John Henke looks at reactions then, and reactions now.
Reader Interactions
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Come for the politics, stay for the snark.
Prediction: the gop will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.
We can’t confuse what’s necessary to win elections with the policies that we want to implement when we do.
Dumb motherfuckers cannot understand a consequence that most 4 year olds have fully sorted out.
Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard
The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.
Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.
Republicans don’t lie to be believed, they lie to be repeated.
Anne Laurie is a fucking hero in so many ways. ~ Betty Cracker
If you voted for Trump, you don’t get to speak about ethics, morals, or rule of law.
“The defense has a certain level of trust in defendant that the government does not.”
You cannot love your country only when you win.
fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)
Their boy Ron is an empty plastic cup that will never know pudding.
When tyranny becomes law, rebellion becomes duty. ~Thomas Jefferson
🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵
The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.
This fight is for everything.
And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.
Since we are repeating ourselves, let me just say fuck that.
“When somebody takes the time to draw up a playbook, they’re gonna use it.”
We will not go back.
Everybody saw this coming.
Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.
Democracy cannot function without a free press.
Krista
There’s no room for nuance in politics. I agree that writing a blank cheque is a bad idea, and that there should be a plan on how to effectively spend that much money — a plan that will help the people that actually need it the most. But yeah…whoever opposes you will just keep yammering the message that you’re not supporting the bill outright, and then it all flies to hell. I felt really bad for Kerry about that whole military spending bill fiasco. And now I feel bad for these guys, because they’re going to look like heartless monsters, when in reality, they’re just trying to make sure that the money doesn’t disappear into the bureaucratic ether.
Vladi G
Well, in the case of at least Tancredo, he is a heartless monster.
jobiuspublius
I’m surprised to see Boss Sennsenbrenner out of step with Worst POTUS Ever. I wonder what Crooked Tom will do to him. AFAIK, impeachment begin’s in the House Judiciary Committee.
Steve
I happen to agree with this point. It’s weak to assume that because a politician votes against a spending bill, they must hate the people the money is going to and want them to die. We can’t really expect either side to stop using this kind of thing in their campaign ads, but anyone who aspires to be a serious commenter should look a little deeper.
But the dynamic at work here is the same reason that the GOP slipped in the little proviso that minimum-wage laws will be waived in the recovery zone – they know anyone who dares to vote against the bill, no matter how principled their objection, will be relentlessly slimed. Someone does need to bear the costs of the cleanup, but I don’t see why it should be the hard-working $9/hour people who are actually doing the work.
Steve S
“Hate America” is a term of ridicule used by Kossacks. It’s not because they think the right hate america, it’s because every time there is a policy disagreement between the left and the right, the right trump out their “Hate America” charge. Or the classic “Hate the Troops”.
You’ll see it all over the comments there. Someone will say, “Man, I wish we’d spend more time and money on energy independence.” and the tongue-n-cheek response is “What are you? Some kind of America Hater! Sheesh, don’tt you know energy independence is bad for business!”
So kos is being somewhat ironic here. He’s responding to this, to make fun of the right wing going after Kerry for his no vote last year.
That is, there’s no inconsistency or hypocrisy… he’s pushing your buttons.
jobiuspublius
Are the Nasgul consistant? Did they vote for the Alaska bridge thingy? Did they try to amend the bill or introduce a their own? Are they able to? Is there time to go back and make things right?
If you were the powerless, constantly tarred, opposition would you bother to try and make things right? Would anybody listen to you? Wouldn’t it be an opportunity to give the dominant party some rope to hang themselves? After all, everybody expects you to vote for pork. The dominant party is suppossed to be the anti-pork party. Let them compromise themselves. What can you do?
BTW, John Cole, you asked the other day, something like, “Why do they insist on going after powerless opposition? Ahouldn’t they be governing?”. Bare with me. I forget everything. Did you find the answer.
P.S. The Nasgul(spelling?) are 9 corrupted kings in the Lord of the Rings. If you saw the movie, those ghoulish black horsemen that chase Frodo and Bilbo around.
Krista
It’s such a knee-jerk response now, isn’t it? And it’s such an effective trap, because the person against whom it’s directed suddenly has to defend their patriotism, even if the original topic had nothing to do with their love of their country. I just wish that once, just once, when accused of hating America, or not supporting the troops, or some other such idiocy, that the dialogue would go like this:
Pol A: “You’re not supporting the troops! You’re anti-American! If you criticize your government, you’re aiding and abetting the enemy!”
Pol B: pause…”Are you on crack?”
Mark-NC
John:
You are right to point this out – hadn’t read it before.
I supported Jesse Helms for years even though he earned the name “Senator NO”!
He voted consistently against all kinds of stuff, and you always knew where he stood – a rare thing in politics.
I wonder if these guys are voting for the moment, or on principle. They claim principle, but you’d have to see the rest of the recent votes to decide.
gratefulcub
Great post. That is the first thing I thought of when I saw the post at Kos. I really couldn’t believe it. (I don’t know why either) Democrats should have voted against the money. No one is actually voting, or going to vote against the money itself. But, they just threw a big number up as quick as possible to show they care, without even thinking about what should be done with it. I am really ashamed we didn’t have any democrats that ‘don’t want their jobs.’
Trent
I seriously DOUBT that LA’s minimum wage is 9/hour. (And a quick google show’s it’s either $5.15 or $6.15)
So below minimum wage is LOW.
Steven D
And Thank God, the Chinese will continue to fund us. $1 billion a day for Iraq and now $100 billion for the Gulf Coast. Cheney said today, “Don’t need a tax increase. We can pay for all of it from our booming economy.” You’d think that just once these guys would actually want to pay for something upfront. Here’s my idea–for 2005 only, a 1% Katrina surcharge on your federal income taxes. If you owe a $1000, you pay another $10. Estimated federal income tax revenues–corporate and individual–are something in the order of $1.1 trillion for 2005, so a 1% surcharge would raise About $11 billion. A drop in the bucket, granted, but at least it’s a drop in the bucket. And just maybe if the taxpayers can directly tie a tax payment to specific spending items, maybe we’ll start to pay more attention to what our representatives are spending it on.
Steve
It’s not the literal minimum wage at issue; it’s the law requiring federal contractors to pay whatever the “prevailing wage” is locally. For construction jobs in Louisiana, that apparently is about $9/hour.
jobiuspublius
The smart thing to do is vote for the bill and submit amendments, then advertise what you are doing.
gratefulcub
No amendments were allowed.
Mike S
That’s a big part of the problem. It was asinine to vote on it without reading it and deny any amendments. Of course if amendments were allowed we would have seen some pretty boneheaded ones calling for the building of the Baker public housing project and the Mary Landreu bridge.
I was unaware of the reason for the no votes, I tend to tune out those kinds of posts, but those guys were just plain stupid. It hasn’t even been a year since the election and if they’re too dumb to remember their boy Hannity constantly screaming that BS, they’re too dumb to be polititions.
But then most of them are, from both sides of the aisle.
jobiuspublius
Once Worst POTUS Ever finishes filling the SCOTUS, he has outlived his usefullness. Then look forward to an impeachment. Especially before the ’06 election or if he locks horns with Boss Sensennbrenner.
This will be tough for Delay, he needs a get out of jail free card.
wilson
I like the idea of a tax surcharge to help pay for the recovery. That is what was done in CA to pay for earthquake damages – 1/4 or 1/2 cent increase in sales tax. Not sure that tax uptick has ever gone away.
Waiving the prevailing wage requirement means union firms (who pay the prevailing wage, negotiated with the unions) will be uncompetitive. A stick in the eye for unions.
Kimmitt
Well, as long as we’re using the deaths of thousands of Americans as an opportunity to cut into the union power base, I say “Go Katrina!”
Sojourner
Tax cuts for the very wealthy, less than minimum wage for the working guy. What a great country we live in.
Mark-NC
As for the 11 who voted against on “principle”:
Barton, Foxx, Garrett, Hostettler, King, Tancredo, and Westmoreland vote FOR the bloated highway bill.
So much for principle.
Steve S
Honestly. I think this disaster is going to cost the taxpayers a hell of a lot more money, because of the incompetence of the initial response by Bush.
One of the things I’ve learned from reading the Roberts memos is that Republicans are extremely sensitive of the criticism they see in the public square from Democrats. As a result, they have to respond to prove they aren’t heartless bastards. In this case, that proof is going to come by way of the President asking for all kinds of money.
President Clinton is looking better and better every day… He was able to keep govt spending under control, because he didn’t look like a heartless bastard when he said we needed to streamline things.
This isn’t new. That’s my explanation for why the Republican Congress has inflated the budget over the past 5 years. The problem is, that really the problems of the country can’t be solved by simply spending money. There is a huge factor called perception, or feelings. I think the number one factor effecting the health of this country is Republican pessimism.
goonie bird
I,ll bet that with the katrina aid the liberals will be tacking on plenty of pork onto this especialy ROBERT BYRD BRAIN
Mark-NC
Goonie bird:
Who will be tacking on records amounts of pork?
Last I checked, the Republicans were in charge, and pork is definitely in season.
Byrd was “the king of pork” in his day – these days, he’s merely an amateur.