Look at this politically: For the last two years, FNC/GOP have painted Obama as the socialist terrorist devil, the reincarnation of Hitler and Stalin mixed with chocolate. He must be stopped!
And they made a deal with him. Imagine McConnell having to go on Sean Hannity and sell to that partisan insane base on why this deal is worth passing.
Hannity is happy about this. McConnell and his crew drew a line in the sand and said they would not discuss or do ANYTHING until they got what they wanted on tax policy. There was nothing more important to them than continuing the "Bush Tax Cuts" (and really if this is signed into law we should drop that name -it will be the Obama tax cuts.) The Republicans and some other people don't see this so much as a deal as they do a dictation of terms. True or not, that is how the Republicans will sell it to their base-not that there's a whole lot they need to sell.
Originally Posted By: ronnierocketAGO
Remember this was the same shit which happened under Clinton, but of course that is the difference, isn't it Lilo? Liberals were just happy that a national Democratic candidate won for once when Bubba won. With Obama, they (or thought at least) smelled a change, a political wash-over as politically impactful (and as mythically fictional) as the Reagan Revolution.
But none the less, Obama has the same opportunity as Bubba to triangulate against the GOP. Doesn't mean he necessarily will, but look at how right wing, even moreso than Dubya's Presidency in some fronts he is on Foreign Policy. A very cynical opinion, but I wonder if a reason behind the Afghanistan escalation was to blunt any GOP/NeoCon criticism of him going soft on the War on Terror. Notice how Obama abandoned the public trials for terrorists.
Or to put it another: Obama effectively made the GOP agree to a Second Stimulus. If this passes, what will the GOP argue in '12?
1) That's kind of my point RR,. Liberals/progressives/etc "The LEFT" swallowed hard and accepted plenty of things they would have been up in arms about if Bush did them. Increased war/claims of increased executive power/civil liberties/DADT/Comprehensive immigration reform/bank bailouts/ etc. Not saying where I stand on those listed-just an example.
They did this in large part because they thought there would be a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. But now someone is telling them shut up eat your broccoli and don't pay any attention to the man behind the curtain, I know what's best. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. The tax cuts were a core issue. Like the Rosato Brothers, the base feels cheated.
2) To the extent that this is a second Stimulus it is one on Republican terms-tax cuts. It's rare that you will find any Republican opposing that. The Republicans who are making noises about not liking this (DeMint, Bachmann) are zooming in on to the extended unemployment benefits and saying they must be paid for or eliminated. If this passes and works Republicans will say, with some justification that their insistence on tax cuts for people earning millions is what saved the economy. If it doesn't work then it's all Obama's fault for not extending the cuts further.
But again I think the takeaway is that when it gets really serious, standing up and saying NO to the President can work. And I think in the future years to come the President will regret sending that message. Not now, but ah a year or two from now..
"When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies but the pack survives." Winter is Coming Now this is the Law of the Jungle—as old and as true as the sky; And the wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the wolf that shall break it must die. As the creeper that girdles the tree-trunk, the Law runneth forward and back; For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.
