Back at Home, Congressional Republicans Praise Projects in Stimulus Bill They Opposed

I think the GOP is a party in complete disarray.
Many of these fools – Hoekstra, et al., are in deep trouble come 2010. I can see the commercials already. “Rep. Pete Hoekstra opposed one of the largest middle-class tax cuts in history.” Or this one, “He was against it before he was for it! Flip Flop!”
With “Man Tan” Boehner and Eric “The Weasel” Cantor in the lead, the GOP is STILL going down in flames.

I agree with Maybee. I can’t wrap my head around either Think Progress of Maddow’s analogy.

I am going to take full advantage of them. I think that is a better analogy than Maddow’s, and I bet there are plenty of dems and liberals who take also take full advantage of IRS provisions with which they disagree on policy grounds without giving it a second thought.
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John F- that is a great comparison.

I bet there are plenty of dems and liberals who take also take full advantage of IRS provisions with which they disagree
Oh, don’t be absurd. Democrats don’t pay taxes.

BECAUSE for an elected official who’s job is to work for their constituents along side others who are in the same boat,if a bill benefits their state don’t you think they should have some skin in the game? OH, let’s take advantage of the system but decry it’s excesses as well.
If you want to benefit from the bill, you put some skin in the game!! If the bill was too big, SEND THE MONEY BACK! If their was to much spending in the bill, SEND IT BACK!!
Have the moral COURAGE to stand for what you believe in!! It took COURAGE to vote for this bill, some of these officials risk their jobs to vote for it but, THEY DID IT and that’s a value that ALL OF US should encourage.

John F:
While your analogy sounds incredibly reasonable, I think it misses a HUGE point. What they did, lacks COURAGE!!
It took COURAGE to vote for this stimulus bill and this is a value which should be rewarded, NOT punished for. You and I both know in this bill will be used AGAINST official’s or as a reward to those the voted AGAINST the bill yet their constituents reaped the benefits.
Shameless.
Official’s who voted for it DIDN’T agree with aspect to the bill but, voted for it!! My point is that if you voted against the bill because it was too large, SEND IT BACK!! If you voted for it because of the PORK, SEND IT BACK!!

Jake, is there no coverage of this issue in the conservative, moderate, or nonpartisan press? At the very least I would think the conservative press might be interested in analyzing their actions and statements from that viewpoint. I though Pawlenty acquitted himself well on the Maddow show, without condemning people who disagreed with him. Rather a breath of fresh air. (As is Maddow’s ability to listen to, rather than talk over, her guests.)

JD, I googled “RAT board” and got nothing (nothing!) but right wing blogs and news outlets. That makes me suspicious; real news gets broad coverage, despite the claims of media conspiracy theorists. I am tired of specious stories (Pelosi’s mouse, Obama’s birth certificate, Palin’s baby not being hers) clogging up the internets and making people stupid. So maybe it’s also a meme? It could also be an unreported story. But if a story stays in the right- or left- blogosphere and media, my bs alarm goes off.
I hope Jake covers right wing memes, just like the liberal ones. But some even-handed reporting on memes/rumors/urban myths of all stripes would be welcome! That’s if you believe in a well-informed citizenry as the main purpose of a free press…

Tobias –
I agree with you, and I don’t expect the GOP districts to refuse the help. But what about taking credit for something you voted against? Or claiming to have acquired something for your district that you went on Fox or MSNBC to rail against?

The taxpayers in red states are by LAW going to be paying for the projects in this bill. Therefore, it’s acceptable for them to take the money.. as they are paying the bills long term. The only way refusing money would make sense is if the citizens of the state would NOT BE on the hook to pay it back.. which is not possible of course.
How many liberals that complained about republican tax cuts sent more money in April to the government out of protest? There is your answer.

How about if the red states only get their own tax dollars back? It doesn’t seem fair for them to have to hold their noses and get more than their share. Nashville_fan, can you let “a reader in ga” know what that might be?

I don’t fault the govs for taking the money even if some had opposed it from the start. There is a bit of hypocrisy and a good deal of politics. What I object to is the lack of a constructive alternative proposal on the part of the GOP, one that would be supported by economists. When u have people like Rep Sessions bragging about learning from the Taliban and Rep. Bachmann going off on radio in her own inimitable way, I think u have an issue. What exactly does someone like Eric Cantor bring to the table? How exactly will Newt’ cutting capital gains tax help us out of the present economic crisis?
The segment is Maddow’s ongoing series on the GOP in exile, their earch for meaning. The existential theme obviously nods to the theater of the absurd, a wonderful and smart take on our political climate from a progressive pt of view.
Somewhat off topic. I was extremely impressed with Pawlenty during the election cycle and thought he would have been a viable candidate. The one thing that disturbs me is his believe in Intelligent Design (as told to Browkaw on MTP). I know this is not an oddity in the GOP (didn’t 3 candidates rej the theory of evo in one of the early debates? Huckabee= I’m not a primate), but if anyone meets Gov Pawlenty in the future, pls buy him a copy of Kenneth Miller’s Finding Darwin’s God or Only a Theory. If time is of limit, pls refer him to the PBS NOVA documentary on the Dover trial.

I guess it’s as relevant as you want it to be. I take it you are opposed to progressive personal taxes but in favor of progressive stimulus packages?

reader in ga said: “How many liberals that complained about republican tax cuts sent more money in April to the government out of protest? There is your answer”
Thats so funny, and true…

“So are progressive taxes now a bad thing?
What are we calling a person or a group’s share of taxes these days?
Considering the latest stimulus plan gleefully gives checks to people who don’t pay taxes, and doesn’t give them to people who pay lots of taxes, how is talking about a “fair share” even relevant anymore?
Posted by: MayBee
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Maybee,
I don’t personally believe that it will ever be possible for a completely fair system. However, I do have a problem with Republican leaders railing against something that they are already benefitting from.
It gives the impression that Federal spending is only bad when the are not on the receiving end.

T Pawlenty sounds like a pretty intelligent man and gives very good reasons for not liking the bill that was created (it was sloppy, thats a fact) but of course they should take it if the tax payers in his state are paying for it anyway.

Thanks, Nashville! very uselful and informative. Georgia reader, you’re in luck — you got $1.01 for every tax dollar you paid in 2005. Not sure how the stimulus will work out for you. But at least in recent years, you are breaking even. Not so lucky if you live in New Jersey — for every $1.00 in federal taxes they pay, they get .61 in federal funding.
For the record, I’m all for progressive taxation and progressive federal funding. But like most folks, I dislike it when the recipient bites the hand that feeds them. Or takes credit for the pork after claiming to despise it.

JD, that right wing chatter is highly disingenous. This is the full relevant text, note especially the “independent authority of an inspector general to determine whether to conduct an audit or investigation of covered funds” under (a):
SEC. 1527. INDEPENDENCE OF INSPECTORS GENERAL.
(a) Independent Authority.–Nothing in this subtitle shall affect the independent authority of an inspector general to determine whether to conduct an audit or investigation of covered funds.
(b) Requests by Board.–If the Board requests that an inspector general conduct or refrain from conducting an audit or investigation and the inspector general rejects the request in whole or in part, the inspector general shall, not later than 30 days after rejecting the request, submit a report to the Board, the head of the applicable agency, and the congressional committees of jurisdiction, including the Committees on Appropriations of the Senate and House of Representatives. The report shall state the reasons that the inspector general has rejected the request in whole or in part. The inspector general’s decision shall be final.

One Fine Day:”They said, trim it down.”
And it was trimmed down by 7-17% (depending if you consider substituting in the AMT patch, a bipartisan priority that is normally done as a separate bill). Yet not one single Republican house member thought that enough. They didn’t want a little compromise, they were demanding complete capitulation of the majority to their radical Republican tax-cut doctrine (which has been in power for 8 years with poor results).

One Fine Day: “They never suggested all or nothing. They said, trim it down.”
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You are incorrect.
36 Republican Senators voted for the DeMint Amendment. That amendment would have substited the ENTIRE Bill with TAXCUTS.
It also would have added between 2.5 – 3.1 TRILLION to the National Debt in the next decade. Hardly “trimming it down” now, is it?
Want to check? It’s S.Amdt. 168 to S.Amdt. 98 to H.R. 1 (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009).

No one knows what this Bill will do to the Country for at least 18-24 months or longer most of the jobs that will be created is temporary/short term..
Posted by: Parallax View
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PV, when you are laid off from a good paying job, with a family to support, a huge mortgage and without health insurance.
What do you think you’ll do when you are offered that “temporary/short term” of 18/24 months job, with prospects of staying whith that employer when the economy starts rolling again?
Are you going to say: “Nah, leave it, it’s only temporary”?

It gives the impression that Federal spending is only bad when the are not on the receiving end.
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aha!
This is why it was so important politically for Obama to keep making the false claim that Republicans didn’t want to do anything.
The Republican stance was not that any Federal spending in the stimulus was bad.
It was that *this bill* in its entirety was poorly conceived and would be more expensive than stimulative. My guess is they were right about that. We’ll see.

William–”36 Republican Senators voted for the DeMint Amendment. That amendment would have substited the ENTIRE Bill with TAXCUTS.
It also would have added between 2.5 – 3.1 TRILLION to the National Debt in the next decade. Hardly “trimming it down” now, is it?”– I agree with only part of your statement– tis true that many senators agreed with the demint Amendment but where do you get your figures of 2.5 to 3 trillion dollars? Most of the rider bills were significantly less expensive than the “Stimulus” package was.. in fact Idaho Democrat Minnick post a bill that also cut out all but the tax breaks and a smaller portion of the infrastructure and its price tag was $174 billion ..way below the 819 billion of the accepted package.. exactly how would a bill containing only tax cuts cost 2.5 to 3 trillion?? was it going to give everyone ALL their taxes back???

William van–”What do you think you’ll do when you are offered that “temporary/short term” of 18/24 months job, with prospects of staying whith that employer when the economy starts rolling again?
Are you going to say: “Nah, leave it, it’s only temporary”– I think you misunderstood the post.. the bill will not create temporary jobs that will “bridge the gap” until the economy starts riolling again.. the jobs created will not be SEEN for at least 24 months and then most will be temporary.. so in affect.. you will have to wait 24 months before that offer is likely to surface.. and then it will be only temporary… not so good wouldn’t you say??

Dee–”Republicans know that the constituents in their districts would skin them alive if they turn down hundreds of millions of dollars that could bring much needed aid to their states! (see Bobby Jindal of Louisiana)”– interesting that you should use Jindel as an example.. for the last two years Bush was bashed for not releasing more money to NO because they still had not affectively rebuilt. Yet this bill give NO money for Katrina infrastructure AND amazingly enough Mary Landreu (D) is now publicly saying that its okay because they don’t really need it..hummm- Damn bush for not giving us everything we wanted, but thats okay Obama.. we didn’t really need it anyway…

Santelli’s Chicago Tea Party
Here is the speech of the YEAR and maybe we need to throw some tea in the Chicago River.
The trading floor buzz on whether the government’s plan to save the economy will actually help the markets, with Jason Roney, Sharmac Capital; Wilbur Ross Jr., WL Ross & Co. and CNBC’s Rick
Take that Obama Tea Drinkers!!!!

Angie–okay here short for ya.. I don’t “follow Limbaugh” if i think something is wrong I back up what I say with facts.. Can you say that?

I think Mr. Pawlenty speaks with a forked tongue.

chicago bob– I heard clips from Santelli’s tea party Speech and it was great.. the people on wall street were cheering… I also heard that Obama got booed by HIGH SCHOOL HONOR students in New Mexico for what he was saying.. its great that High Schoolers can even see through the idiocy…

jhw539–”I suppose you mean people who don’t pay federal, non-payroll income taxes. So many people have corrected you on this over the last week that I can only assume you’re deliberately distorting at this point or enjoy the attention telling lies gets you”– actually, anyone who corrrected her in it was INCORRECT themselves.. she’s right.. there is no requsite for having actually paid any net taxes to receive a check..

John–”Shame on any Republican who will accept the money. No excuse! Stick with what you did.”– so that means that all the democrats out there who oppose tax cuts as a method of stimulating the economy should NOT accept the check they will be receiving??

“there is no requsite for having actually paid any net taxes to receive a check”
So checks will just be sent out to every Social Security number?
Do right wingers ever consider the absurdity of their talking points or are they counting on an unquestioning audience?

Dee,
You make their constituent’s seem unreasonable, even close-minded. If their constiuents actually need the money, isn’t that a reason to vote for it? If that reason isn’t good enough, why then take the money?
I know this seems simplistic and unrealistic but, this method of benefiting from the courage of others which has been used by both parties rewards people for NOT working together. It allows lawmakers to deceive us. The solutions to our problems are and never was as simple as either party likes to portray.
In my opinion this is a HUGE reason why Congress hasn’t taken care of the massive problems we’ve faced and will continue to tackle in the future.
You want to stand for something, it’s your right but, accept the consequences.
That’s a core American value and one that we should hold our congressmen and congresswoman accountable to.

No Democrat opposed tax cut. Democrat only opposes tax cut for big corporations and the top 10%.

Republican Congress actions now reminds me what John McCain said in his presidential campain: COUNTRY FIRST. Everybody understand that is ME FIRST.

John–”Shame on any Republican who will accept the money. No excuse! Stick with what you did.”– so that means that all the democrats out there who oppose tax cuts as a method of stimulating the economy should NOT accept the check they will be receiving??
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This isn’t a democrat vs. republican issue, 7 or 8 house democrats voted against the bill as well. Also, we don’t have the ability to rewind time but, we do have the ability to do better.
This is about being held accountable.

TV | Feb 19, 2009 2:55:31 PM….can u b a little more specific?

TV–give your definition of “real american people” please…

So Pawlenty’s argument is that the stimulus bill had some good stuff in it but was not perfect so the repubs didn’t support it. Instead they spent weeks bashing it as much as possible from the media soundbites, and now are crooning to their respective districts or states about the portions that are good that they did not vote for. It is pretty much an about face in their rhetoric, a little hypocritcal, and frankly was completely expected. The repubs voted no because they knew it would pass with Dem votes. Imagine what would have been the reaction by voters if this bill had failed to pass in the Senate and it was because of republicans obstructing it. This stimulus bill was supported by more of the American people then otherwise, and a the repubs would then be seen as actively wanting this crisis to worsen. No bill was going to be perfect no matter who crafted it, and all the repubs are doing now is playing politcal games.

I noted in the news this morning that some Republican governors are thinking seriously of not accepting the stimulus money for their states—of course the legislatures can override the governor—so they are going to check on what they and only they have control over so they can reject that part of the package—very interesting indeed!

Ordermonger-”This stimulus bill was supported by more of the American people then otherwise, and a the repubs would then be seen as actively wanting this crisis to worsen. No bill was going to be perfect no matter who crafted it, and all the repubs are doing now is playing politcal games”– Some may be, but most are just trying to alleviate some of the concerns in their districts.. the republicans had not say in this.. they were not even involved int the ceconsiliation of the two (house and senate) bills. And for the record, at the time of its signing this bill WAS not supported by more americans than were against it.. the last rassmussen polls showed between 53% and 67 % AGAINST this bill.. and on the point of political games.. the WH office of economics predicts that this recession will run its own course in 2-3 years with no outside influence.. so a bill gets passed that has no real stimulative affect for over 2 years.. at best.. basically the dems passed an expensive bill that has no immediate effect on a recession that will be over by the time anything in the bill becomes a factor just so they can say “our plan worked”… sounds like the repubs are not the only one’s playing politics..

ArkieVet,
I would counter that the republicans got quite abit of input into this bill, moreso that is normal for the minority party and much much more then the repubs gave Dems in 2000 or 2004. The republicans got quite a few things removed from the bill in spending as well as quite a few tax cuts added after Obama talked with them, they just neglected to mention these things. A tax cut only bill like the repubs probably wanted was just not going to get the job done. Tax cuts are not as good as keeping people steadily employed with well paying jobs. If you create a job with stimulus money people will have that money to spend, and not worry about their paychecks, and even pay back a portion of that money in taxes. Tax cuts however are money the government never sees again, add to the deficit (especially any permanent tax cuts), and most people do not see enough money back to make them comfortable spending it, with both businesses and people pocketing or saving most of it.

Deanbob,
I believe that the idea that you have to pay CEOs ungodly sums of money to get a good one is a flat out myth. Many of the major companies have been using retread CEOs because of name recognition. The CEO works at one place, gets his name known, moves on to a more lucrative contract. Part of the problem is that many of these mega corporation frankly need to be broken up into smaller pieces as no one, even a high paid CEO, can run such a huge monstrosity of a corporation in an efficient manner. I guess what I am saying is that most of these CEOs are ineffective at best, but are paid huge sums of money despite it. These large businesses have too many cracks and inefficiencies, and the CEOs are too interested in running them to make immediate profits instead of long term stable growth. They want to look as successful as possible, as fast as possible, so they can sign a better contract at a new place even if they cook the books and hurt long term stability of the company. Better to promote from within the ranks someone who understands how things work in a particular oraganization.

Ordermonger– actaully Obama never spoke with either the republicans or the dems on this bill and while a few items were removed, during reconsilliation, the republicans were not even allowed to participate so on the final bill that was passed – they had 0 input..

Ordermonger–” also believe that the tax cuts generating jobs was shown to be a myth under Bush. We had 8 yrs of tax cuts to corporations and businesses under Bush and despite this we lost jobs during that time, and that is before you even take into account the current economic crisis and the job loss over the last few months”– osorry thats not correct.. the Bush tax cuts that were initiated in 2002 and 2003 created 6 million jobs.. unemployment rose only marginally between 04 and 07 ant that was primarily because the democratically held congress (after 06) refused any additional cuts. Additionally, inflation remained fairly constant throughout that time…

“the Bush tax cuts that were initiated in 2002 and 2003 created 6 million jobs.. unemployment rose only marginally between 04 and 07 ant that was primarily because the democratically held congress (after 06) refused any additional cuts. Additionally, inflation remained fairly constant throughout that time…
- arkie vet
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You’re kidding, right?
The Congress cannot do anything without the President’s signature, so please spare me the “democratically held Congress” canard.
And those 6 million jobs (if that is an accurate number) sure did disappear fast – it’s almost as if the house of cards the Republicans built with their deregulated nightmare came crashing down or something. Strange.
Can you explain away the financial impact of the Iraq War too?

Amazing what a little hypocrisy can do for the GOP’s sense of being sore losers who substitute grandstanding for positive work during a time of crisis. They were all on the evening news opposing all of the Stimulus package and cursing Obama and the Democrats and boycotting the process then lying and saying the Democrats had excluded them from it. But oh boy, now looky, when they get back home, you won’t see any of them refusing to take the money for their public relations image and acting as if they were the ones who procured it for their states to get jobs, even while they called Obama a socialist and a pork barreler, and opposed the Stimulus plan on every nightly news program and daily political talk show on television (before its passage)and even now the GOP grandstanding governors of several states like Alaska, Mississippi, Idaho, South Carolina and who all else, are loudly making a big show of saying they’ll refuse any of the Stimulus money even though we all know their state legislatures will overrule these governors and be eager to get it to help with their state’s budget deficit….The GOP has become the hard right rump party, the Granstanding, Obstructionist Party, and they remind me of “The Little Red Hen”: when Little Red Hen asked “who will help me make bread?” they all replied to her “not I”….but when the bread was done…she asked “who will help me eat it?” And they came all said, “I will” and wanted to eat it. So it is with these hypocrites. They will oppose Obama to the ‘nth’ degree, but when time comes to share in the benefits that come to their states, when they do, they will all try to take credit for what people in their states get.

Ordermonger– look at it historically.. Hoover’s mismanagement was led by increased taxes.. Roosevelt’s spending and expansion of the government has now been examined by UCLA economists (not exactly a conservative institution) and it has been determined that the depression would have been over in 4-5 years were it not for roosevelts policies which drug it out for over 10.. in fact were it not for the onset of WW2 which rallied domestic production for the war effort, it might very well have lasted years longer than it did.. afte 8 years of roosevelt policy, unemployment had INCREASED by 6%. Move to the present.. Kennedy did a great job with the economy economically paying for the massive expense of NASA and expanding the military while holding the standard of living for everyone.. he did it by CUTTING TAXES.. in fact, if you read Kennedy’s stance on most domestic issues.. it reads far more republican than democrat.. lower taxes, less governemtn, strong military, socially conservative.. then look at Carter.. Spending and government expansion caused huigh unemployment and very high inflation.. reagans tax cuts brought unemployment down from Carter 115 to just above 6%… When the Dot com industry crashed in 98, it eroded teh support for the increased taxes under Clinton and as a result we lost 6.8 million jobs.. Bush’s tax cuts restored most of them (6 million) and held inflation in check until the latest mortgage crisis basically rewrote our economy and continues to do so.. Sorry, but History tells me that tax cut do and have always worked, while increased spending NEVER has…

GOP = HYPOCRITES
They vote NO on the bill but are going to take the money anyway? How unethical is that? Kudos to the 3 Republicans that did vote for it, one being our PA Senator, Arlen Specter.

Ordermonger–”After 8 years of FDR there was a small increase in unemployment(to 6% as you say, which was still much much better then during the great depression) because he did not renew many New Deal programs in order to appease republicans concerned about the deficit.” — you mis read me.. I said it had increaced BY 6%.. In 29 when the market crashed the unemployment rate was 14%.. in 38 after all Rossevelts policies (the New deal) had been inplace for at least 2 years.. the unemployment rate was 20%.. and that AFTER such entities as the TVA and CCC camps were in place to manage “infrastructure” jobs..

Jwench–actually no I would say that.. dems have often voted against tax cuts but taken the money.. i have no problem with that.. that does not mean thatif they take money, democrats should agree that the bill as a whole is good.. just like dems can take tax rebates wtihout agreeing that they think those rebates are helpful…

Ordermonger–by the way.. i am going to get off here soon, and i wanted to say before i forgot.. that i appreciate the dialogue i have had with you. I dislike the hate mongers and bitter diatribes of both sides on here and prefer real discourse.. You and I don’t seem to agree on much, but the intelligent banter has been nice…for a change..

the GOP was fine with a bailout last fall, when they could have taken credit for it!

Saha–”the GOP was fine with a bailout last fall, when they could have taken credit for it!
“– actaully no.. a majority of republicans opposed that bailout as well just not as strong of a majority as was opposed to this one…

Shannon–”Truth is, I respect those who stand on principle and don’t think that every bill opposed means exemption but, THIS bill was important! Solving this crisis will take more than money, it will require CONFIDENCE in the economy and the government in charge. “– Your comment is well taken and i agree in part.. but disagre in part as well.. placing the government IN CHARGE as you say is not only the wrong thing to do, its not what the founders of this country intended for us.. Placing the PEOPLE in charge will correct this country’s problems.. that is the difference in principle that makes most republicans opose a government spending plan that takes this much control away from the people…

Gotta go folks.. thanks for the banter Ordermonger and Shannon.. and you too Jwench (please reread it).. Stay the course mmonroe and deanbob..
And everyone have a great day.. remember things are bad now, but they are still better here than anywhere else..

Nashville fan– thats true some do.. pocket the money and lay off workers anyway.. but those companies fail rather than grow.. we can not control business – we have no right to do so in a free economy.. businesses that use good sense prosper and over time those are the one’s that stimulate the economy… and create lasting jobs..
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What do you have to say about Citibank or AIG? I’m just saying it isn’t as rosy as you may believe. These tax breaks are also used to pay wages for people who live overseas.
Don’t get me wrong, global trading is good for everyone in the world including us but, don’t you think we as a nation would be better served if we spent more tax money in education and reduce the amount of tax breaks so that the vast majority of us can compete in a global market? What are your thoughts about healthcare?

the average number of jobs projected over the next two years to be created by the bill in Republican-held districts exceeds those of Democratic-held districts by 418 jobs per district, 8,185 to 7,767.

If the Republicans are hypocrites then surely you agree that the Democrats who voted for the Iraq war and then denounced it are hypocrites as well, no?

“Why no mention of the protests Obama faced in Phoenix and Denver? In Phoenix alone, more than 500 people showed up to protest the stimulus bill. The media should reflect reality and the reality is that people are mad about this stimulus bill.”
ROFLMAO…right wingers mad that their latest Brooks Brothers riot doesn’t get coverage!

How many national level or upper state level politicians can you name who aren’t millionaires? They simply don’t have a clue about how we the people live or the difficulties we face when they screw up. How many congressmen haven’t increased their wealth many times over during their tenures or more often after holding a political office? Politicians work the pay to play game daily. The corruption is so widespread it’s taken for granted. No one is in a position to point their finger at the other guy. There’s a mutual admiration society among members of the legal profession that makes up all three branches of our government today. They are in each other’s faces when the cameras are on but they’re at the country club backslapping each other and buying each other drinks and dinner after hours. Gratuities for their favors follow them all the days of their lives. Politicians today are on the same level and practice the same habits for which the Wall Street CEO’s have come under such criticism. So much pay whether they are successful or not that they have the audacity to expect even more than the sinfully lururious benefits package that follows them through life for their hard labor. Problem is this will never be changed because they are the ones who make and enforce the rules. We must change our government since they won’t change. It’s up to us. Any ideas? The pitchfork and torch with tar and feathers approach may become necessary but isn’t there some civil manner of resolving this problem? Yes there is. My best offer is to vote for other than the incumbent every time there’s an election. But we’d lose the valuable leadership of senior congressmen you say. I say keep our politicians changed regularly like babies. Keep the roster fresh lest they become part of the entrenched corruption. Most importantly we must vote out the entrenched corruption, those senior leaders who oversee the corruption. Maybe if we limit them to two term limits with our votes they will get the message that term limits are what we want. An across the board “other than the incumbent” vote would certainly send the message that we’re tired of party politics. Will you join me? No it’s not just a trick to get the dems out. I’m saying let’s do it over and over again until we’ve purged all the dirt. Even then we’ll need to keep up the good work.

I believe I predicted just this outcome..You might try applying this to the mortgage crisis too.. Even if you are keeping up with your mortgage payments today-the likelyhood-of continuing job losses across the board in business is evident-we have not hit bottom yet-and you who so loudly denounce your worthless neighbors for getting help, will in all likelyhood be willing to take it when its your turn-and it will be…

“My analogy is this. I pay my taxes to support my local police. But it doesn’t mean that I would buy stuff from a crooked cop that was heisting stuff out of an evidence locker or something.”
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Maddow’s analogy falls short. Stolen stuff from a crooked cop, whether you want it or not, is illegal.
The stimulus bill is now the law. Any proceeds from the bill, whether you supported the bill or not, are legal.

for years I have been out spoken about local politicians bragging about projects that are paid for with federal money. it is like they don’t know their local voters pay federal taxes? in the poorer area’s that may be so. the left thinks they have some huge mandate to create a socialist utopia. take away the99% black vote, and the union vote and they wouldn’t have won. the right wing voters who stayed home as McCain wasn’t right wing enough must be real proud now?

“This country is what is going down in flames, not the GOP.”
Actually, the GOP completely went down in flames. But the one thing it had going for it was that the Bush Administration left such a mess that all the party needed to do was wait until Obama was in office for a few weeks and rally around the cause of now blaming him for the mess and for all aggressive moves he wants to make to fix things. Presto! Instant party unity.

Where’s the internet use and transparency Obama promised during his campaign?

Protesting doesn’t make the news anymore because the networks sold out too Obama and his crew. They are still trying to picture PTOUS as a saint, but in reality, the masses of citizens know the difference. Eventually, its going to blow! Lies always do.

American Pie–”I don’t see anyone praising this bill. They may be pointing out some areas where it isn’t as lousy as most of it is, but I don’t see any praise for it.”– my point exactly.. a liberally slanted piece of so called journalism (note the title “Republicans praise stimlus bill they opposed”) consitst of 6 examples of republicans who identified singular portions of the bill that would help the people of their state.. only 6.. not one single one of these republicans went so far at to say that they now agreed with even a significant part of the bill they opposed and not one single one of them declared that they would now change their support.. this article is simply trying to paint a picture that does not exist..