After getting pounded at the polls in 2006 and 2008, you'd think the Republican Party might be reconsidering its rigid, right-wing, no-compromise, "my-way-or-the-highway" view of things. You'd also think that they would at least TRY to work with a popular new president, at a time of economic crisis and deep distress in the nation, before slapping away his extended hand. Apparently not. Instead, under the "leadership" - and I use the word very loosely - of people like Eric Cantor and Mitch McConnell, the not-so-grand old party has decided that moving further to the rigid right - and saying "no" to anything that isn't to their liking - is the way out of the political wilderness. At one level, that's perfectly fine; if the Republicans want to forfeit all relevance and reduce their electoral prospects, that's their business. At another level, though, the current Republican course of action is deeply irresponsible. As this morning's Roanoke Times writes:
It appears Republicans decided to follow Rush Limbaugh's example, hoping for presidential failure, whatever the consequences to the nation.
The party appears to have made the crass political analysis that its best chance of regaining power is to obstruct Obama's agenda as much as possible. If the economy crashes and burns between now and the 2010 congressional election, the GOP believes it will have a better shot at picking up seats.
That sounds harsh, but it's difficult to conclude otherwise when not a single Republican voted for the economic recovery package in the House of Representatives, and only 3 Republicans - Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins, and Arlen Specter - voted yes in the Senate. It's also difficult to conclude otherwise when they go around touting projects in the same "stimulus" bill they just voted against.
Rep. John Mica was gushing after the House of Representatives voted Friday to pass the big stimulus plan.
"I applaud President Obama's recognition that high-speed rail should be part of America's future," the Florida Republican beamed in a press release.
Yet Mica had just joined every other GOP House member in voting against the $787.2 billion economic recovery plan.
Finally, it's very hard to take the Republicans' objections seriously when they just presided over 8 years of massive spending, massive tax cuts, massive waste, and massive deficits. After that debacle, what possible moral or intellectual base do Republicans have to stand on? A narrow and rickety one, at best.
