Filibustering the recovery
The GOP is the party of "no" to everything. Steve Benen:
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ken.) recently said his Republican caucus would not filibuster an economic stimulus package. McConnell, alas, appears to have it backwards.
U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Tuscaloosa, said he is prepared to filibuster the proposed economic stimulus bill, but fears enough Republicans will side with Senate Democrats to override any attempt to block the bill’s passage.
Shelby’s remarks came during a county meeting Monday morning at the Wiregrass Rehabilitation Center in Dothan.
The Senate is expected to debate a proposed $900 billion stimulus bill this week. A similar measure passed the House last week. Shelby said the plan will not provide the quick boost the economy needs.
"Are we prepared to filibuster? Hope so," Shelby said. "But I’m afraid we may have two or three (Republicans) that might jump ship."
It’s not just Shelby. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) told NPR the other day that he expects a Republican filibuster on the stimulus package; Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) said he sees a filibuster as "possible"; and Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), asked if he would support a filibuster, said, "I would be a part of it."
So, Senate Republicans not only want to oppose a rescue package in the midst of a serious recession, they want to prevent the chamber from even voting on it. This is their strategy, despite the severity of the crisis, despite the tax cuts in the plan, despite the calls from Republican governors, despite Obama’s outreach, despite the endorsements from economists and the business community, and despite the fact that so much is at stake.
Got it.
Update: Looks like Elana Schor had the Shelby story first.
Since the time of Ronald Reagan, the Republican party has had essentially only 3 policies:
1. Deregulation
2. Big Defense budgets
3. Tax cuts
We all know the consequences of those policies. What I find interesting is that the Dept. of Defense cannot account for hundreds of billions of dollars because it does not have a good accounting system, and yet DoD gets significant increases in its appropriations every year, and no one is pushing them to get their bookkeeping right.
As for the Republican party, its base continues to shrink. Excellent column written by Rich published in the NY Times is a good read; go to “Opinion” to find it on the Times site. Rich identifies Rush Limbaugh as the party’s de facto leader, and that’s not far from the truth. The Republican party is becoming less and less relevant.
Jack
3 February 2009 at 5:12 am