red states rule
02-15-2010, 09:54 AM
I hope Republicans read this and learn from it
Bipartisanship is the word of the hour in Washington, and President Obama's teleprompter seems to be stuck on it. This is nothing new for him. The president came to town promising a new bipartisanship, along with openness, transparency, responsibility and a number of other hopes and changes he immediately dumped overboard.
At his impromptu press conference on Tuesday, Mr. Obama said, "Bipartisanship can't be that I agree to all the things that they believe in or want and they agree to none of the things I believe in or want." That, however, has been his working definition of bipartisanship since his first day in office. This was evident a year ago when the White House labeled the stimulus bill a "bipartisan victory" after it had passed with support from just three Republicans in the Senate and none in the House of Representatives. Opposition to the bill, which included 11 Democratic House dissenters, was more bipartisan than the support. All told, the primary feature of Mr. Obama's definition of bipartisanship is that he gets his way.
There was little need for Mr. Obama to include Republicans in his legislative calculus. The Democrats enjoyed supermajorities in both houses and, armed with what they thought was a political blank check, went on a spending and regulating rampage. They exhibited the worst aspects of old-style politics: favoritism, cronyism, unrestrained spending, backroom deals, arrogance, conceit and extreme partisanship. Mr. Obama's freshman year left the country with astronomical deficits and not much else.
When the public objected to this irresponsible and reckless behavior - exhibited at town-hall protests and Tea Party demonstrations - Mr. Obama responded, "I don't want folks who created the mess to do a lot of talking. I want them to just get out of the way so we can clean up the mess." Shut up, sit down and take your medicine - that's bipartisanship Obama-style.
Now Mr. Obama is talking up bipartisanship again, but nothing has really changed. His proposed bipartisan fiscal commission will have no authority and will serve only as a political fig leaf. The planned Feb. 25 televised bipartisan gathering on health care obviously is intended as a made-for-TV spectacle. Mr. Obama claims he wants to use the event to hear the best ideas for pushing forward the stalled health care legislation, but those ideas have been available since the beginning of the process. It's not the Republicans' fault the Democrats ignored them.
for the complete article
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/feb/12/obamas-sham-bipartisanship/
Bipartisanship is the word of the hour in Washington, and President Obama's teleprompter seems to be stuck on it. This is nothing new for him. The president came to town promising a new bipartisanship, along with openness, transparency, responsibility and a number of other hopes and changes he immediately dumped overboard.
At his impromptu press conference on Tuesday, Mr. Obama said, "Bipartisanship can't be that I agree to all the things that they believe in or want and they agree to none of the things I believe in or want." That, however, has been his working definition of bipartisanship since his first day in office. This was evident a year ago when the White House labeled the stimulus bill a "bipartisan victory" after it had passed with support from just three Republicans in the Senate and none in the House of Representatives. Opposition to the bill, which included 11 Democratic House dissenters, was more bipartisan than the support. All told, the primary feature of Mr. Obama's definition of bipartisanship is that he gets his way.
There was little need for Mr. Obama to include Republicans in his legislative calculus. The Democrats enjoyed supermajorities in both houses and, armed with what they thought was a political blank check, went on a spending and regulating rampage. They exhibited the worst aspects of old-style politics: favoritism, cronyism, unrestrained spending, backroom deals, arrogance, conceit and extreme partisanship. Mr. Obama's freshman year left the country with astronomical deficits and not much else.
When the public objected to this irresponsible and reckless behavior - exhibited at town-hall protests and Tea Party demonstrations - Mr. Obama responded, "I don't want folks who created the mess to do a lot of talking. I want them to just get out of the way so we can clean up the mess." Shut up, sit down and take your medicine - that's bipartisanship Obama-style.
Now Mr. Obama is talking up bipartisanship again, but nothing has really changed. His proposed bipartisan fiscal commission will have no authority and will serve only as a political fig leaf. The planned Feb. 25 televised bipartisan gathering on health care obviously is intended as a made-for-TV spectacle. Mr. Obama claims he wants to use the event to hear the best ideas for pushing forward the stalled health care legislation, but those ideas have been available since the beginning of the process. It's not the Republicans' fault the Democrats ignored them.
for the complete article
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/feb/12/obamas-sham-bipartisanship/