Time For The Republicans To Man Up, Already
A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on. Winston Churchill
It’s time for Republicans to put their pants on. When 47% of Americans “somewhat approve of Obama’s handling of the economy†(according to a recent Gallup Poll) it’s obvious that Republicans are lounging around in their underwear.
The MSM routinely puts this president’s best foot foreword, even when it is located in his mouth, but Republicans have done little to counter the tefloning of Obama.
It’s not necessary for Republicans to emulate Democrats’ vicious videos of old ladies being thrown off cliffs. They do not need to stoop to conquer. All they need do is publicize this administration’s record, loudly, aggressively and continuously.
They could begin by enumerating the prevarications in the president’s recent statements regarding himself, the deficit and the budget. His pretense of deficit leadership after three years of refusing to admit there is a problem is almost funny, but obviously the American people are not laughing.
As late as February of 2011, the president submitted a 2012 budget that failed to garner a single vote in the Democrat controlled Senate. By April, the budget was lost in the media memory hole and Obama was singing a different song. This time he proposed a plan to reduce the deficit. However, his “plan†was so lacking in specifics that the Congressional Budget Office refused to evaluate it.
Republicans could also point out that the law1 requires a presidential budget, but Senate Democrats haven’t passed one in two years.
Or Republicans could examine the results of the nearly $666 billion dollars spent on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) since 2009, and the 2.4 million jobs it created, according to the Seventh Annual Report of the White House’s Council of Economic Advisers.
The Weekly Standard did the math and concluded “a cost to taxpayers of $278,000 per job.”
In other words, the government could simply have cut a $100,000 check to everyone whose employment was allegedly made possible by the ‘stimulus,’ and taxpayers would have come out US$427 billion ahead.
However, sans Weekly Standard numbers, which were vigorously challenged by Democrats, the official Report is underwhelming. Unemployment went up during the stimulus period from 7.3 percent to 9.1 percent – (remember the president promised 8%). The US national debt rose from US$9.986 trillion to US$14.467 trillion and is expected to rise even further in the future.
In short, there is plenty of ammunition with which to stoke Republican cannons.
More than the nation’s credit rating is at stake. The real battle is over the size of the federal government. The president wants to keep spending and increasing the power of government to dictate everything from access to medical treatment to the light bulbs Americans will be allowed to purchase.
The truth will set us free, but only if it is known.
1The Budget and Accounting Act of 1921. Notwithstanding, the unchallenged unconstitutionality of this Act (Congress is supposed to set the budget), it is the one put in place by the Democrats themselves, and the rules they have chosen to operate under. Section 201. “The President shall transmit to Congress on the first day of each regular session, the Budget, which shall set forth in summary and in detail: …”
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7 comments
I sense a certain amount of frustration in the tone of this post Marcia. I too feel the same. The message is simple. Obama’s record is all you need and yet the Republicans appear to be struggling to make their point.
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Powerline reports the July 14th vote of “40 Republicans to sustain Senator Jeff Sessions’ point of order objecting to the Democrats’ violation of the Congressional Budget Act by passing an appropriation bill when there is no federal budget in place. The Republicans voted for legal process, for transparency and for honesty in budgeting. Every Democrat voted to violate the Congressional Budget Act. Four Republicans who presumably can be counted on to vote for legality were not present.
The implication of today’s vote is that it will be hard for the Democrats to get the necessary 60 votes for cloture on any future illegal spending measures. The federal government has now been operating contrary to law for more than two years without a budget. Is it finally time to say that the Democrats’ feckless, scofflaw ways are catching up with them?” We can only hope!
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It’s something I can’t understand either, Marcia. The Democrats have given the Republicans much ammunition to fight with, yet it seems they really don’t want to load the gun. It’s as if they are scared of how it will make them look and as a result, they are continually behind and trying to catch up.
As for the number of Americans who “somewhat approve” of Obama’s handling of the economy, I stand amazed at the number of people who still try to lay all of this at the feet of George W. Bush. I know the man made some mistakes, but come on. There was a comment on one of my debt ceiling/spending posts the other day that wanted to know where we were when Bush was raising the debt ceiling and spending so much money. He also wanted to know why we failed to raise a fuss when Bush was “using fear mongering” to shore up support for his war in Iraq.
It is clear that many people simply do not want to place any of the blame at the feet of President Obama. In spite of the evidence, the refuse to see the man for what he has done and is doing.
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‘The MSM routinely puts this president’s best foot foreword, even when it is located in his mouth”
Great line, Marcia. The MSM is the propaganda ministry of the Democratic Party–they’re all Jackasses.
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I also believe that most of the Republicans are dropping the ball about this whole problem with the American public. Obama wasn’t the president when this economic mess started but his way out hasn’t been working. He spent more money than anyone in the history of the United States with no results. Does anybody think that the Democrats and Obama would even be considering cuts in the budget if they still controlled the house? There would probably be another stimulus, tax hikes for sure and so on. The problem is the new members of the House and the Senate are the ones talking tough about making the changes needed while the rest do nothing. Bush expanded the size of Government, Obama is just doubling down on the size and scope of government. The Republicans have a chance to change the course of this Country, Boehner has his chance at history and the big question is will they fail us once again.
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In as far as the Republicans taking their case to the American people, nothing has changed. I’ve been saying for at least 20 years they should do more to educate the public. For instance, running ads throughout the year (not just during campaigns) explaining the issues and revealing the facts. Also, don’t preach to the choir. Run the ads on BET and Univision. Run them during Oprah, sporting events, soap operas and the like. Reach Joe Sixpack. Reach Joan Sixpack. Search for and engage the people who aren’t engaged (in a political sense). One would think with conservative talk radio, the Republicans could do a better job of getting their message out and making a larger impact at winning minds. Then theres social media, apparently so powerful, it is said to be responsible for the overthrow of governments in the Middle East. The only reason I can conclude for this decades-old and continual ineptness is a lack of commitment to the message.
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I am told that the Republicans lack the union money base of the Democrats, but it seems to me they can do a better job even so, and time is running out. To quote the president, “If not now, when?”
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