP strategy is very similar, but new and improved. Let's call it Southern Strategy, 2.0. Here's how it works according to Greenwald ...

... Virtually every Fox News/right-wing-talk-radio controversy relies on scaring economically anxious white Americans into ignoring the prime cause of their economic insecurity -- plundering by Wall Street bankers, abetted by the government they own -- and focusing instead on some manufactured menace from powerless racial and ethnic minorities:

* Black people preventing them from voting (New Black Panthers), stealing their elections (ACORN), and treating them unequally (Shirley Sherrod and Eric Holder's Justice Department);

* Muslims who want to conquer their country and celebrate over their Christian corpses (the Triumphalist Ground Zero Mosque);

* Invading, marauding Latino armies coming to steal their property and rape their women while their Marxist allies in Government (led by a black Muslim President) disarm the white victims.

* Matt Taibbi, in lamenting the takeover of the GOP by the most riled-up of these factions -- the Tea Partiers -- recounts just some of the lowlights here.

What's not to be afraid of? Angry blacks, invading Latinos, sneaky Muslims, and an unresponsive government ... and don't forget all the horny homosexuals who want to destroy our way of life.

At the end of the day scaring white America about the coming boogeyman - when the real boogeyman is right in front of us - is an old political tactic. But the real crime this time is that it didn't have to happen this time. More specifically, what's happening today is a direct result of the Obama administration's decision to embrace and save Wall Street precisely at a time when America's rage over Wall Street's greed and incompetence was genuine, and demanded action. Glenn Greenwald reminds us ...

... That crisis presented a huge opportunity for Obama and the Democrats to bring about real change in Washington -- the central promise of his campaign -- by capitalizing on (and becoming the voice of) populist anger and using it to wrestle away control from Wall Street and other financial and corporate elites who control Washington. Had they done so, they would have been champions of populist rage rather than its prime targets. But, as John Judis argues in his excellent New Republic piece, they completely squandered that opportunity. Rather than emphatically stand up to the bankers and other oligarchical thieves, they coddled and served them, and thus became the face of the elite interests oppressing ordinary Americans rather than their foes. How can an administration represented by Tim Geithner and Larry Summers -- and which specializes in an endless stream of secret deals with corporate lobbyists and sustains itself with Wall Street funding -- possibly maintain any pretense of populist support or changing how Washington works? It can't.

By giving Wall Street what they wanted (and more) on a silver platter - while doing little to avenge the economic slap in the face to America's middle class - the Obama administration created the environment for it's base to become discontent, and for the political opposition to get riled up. We shouldn't be surprised that Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, and Glenn Beck have donned hi-tech hoods and are running around like demented characters is a South Park segment.

They were handed an opportunity, and they took it.

America wanted blood after 2008. Instead Wall Street got richer, while Main Street got poorer - and then got stuck with the tab. No reckoning. No justice. No vengeance. It's really that simple.

- Mark

REHABILITATING PRESIDENT BUSH (Our Screwup-in-Chief)

In an effort to win more congressional seats in November it looks like the Republican Party is going to argue that the country needs to re-embrace Bush Era policies in the coming months. That's not a typo. Here's what NRCC chairman Pete Sessions said on Meet the Press this past Sunday.

"We need to go back to the exact same agenda that is empowering the free enterprise system rather than diminishing it."

Got that? The Republicans think that re-embracing the market fairytopia mindset that brought us President Bush's failed policies, and our current economic debacle, is a winning strategy in November.

Responding to the effort to rehabilitate President Bush's image, Bruce Bartlett reminds us what happened when, in Bartlett's words, our "Screwup-in-Chief" was in office (be sure to read the comment section). It's useful to keep in mind that Bruce Bartlett is not only a columnist for Forbes.com, but was Deputy Assistant Secretary for economic policy at the U.S. Treasury Department during the George H.W. Bush Administration. He also served as a senior policy analyst in the White House for Ronald Reagan.

The incredible thing for me is that America even needs to be reminded about the Bush Debacalypse. What a complete and utter disaster for our nation, and for our friends around the world.

Fortunately for us there are people who have spent a good deal of time documenting - and linking us with the evidence that chronicles - President Bush's failed presidency. You can read about our Screwup-in-Chief's 400 biggest failed decisions and policies here.

- Mark

GEORGE W. BUSH'S FOREIGN POLICY ... BEFORE & AFTER

This reminds me of George Bush's "Shock & Awe" / Flight Suit Carrier Landing approach to foreign policy ... before and after.



False bravado is always humbled.

- Mark

NO RETURN TO NORMAL . . .

This article by economist James K. Galbraith in the Atlantic Monthly is one of the best that I've read on what's happening in the economy. It's long, but worth the read. First, why the current plan won't work:

Geithner’s banking plan would prolong the state of denial. It involves government guarantees of the bad assets, keeping current management in place and attempting to attract new private capital ... The idea is that one can fix the banks from the top down, by reestablishing markets for their bad securities. If the idea seems familiar, it is: Henry Paulson also pressed for this, to the point of winning congressional approval. But then he abandoned the idea. Why? He learned it could not work.

This is not encouraging. But wait, it gets better:

In short, if we are in a true collapse of finance, our models will not serve. It is then appropriate to reach back, past the postwar years, to the experience of the Great Depression. And this can only be done by qualitative and historical analysis. Our modern numerical models just don’t capture the key feature of that crisis—which is, precisely, the collapse of the financial system.

Here's what Galbraith sees as the ultimate sign that we are on the road to recovery:

... the full restoration of private credit will take a long time. It will follow, not precede, the restoration of sound private household finances. There is no way the project of resurrecting the economy by stuffing the banks with cash will work. Effective policy can only work the other way around.

I agree with this assessment. This will require that we do something about household debt loads across the country (at record highs), and work on putting more money in the hands of labor (increase wage levels).

There's more, but this is a good start. Read the article.

- Mark