What happens when the dog catches the car? Now that the Republicans control the Senate, will they continue to be the party of unsubstantiated conspiracy theories?
It’s no mystery how they got here. As Robert Draper documented in his criminally underappreciated book “Do Not Ask What Good We Do: Inside the U.S. House of Representatives,†the Republican strategy was to wrest power from Democrats by obstructing them every step of the way. If Republicans stalled Obama’s agenda, it would make the President look weak. Economic growth would crawl. Jobs would trickle. And his poll numbers would tank.
Boy, did it work. They won the House of Representatives in 2010, but it took them six years to learn how not to say stupid stuff about immigrants, women, and immigrant women long enough to win back the Senate. As Hannibal from TV’s A-Team liked to say, “I love it when a plan comes together.â€
But… there’s a plan, right?
First they tried the birther nonsense, but that was so patently idiotic that they couldn’t fan those flames without getting burned. Still, they took that model (creating something out of nothing) and kept at it. After all, what were they supposed to do, govern?
Remember Benghazi? Congress is holding its 10th hearing despite a recent report released by the Republican-controlled House Intelligence Committee after an 18-month investigation. They found no evidence of a cover up or “stand down†order.
The Benghazi scandal was not just politically motivated but wholly constructed out of the toxic political byproducts of a morally bankrupt party. Their morally bankrupt nominee (Go ahead, name one thing Mitt Romney really believes.) held a press conference to blame Obama for Benghazi before the bodies were counted, much less buried.
That the scandal turned out to be all smoke and no fire isn’t the point. The scandal hurt Obama politically, and the Republicans profited from the murder of four Americans by terrorists. That was the point.
The same thing happened with the IRS scandal, except not only was no one murdered but—read this one slowly, folks—not one single Republican non-profit was denied non-profit status. That’s right. All the IRS did was make sure that these obviously political non-profits were conforming to a new part of the tax code. Liberal groups were investigated too, but there were fewer of them.
Yet Republicans in Washington screamed persecution. No one believed that the IRS acted independently. People assumed that Obama’s henchmen were orchestrating political dirty tricks from the White House, so when the Republican-controlled House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform’s turned up no evidence that the White House did anything wrong, they released the report shortly before Christmas. (Didn’t hear about it? That was the point. Republicans did the same thing with the Benghazi report around Thanksgiving.)
It doesn’t matter if there was no stand down order or that the IRS was acting not only independently but properly. It doesn’t matter that the infamous $3 million shrimp treadmill really only cost $47, and the scientist paid for it himself. It doesn’t matter that the “hey, hey, look over here!†diversionary tactics largely absolved Republicans while they obstructed Obama’s every turn. They hurt Obama and finally won the House and Senate.
But you can’t keep a good country down. The economy is growing faster than it has for a decade. The Dow is up, and unemployment is down, and no one is complaining about cheap gas except Texas. Obamacare is even working. And after acting alone on immigration and Cuba, Obama looks strong, and his poll numbers are approaching sea level.
Republicans have caught the car just as Obama has figured out how to drive a stick, so what do they have planned? Oh, you’re going to like this one: dynamic scoring, a method of estimating the budgetary effect of tax cuts that includes uncertain and speculative assumptions about economic growth. They’re going to start making rosy assumptions that cutting taxes for the rich make the middle class richer, thinner, and better looking to the opposite sex.
Confused? Think of it like an unsubstantiated conspiracy theory about economics. Is it a scientifically valid theory? No. But hey, at least it’s a plan.
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© Copyright 2015 Jason Stanford, distributed exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate.
Jason Stanford is a regular contributor to the Austin American-Statesman, a Democratic consultant and a Truman National Security Project partner. You can email him at stanford@oppresearch.com and follow him on Twitter @JasStanford.
In Jason’s world, it’s simple,–all bad comes from the Republicans, –all good comes from the Democrats.
Who but a Republican consultant(spin doctor) could find fault with a Democrat Consultant’s(spin doctor). take on the Obama Presidency? I’m not a consultant, and few of us are, but Jason’s spin concludes,—The Republicans pulled the wool over the Electorate’s eyes, and that’s why Obama and the Democrats got their ass handed to them on Election day 2014, it wasn’t the Democrats fault,– it was those evil Republicans taking advantage of the “Stupid Voters”.
You are being choosily silly and insignificant.
This article, aside from some humor thrown in that pierces your thin skin Crash LaRue, is DEAD-ON in assessing the GOP Congress’ strategy in dealing w/ Obama.
And it makes an excellent point saying, “Ok, what’s next GOP?” It is a perfect, legitimate question that you, Crash, find uncomfortable because you are most comfortable yelling insults from the bench you’ve been sitting on after Obama won for two consecutive Presidential elections. The article’s point is, “Hey Hollerman, what you got besides a bunch of griping?”
What the article DOES fail to mention is that the REAL Republican Party, the Chamber of Commerce/Business GOP, kicked the f’n ass of the Tea Party idiots wrestling the momentum from bigots mostly angry at Obama for personal reasons. The angry extreme Christians, and the angry southern white male that finds offense and feels threatened with ANY immigrant or ethnic group success…you guys lost in the 2012 elections. Time to govern…the article has a good point.
So exactly why did the Democrats get their ass handed to them this past election?
The Dems lost because the electorate wanted a focus on the economy. And the Tea Party helped by showing up and voting Republican. They got used, and they get no respect (because they don’t deserve respect), but it worked. The Chamber of Commerce/Business GOP is in charge for the next several years. It’ s a good thing.
You left out that the now disillusioned Obama Democrats stayed home, and that did not help either, –as the Senate was lost, and the biggest GOP majority since 1946 was elected to the House.
That is talk show talk. It is interesting banter for obese guys struggling for what to talk about, and insecure that he has no influence in the GOP, only among the rabid, T-Pr’s. Talk show guy. Nothing else. (The T-Pr’s STILL haven’t figured that out. They still think he’s brilliant. No wonder they struggle to win anything significant.)
Crash, here’ s what you meant: All Presidents see gains from the opposing party at the midterms.
Citizens united and low voter turnout. Do we really want to hand over the entire govt in 2016 to the republicans and end up in multiple new wars and a new economic depression?
Just one point here. The whole birther thing was actually started by presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. The president played on this birther thing by not showing his birth certificate, but those of us who are rational don’t believe the birther thing. Okay, just one more. Benghazi: The spin from the beginning was that it was a stupid youtube video that erupted that caused the deaths of four Americans. So the Clinton card continues to be played,”At this point, what difference does it make!” Yep, no cover up here.
The problem is that the current Republican leadership in Congress suck, but they suck less than the Dems. Both parties are filled with progressives, and this “liberal/conservative” game is nonsense. In the Senate, Mitch McConnell will be just as nasty as majority leader as Harry Reid. McConnell has already said that he’s not interested in repealing Obamacare, and we’ll get the same from Speaker Boehner. If the House passes a bill to repeal O’care, it will have the same fate in the Senate under McConnell as it did under Reid.
Boehner wants amnesty as much as the president, but he wants the Republicans to be seen as having a more balanced and better plan than the president, but in reality, it’s pretty close to the same plan as the president’s. Okay, so I came up with three points. Forgive me, I got carried away.
No, no. Don’t apologize. You are a Tea Party Idiot. We expect ignorant crap from you.
…and now that you’re done whining Tasos, what are you gonna do? The Dems and the Republicans are BOTH liberals? (Anyone who disagrees with you is a liberal, commie, dope-smoking atheist on welfare, by the way. We get it.)
The Republican Party pleads with you to send in your Tea Party donations to help the GOP win elections. But do you have a seat at the table?
No. No way in fact, and THAT is your point. It’s a good point Tasos. (Good comment by the way.)
In your reasoning why Democrats lost big at every level of government in the last election, you forgot to include the fact that they weren’t voted for by the electorate because the electorate didn’t want them any longer. It’s really simple.
This comment is infantile.
In what respect is it infantile?
Me thinks you have little depth in understanding the english language and regurgitate words and phrases in a continuing feeble attempt to assert yourself as having credibility.
It isn’t working .
I see Jason and other R haters are out in force on this article. I always get a kick out of ” It’s not the Democrats fault strategy “. They always blame anything and everything but themselves. Look D’s progressivism stinks it’s that simple.
“Their just a bunch of haters.”
You know, MIDNIGHT needs to run for office. He’s got answers. In fact, I can’t think of a single answer that is a better prepared argumentative response than “They’re just a bunch of haters.” Wunderbar. Outstanding. (Maybe a close #2 is “It just stinks.” That’s why.” That is a brilliant answer too.)
I haven’t seen any brilliant ideas from you, all you are doing is trashing everyone else’s comments. Get out of your parents basement and get a job you snary little punk.
I crap bigger than you. (That’ s funny. And I’m older than you.)
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