Another Republicide In The Works?
The GOP's knack for self-destruction is nothing new, despite the heights of power to which the party has managed to climb despite it. But then you read blurbs like this one and, I gotta tell ya, it's like coming home (to a condemned house):
The temptation here is to say, "Hooray for congressional Republicans! They're finally laying down the fiscal law to the profligate Bush White House!" Then you remember that it is Congress which actually spends the money, and the White House which can do no more than put a tentative brake on the outflow. Not, of course, that this President has ever even once done that, but it seems that on the matter of fiscal discipline, Martinez, Coburn & Co. are as without clothing as the "emperor" they're assailing.
And then Martinez had to go and add this:
Yeah, that's all this economy needs is to set in cement a built-in massive future tax increase. Fortunately, on this one the White House isn't biting.
What could possibly be driving such 'Pubbie worrywartism? What else?
Mule-fritters. Their "position" will be as "good" as they choose to make it. There's not much they can do on Iraq (which isn't a true liability in any case), but the "seeming failure" on Katrina relief was a self-inflicted wound, seeing as how there was no such "failure" and the opposition claims that there was were entirely fabricated in order to get heat on George Bush - you know, the man they're joining in unfairly criticizing.
If Republicans could ever grow a set of figurative balls between them, suppress their collective panic reflex, and stay on the same partisan page - and on the offensive - they'd find that their "position" is a lot better than they think it is.
It's like the old story about the two African tribesman who are fleeing a hungry tiger. After getting a good head start, one of the tribesmen pauses to put on a pair of sneakers. As they resume their flight, his companion asks him, "What's with the shoes?" The first tribesman replies, "I put them on so that I can run faster." The second tribesman incredulously scoffs, "But you can't outrun that tiger with or without shoes." His footwear-clad friend answers, "I don't have to outrun the tiger; I just have to outrun you."
The hand that the GOP has is still far stronger than anything the Democrats can offer. But if the former are going to run away instead in "every elephant for himself!" fashion - by, in essence, believing the Democrats' own propaganda about them - thus throwing away all the hard-won gains of the past decade....
Screw it, gentles. Just get Judge Roberts and Bush's other (damn well better not be Alberto Gonzales) SCOTUS pick confirmed, and I'm sure you'll all feel a lot better.
With federal costs related to Hurricane Katrina now estimated to be topping out at more than $100 billion, Republicans in both the House and Senate appear to moving against the White House as fast as the rats in New Orleans in the lower Garden District.
Late Friday, everyone from Senators Mel Martinez and Tom Coburn to GOP members of the House Ways and Means Committee were criticizing the Bush Administration for not offsetting Katrina spending with broader spending cuts across the government.
The temptation here is to say, "Hooray for congressional Republicans! They're finally laying down the fiscal law to the profligate Bush White House!" Then you remember that it is Congress which actually spends the money, and the White House which can do no more than put a tentative brake on the outflow. Not, of course, that this President has ever even once done that, but it seems that on the matter of fiscal discipline, Martinez, Coburn & Co. are as without clothing as the "emperor" they're assailing.
And then Martinez had to go and add this:
Martinez went so far as to say that perhaps the White House should pull plans to press for making permanent tax cuts that were in the offing for this legislative session.
Yeah, that's all this economy needs is to set in cement a built-in massive future tax increase. Fortunately, on this one the White House isn't biting.
What could possibly be driving such 'Pubbie worrywartism? What else?
The refusal by Capitol Hill Republicans to fall in line behind a White House trying to gain some traction politically on just about any topic - including the Supreme Court nominations - is indicative of a troubled majority looking at going home in the coming months to tip off re-election campaigns that now look vastly different from what they appeared to be even two months ago.
"Then we had Iraq, but we also were bringing home big pieces of legislation like transportation and energy, a trade bill and, looking ahead, tax cuts and a Supreme Court nominee that was going to energize our base," says a House Republican strategist. "Now we have Iraq, a seeming failure in responding to Katrina, and infighting in a range of issues. We're not in a good position." [emphasis added]
Mule-fritters. Their "position" will be as "good" as they choose to make it. There's not much they can do on Iraq (which isn't a true liability in any case), but the "seeming failure" on Katrina relief was a self-inflicted wound, seeing as how there was no such "failure" and the opposition claims that there was were entirely fabricated in order to get heat on George Bush - you know, the man they're joining in unfairly criticizing.
If Republicans could ever grow a set of figurative balls between them, suppress their collective panic reflex, and stay on the same partisan page - and on the offensive - they'd find that their "position" is a lot better than they think it is.
It's like the old story about the two African tribesman who are fleeing a hungry tiger. After getting a good head start, one of the tribesmen pauses to put on a pair of sneakers. As they resume their flight, his companion asks him, "What's with the shoes?" The first tribesman replies, "I put them on so that I can run faster." The second tribesman incredulously scoffs, "But you can't outrun that tiger with or without shoes." His footwear-clad friend answers, "I don't have to outrun the tiger; I just have to outrun you."
The hand that the GOP has is still far stronger than anything the Democrats can offer. But if the former are going to run away instead in "every elephant for himself!" fashion - by, in essence, believing the Democrats' own propaganda about them - thus throwing away all the hard-won gains of the past decade....
Screw it, gentles. Just get Judge Roberts and Bush's other (damn well better not be Alberto Gonzales) SCOTUS pick confirmed, and I'm sure you'll all feel a lot better.
posted by JASmius at 11:09 AM
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