This is a posting about my frustration with today’s GOP. Let’s stop bashing government and asking for gratuitous tax cuts.

If House Republicans had their way, we’d be rooting for the Philadelphia Eagles today in the Super Bowl.

 

Wait a minute. Today’s Super Bowl is between the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers. That’s right.

 

 

But imagine if we changed the rules for football. The Eagles lost to the Cardinals, but we allowed the Eagles to play in the big game because, let’s say, they seem to have a few good plays.

 

Does that sound right? Of course not. It wouldn’t make sense. We wouldn’t really have a true winner.

 

The same is true for House Republicans who voted against and came up on the losing side of the Democratic stimulus package. Why should we listen to their whining? They’re in the minority and they lost.

 

Message to House Minority Leader John Boehner: Please sit down and shut up. Like the Eagles, you had your say and you lost. And now like the Eagles, sit back and watch and take your proper place – on the sidelines.

 

Now, that doesn’t mean Republicans should be forgotten. Let’s go back to our Eagles analogy. There were some key plays and defensive schemes by the Eagles that stopped the Cardinals in the NFC Championship game; and I’ll bet the Steelers use some of them today. So, the Eagles may have an indirect effect on the game.

 

And that may be true for House Republicans when the vote on the stimulus happens in the Senate – where the rules are different.

 

I hope Senate Republicans use the rules – 60 votes to end a filibuster — to make some changes and find a consensus on the economic stimulus package. Let’s mix it up. But let’s hope they all realize the eventual outcome is not what political party wins. The goal is stimulating the economy.

 

Some reality checks here.

 

First, politics is still a full contact sport. You don’t like the outcome? Too bad. I said the same thing to the Democrats in 2004 and 2005 when they were whining about President Bush.

 

Second, President Obama said he would listen to GOP ideas. It doesn’t mean he must embrace them. So far, he has far exceeded the Bush Administration’s efforts to reach across the aisle.

 

Third, Obama is President. Let him have his way like George Bush had his. If he screws up, go after him. But for now, let’s let him tackle the problems on his terms – that means without the House Republicans.

 

Fourth, the economic stimulus package isn’t perfect. If we gave the GOP their say, we would have all tax cuts.

 

Fifth, we don’t know what will really stimulate the economy. If anything, it’s time and an infusion of massive amounts of capital.

 

Sixth, the GOP is largely – not entirely – to blame for the problems we face today. They were in power in Congress from 1995 through 2007 and the White House from

2001 until a few days ago. So, we as Americans have a right to dismiss you.

 

Now, before you think I’m a Democratic flag waver, let me tell you where I stand.

 

I would love to be a Republican – the party of small business. But over the years, the GOP has been the party of exclusion. They have catered to big business and taken their money and passed laws to help them – and only them. To me, the GOP leaned toward fascism. The lack of regulation on big business that permeated our economy is the earthquake that has cracked the foundation of our economy.

 

I’m so tired of hearing how we have to cut taxes. True, tax cuts can stimulate an economy. But you need spending cuts to go with the tax cuts. The GOP while in power only increased spending. And today’s economy is different; the American consumer has no credit — home equity, credit cards, or savings — to buy our way out of this mess. In 2001, Americans had credit. We over-spent then and now we’re paying for it.

 

Furthermore, taxes help fund the government to do the people’s work. And right now, only government has the ability to create jobs and unclog the credit markets.

 

So, let’s hope the GOP stops blaming government. We are the government. The government is made up of Americans who serve Americans. Do we need to watch and scrutinize how tax dollars are spent? Yes, but stop making government workers as straw men as punching bags.

 

Ronald Reagan in 1980 embraced Vietnam vets who had been derided and neglected. He was right. Today someone needs to stand up and embrace government workers. Maybe that’s a good strategy for incoming GOP Chair Michael Steele.

 

To show you how horrible the GOP is they still got their butts handed to them in 2008 elections even though they had gerrymandered most of the Congressional districts for the decade before. What’s worse, this manipulating of districts has given us too many entrenched Democrats who are too far to the left.

 

---