START is the new nuclear weapons reduction treaty signed by President Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. Here is what Senate Minority leader, Mitch McConnell (R-KY) had to say about trying to put it to vote in the Senate:
“No senator should be forced to make decisions like this so we can tick off another item on someone's political check list before the end of the year”
I'm sorry, but this takes the cake. Political check list?!?!? I'm sorry, wasn't it you and your party that was checking off its "political checklist" when it made a policy to oppose everything the administration offered? Wasn't it your party who opposed unemployment benefits, an energy bill, healthcare bill, independent contract oversight, rape prevention clauses in contractor agreements, financial overhaul in the worst recession and a whole host of other issues so you could score political points for November?
When was this treaty signed? I think it was....APRIL! So your party has had over 8 months to read over this treaty. You could have offered amendments, points of contention, concerns or any other comment you wanted. But...you chose to wait, filibuster, block, obfuscate, dilly-dally, kick-the-can and sit back on your laurels until the last minute. Then, without taking responsibility for being an obstructionist imbecile, you complain that it is fact...the last minute. Arms reductions treaties have always been bipartisan ideas. Wasn't it your party that has daily prayer sessions to the almighty Ronald Reagan? Yah...that same Reagan who went to Iceland to have arms reductions talks with Russian Premiere Gorbachev? Where do you get the idea that arms reductions are political posturing?!?!
These weapons are tools of a bygone era. This was an era of gunboat diplomacy, brinkmanship, secrecy, containment and war by proxy. Now, we strive for transparency and negotiation over saber rattling. But, this kind of political posturing gets us nowhere. And, I've had enough of the retrogressive politics of the last 2 years.
This should be your new quote, Mitch McConnell. It would make much more sense:
"No senator should be forced to make decisions"
Monday, December 20, 2010
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Compromise
In order to understand national politics, you have to divorce yourself from reality. Politics is a game. This is why we study political science. But, those who don't understand the dynamics of national politics might feel a bit disenfranchised.
It is very understandable to be angry when middle class citizens are having trouble putting food on the table or getting necessary medication when well-off Congressman make seething diatribes, polemics and jeremiads about the principles of fiscal responsibility. Or, when 99ers (those who have exhausted their 99 weeks of unemployment) hear about cutting services to reduce the deficit when they can barely afford to eat. Or maybe when Congressman from states with less people than livestock block much needed money for those who are starving because of their financial principles. For them, damning the ship is fine, if they're already on a lifeboat. There is a definite disconnect between the Hill and the reality in the valley below.
Current national politics are anathema to progress. They have been for the last 1-2 years. For most, this elicited anger towards the Administration and the government. Obama came into office in the Hope that he would Change the course of Washington, as most have tried. He compromised, accommodated, appeased and adjusted. He gave, and they took. And, in November, 2010, they took even more.
Now, what will the Administration do? Do what it does best: Compromise. Republicans took the most vulnerable as hostages by threatening to vote down any unemployment extension, and Obama paid the ransom. Keep the ship afloat if it means negotiating with the pirates. So, he crafted a very Clintonian proposal to cut taxes for those who are making over $250,000/yr for two years, keeping a permanent tax cut for those who are making less than $250,000/yr and increasing the limit on the estate tax from $1 million to $5 million. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) says that most Republicans will fall in line in support of the tax cut. Even the senior fellow at the ultra-conservative American Enterprise Institute has supported the measure. The price-tag: $900 billion over 2 years, of which $300 billion is offset by the stimulus.
In 1996, President Clinton won a second term in a near landslide. He had lost the House and Senate to a Republican insurgency in 1994, led by Newt Gingrich. He cut services, reformed welfare, deregulated the housing industry and compromised to show that he valued progress over principle. Obama is searching for his inner-Clinton.
It is very understandable to be angry when middle class citizens are having trouble putting food on the table or getting necessary medication when well-off Congressman make seething diatribes, polemics and jeremiads about the principles of fiscal responsibility. Or, when 99ers (those who have exhausted their 99 weeks of unemployment) hear about cutting services to reduce the deficit when they can barely afford to eat. Or maybe when Congressman from states with less people than livestock block much needed money for those who are starving because of their financial principles. For them, damning the ship is fine, if they're already on a lifeboat. There is a definite disconnect between the Hill and the reality in the valley below.
Current national politics are anathema to progress. They have been for the last 1-2 years. For most, this elicited anger towards the Administration and the government. Obama came into office in the Hope that he would Change the course of Washington, as most have tried. He compromised, accommodated, appeased and adjusted. He gave, and they took. And, in November, 2010, they took even more.
Now, what will the Administration do? Do what it does best: Compromise. Republicans took the most vulnerable as hostages by threatening to vote down any unemployment extension, and Obama paid the ransom. Keep the ship afloat if it means negotiating with the pirates. So, he crafted a very Clintonian proposal to cut taxes for those who are making over $250,000/yr for two years, keeping a permanent tax cut for those who are making less than $250,000/yr and increasing the limit on the estate tax from $1 million to $5 million. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) says that most Republicans will fall in line in support of the tax cut. Even the senior fellow at the ultra-conservative American Enterprise Institute has supported the measure. The price-tag: $900 billion over 2 years, of which $300 billion is offset by the stimulus.
In 1996, President Clinton won a second term in a near landslide. He had lost the House and Senate to a Republican insurgency in 1994, led by Newt Gingrich. He cut services, reformed welfare, deregulated the housing industry and compromised to show that he valued progress over principle. Obama is searching for his inner-Clinton.
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