Survival of the Fattest 3
Pay attention to their actions; ignore their words.
The Republican definition of “fiscal responsibility” is “make the rich richer and the poor poorer.”
Colbert King:
Well, they are back with another howler — and a reminder why the GOP is no longer the nation’s dominant political party.
This week, House Republicans voted in lock step against President Obama’s economic stimulus package, using as one excuse their deep concern about the impact of government spending on the future debt burden of America’s “children and grandchildren.”
(snip)
In their slavish devotion to Hooverism, today’s Republicans are repeating the mistakes that banished their party to the political wilderness in the ’30s.
Boehner and his colleagues should worry less about what today’s children and grandchildren will inherit from an Obama administration and spend more time trying to undo the present-day lessons taught by business chieftains, to wit, that:
- Need and greed are synonymous. (How else do they give themselves $20 billion in bonuses as their companies sink in a sea of red ink?)
- Government bailouts trump creating and saving jobs.
- Business tax credits are superior to investment in programs that repair holes in the social safety net.
January 31, 2009 at 10:13 am
Rep. Mike Castle is no right wing republican toady. If anything, he has a reputation for not bowing to the republican party leadership. He voted against the House stimulus plan. Eleven democrats also voted against the plan.
“I am concerned that this bill does not represent an effective plan to ensure our economic recovery….This bill merely throws money at the problem by expanding existing programs. We have not taken the time to fully understand the nature and the full scope of the collapse of our economy, and we have not taken the time to understand how to target the problems with innovative solutions.” – Rep. Paul Kanjorsk, D-PA
Small businesses are responsible for creating 80% of the jobs in this country. There is precious little in the House stimulus package to directed to small businesses. I’ll bet the plan that emerges from the Senate will be much different.
January 31, 2009 at 10:23 am
I haven’t heard anything about help for homeowners, either. What they’ve pasted together doesn’t seem complete.
January 31, 2009 at 9:57 pm
There is nothing in the bill to help folks who are upside down or otherwise struggling with their mortgages. Some folks brought that on themselves by using their homes as ATM machines, but that’s a lesson we need to learn from for the future and just move on for now. Rather than targeted tax credits for buying existing homes and/or energy efficient cars and trucks, the House took the easy route: give everything to everybody.
Housing is the engine that drives our economy (it used to be manufacturing and industry, but those days are long gone). Until the housing market is stabilized and folks have mortgages they can live with, no amount of stimulus will help. Throw all the money you want to at “infrastructure” projects, banks, bankrupt state governments, the arts, rural broadband, etc. and you may as well flush it down the toilet…it won’t help.