By
now, you’ve heard about the MASSIVE and PATHETIC Pity Party the Republicans held in a
Washington, D.C. steakhouse on January 20, 2009 – the same evening Barack and
Michelle Obama made the rounds as The First Couple on Inauguration Night to celebrate him being
sworn in as the 44th President of the United States and the FIRST
African-American to be elected to the office in the history of the nation. There was an estimated 2 million people in
Washington, D.C. on Inauguration Day who personally witnessed the swearing in
to office of the nation’s first black president. Not everyone in Washington was in a festive
mood Inauguration Night 2009. Especially
those attending the Mother of ALL Pity Parties. The party of alienation and regressive
politics just couldn’t understand WHY they didn’t win the White House
in 2008. I wonder how much thought they
gave to the fact their nominee in 2008, John McCain,
chose the biggest empty suit in politics and a complete IMBECILE as his running
mate (Sarah Palin). There were enough sensible voters to know
that he obviously had lost velocity off his political fastball when he chose
that NITWIT
as a running mate. In a piece I wrote
back in September (Will the obstruction plot Republicans hatched on January 20, 2009 pay off in the 2014 midterm elections?), I
mentioned ALL the WHINERS who attended the Pity
Party. These whiners made the decision
to NULLIFY
a national election by obstructing the newly inaugurated president at every
turn. Democrats had the White House, the majority in the Senate and the House. The electorate decided it wanted to follow a
progressive agenda. The WHINERS
didn’t care. They hedged their bets on
obstruction paying off. They were
successful. In the 2010 midterms, the
Republicans became the majority in the House and picked up seats in the
Senate. In 2012, they thought they had
placed Barack Obama on the ropes going into the general election. Where they crossed themselves up was
nominating the biggest political CHARLATAN to come along (Mitt Romney) since Conrad Bean, Robert De Niro’s
sleazy character in the movie “Wag the Dog”. Romney
didn’t come close. They held a national
pity party, only this time it was public. Reince Priebus,
RNC Chair, went public with his party’s self-assessment. He talked about being more inclusive. That was laughable. The Republican base is made up of older,
frustrated (in many way), angry and scared white men. That demographic is not about to welcome
anyone else into their clique. THEY
want THEIR
county back. It belongs to THEM
and them ONLY. The rest of us are
INTERLOPERS. On November 4, the obstruction FINALLY
paid off for Republicans. They gained
even more seats in the House and also gained control of the Senate. It took 6 years of obstruction to do it. They told their base they would STOP
Obama if they would put them in charge. Their
base, being the low information, hate filled, racist bunch they proudly are, at
that stuff up and put them in charge. Now that they control the legislative agenda,
they want to “work” with President Obama and want to find “common ground”. Never mind they had no intention of doing so
for the first six years of the Obama Administration. President Obama, to his credit and finally
free of having to protect Democrats in the Senate in red states, has let it be
known that HE is STILL the President of the United
States and that office comes with the power of the pen. Now Republicans are crying about the
president actually using the powers of his office (how DARE he?) to forward HIS
agenda. They (Republicans) can’t BELIEVE
the president won’t capitulate to THEM. The whining has already started. When it comes to OBSTRUCTION, the
Republicans can dish it out but CAN’T take it.
Mitch McConnell will become Senate Majority Leader when the new Congress convenes in January 2015. In his post-Election Day news conference, McConnell waxed poetically about his desire to work with President Obama and to his forthcoming efforts to “seek common ground” where the Republican led Senate could work with the president. These ambitious goals were sandwiched between his obsessive goal to “repeal Obamacare (The AffordableCare Act) by root and branch”.
After
watching the latter video, it would be hard to blame anyone for being skeptical
of the guy in the former video. The guy
in the latter video has basically been Obstructionist-In-Chief for the
first six years of the Obama Administration. From the
health care bill; to Cabinet
and judicial appointments; a jobs bill focused on upgrading infrastructure and
everything in between, Mitch McConnell has been the Grinch Who Stole
Progress. Members of his party
in the House and Senate have eagerly followed his obstructionist lead over the
last six years. The Republicans in the
Senate have used the filibuster
often to block legislation from passing in the Senate. This parliamentary move that was relatively
unheard of before Barack Obama became president, required any legislation in
the Senate to have 60 votes to pass. It
was abused to the point where outgoing Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid instituted
the Nuclear Option that neutralized the
filibuster on Cabinet and judicial appointments. The Republicans had a conniption. They couldn’t seem to come to grips that
Harry Reid had the audacity to rob them of the ability to obstruct EVERYTHING. How DARE Harry Reid actually want to get
something done in the Senate. The
Republicans forgot that Harry Reid was not at the Pity Party on January 20,
2009 and didn’t get the memo that obstruction was the Republicans sole
legislative strategy.
Which
is why it is more than disingenuous the Republicans are now accusing President
Obama of defying the will of the voters in light of the president indicating
that he will act unilaterally on immigration reform and is committed to
enacting HIS agenda in the last two years of his presidency. The party that has used blatant, baseless and
senseless obstruction as a legislative strategy is now pointing fingers in the
direction of the President of the United States and blaming HIM
of obstruction. My father would often
tell me the person to WATCH is the person pointing the
finger. Because when that person has ONE
finger pointed at YOU, that person has THREE fingers pointing back in his
or her direction. Makes sense and in
this case, it is TOO true. Republican
Congressman Tim Huelskamp from Kansas, who happens to be one of the leading
Birthers in Congress, chimed in on the president's plan to move unilaterally on immigration reform (All In with Chris Hayes: White House: Legal status soon for up to 5 million).
There is a laundry list of legislation that would have benefitted the country the Republicans either obstructed outright or made sure the effects of the legislation would be minimized. For instance, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (“The Stimulus”). In his effort to reach bipartisan legislation during the first two years of his administration, President Obama altered the structure of The Stimulus in order to get Republicans on board with it. Republicans insisted the bulk of The Stimulus be comprised of 40% tax cuts instead of that money being allocated to shovel ready public works projects. When the president compromised, not a single Republican voted for The Stimulus. Not ONE - even after a compromise. The next piece of legislation on the Republicans “Road to Perdition” was the Affordable Care Act. We all recall the vitriolic Town Hall meetings during the summer of 2009. I continue to be amazed at the number of Americans who WERE are still ARE outraged over the fact that OTHER Americans would be in a position to receive access to affordable and quality healthcare – many for the first time in their lives. Despite the Supreme Court’s ruling a key component of the law is constitutional; despite President Obama being re-elected in 2012 and despite over 50 failed votes in the House to repeal the law, Republicans still believe they can repeal the law. They believe this DESPITE the need for President Obama to sign any law that repeals his signature legislative accomplishment. Yeah, right. Apparently, the Republicans idea of “working with the president” means the president MUST capitulate to all their demands.
Unlike the day after the 2010 midterm elections when President Obama said Democrats got “shellacked”, the day after these midterm elections President Obama appeared relieved and sent a message to the Republicans that he was STILL President of the United States. He served notice that he would act unilaterally, if necessary, on immigration reform before the end of the year. The president had promised to do just that in the summer of 2014 but acquiesced in delaying taking any action until after the 2014 midterms in order to give Senate Democrats in red states a chance to maintain their seats. Every Senate Democrat in a red state lost their re-election bid. As could be predicted and on cue, Republicans threw a hissy fit. Speaker of the House John Boehner had stern words for President Obama:
Mitch McConnell delivered an equally defiant message by guaranteeing the Keystone XL Pipeline project would be approved by Republicans in both the House and the Senate and would be delivered to the president’s desk for his signature. McConnell, emboldened by his elevated status as majority leader, seemed to have forgotten the President of the United States has the power of the pen. President Obama has not been an advocate of Keystone XL because of the environmental risks and the questionable impact it would have on job creation. The Republicans CLAIM the project would create tens of thousands of good paying American jobs. The CBO resoundingly disputes those claims. Yes, there would be a spike in immediate job creation. According to PolitiFact.com, the project would net a grand total of THIRTY FIVE full time jobs. Once again, Keystone XL would create THIRTY FIVE full time jobs. (Pundit Fact: CNN's Van Jones says Keystone pipeline only creates 35 permanent jobs) Once again, the Republicans have missed the mark. They are eager to get Keystone XL passed instead of passing the American Jobs Act, a law that proposed work on existing infrastructure projects as well as new infrastructure projects and would have provided $35 BILLION in funding to protect the jobs of teachers, police officers and firefighters. This bill was introduced in 2011 and would have created 1.9 MILLION jobs. Once again, 1.9 MILLION jobs. Republicans blocked that bill in 2011 (Senate blocks $60 billion infrastructure plan, another part of Obama jobs bill) because it was a year before the 2012 election and they were not about to give the president a legislative victory when they thought they had a chance to defeat him in 2012. Now, the Republicans want to hang their hats on Keystone XL that will create a grand total of 35 PERMANENT jobs instead of President Obama’s jobs bill that would create 1.9 million jobs. Which one would YOU prefer?
Mitch McConnell will become Senate Majority Leader when the new Congress convenes in January 2015. In his post-Election Day news conference, McConnell waxed poetically about his desire to work with President Obama and to his forthcoming efforts to “seek common ground” where the Republican led Senate could work with the president. These ambitious goals were sandwiched between his obsessive goal to “repeal Obamacare (The AffordableCare Act) by root and branch”.
The
guy in the preceding video sure did sound different from the guy in the
following video:
There is a laundry list of legislation that would have benefitted the country the Republicans either obstructed outright or made sure the effects of the legislation would be minimized. For instance, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (“The Stimulus”). In his effort to reach bipartisan legislation during the first two years of his administration, President Obama altered the structure of The Stimulus in order to get Republicans on board with it. Republicans insisted the bulk of The Stimulus be comprised of 40% tax cuts instead of that money being allocated to shovel ready public works projects. When the president compromised, not a single Republican voted for The Stimulus. Not ONE - even after a compromise. The next piece of legislation on the Republicans “Road to Perdition” was the Affordable Care Act. We all recall the vitriolic Town Hall meetings during the summer of 2009. I continue to be amazed at the number of Americans who WERE are still ARE outraged over the fact that OTHER Americans would be in a position to receive access to affordable and quality healthcare – many for the first time in their lives. Despite the Supreme Court’s ruling a key component of the law is constitutional; despite President Obama being re-elected in 2012 and despite over 50 failed votes in the House to repeal the law, Republicans still believe they can repeal the law. They believe this DESPITE the need for President Obama to sign any law that repeals his signature legislative accomplishment. Yeah, right. Apparently, the Republicans idea of “working with the president” means the president MUST capitulate to all their demands.
Mitch McConnell delivered an equally defiant message by guaranteeing the Keystone XL Pipeline project would be approved by Republicans in both the House and the Senate and would be delivered to the president’s desk for his signature. McConnell, emboldened by his elevated status as majority leader, seemed to have forgotten the President of the United States has the power of the pen. President Obama has not been an advocate of Keystone XL because of the environmental risks and the questionable impact it would have on job creation. The Republicans CLAIM the project would create tens of thousands of good paying American jobs. The CBO resoundingly disputes those claims. Yes, there would be a spike in immediate job creation. According to PolitiFact.com, the project would net a grand total of THIRTY FIVE full time jobs. Once again, Keystone XL would create THIRTY FIVE full time jobs. (Pundit Fact: CNN's Van Jones says Keystone pipeline only creates 35 permanent jobs) Once again, the Republicans have missed the mark. They are eager to get Keystone XL passed instead of passing the American Jobs Act, a law that proposed work on existing infrastructure projects as well as new infrastructure projects and would have provided $35 BILLION in funding to protect the jobs of teachers, police officers and firefighters. This bill was introduced in 2011 and would have created 1.9 MILLION jobs. Once again, 1.9 MILLION jobs. Republicans blocked that bill in 2011 (Senate blocks $60 billion infrastructure plan, another part of Obama jobs bill) because it was a year before the 2012 election and they were not about to give the president a legislative victory when they thought they had a chance to defeat him in 2012. Now, the Republicans want to hang their hats on Keystone XL that will create a grand total of 35 PERMANENT jobs instead of President Obama’s jobs bill that would create 1.9 million jobs. Which one would YOU prefer?
The
Republicans have stalled or blocked extending unemployment insurance benefits
for the long term unemployed; an increase of the federal minimum wage; access
to affordable health care in states with Republican governors; a jobs bill and
student loan reform. Yet, their base
came out in droves in the 2014 midterm elections and empowered them even
further. The Democrats discouraged their
base by being ashamed of all they accomplished on behalf of the American middle
class. Barack Obama has decided that HE
will not cave and capitulate to the Republicans in the last two years of his
administration. As I predicted in this
space (GOP control of the Senate would be great for President Obama),
Republicans taking control of the senate would be the best break Barack Obama
could get. In order to get anything done
and position their party to win the White House in 2016 the Republicans have to
GOVERN
instead of OBSTRUCT and that means they have to move in President Obama’s
direction instead of him having to reach out to him. How ironic it is the very people who were OBSESSED
with obstructing his agenda as much as possible in the first 6 years of his
presidency will be the very people who will help him solidify his legacy in the
last two years of his administration. THAT
is a BEAUTIFUL
thing. They’ll whine and cry as they
have already started doing but in the end, the Republicans will have no CHOICE
but to move in the president’s direction.
It is entertaining to see them WHINE and CRY about
obstruction.
When
it comes to OBSTRUCTION, the Republicans can dish it out but CAN’T
take it.
Peace,
peace.
Craig
Riggins
Facebook:
The Riggins Report
Twitter:
@CraigRiggins
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