Saturday, January 1, 2011

GOP: The Party of NO is now also the Party of SO?



During the last two years, the GOP has definitely stood for Grand Obstructionist Party. Time and time again, they have stood united in opposition to almost every piece of legislation that Obama and the Democrats have tried to pass. The only exception was during the last two weeks of the lame duck congress when a substantial amount of legislation was actually passed.

Judging by the signs that the incoming, Tea Party version of the GOP has been putting out, the Republicans seem intent to also becoming the Party of "So"?

Let me illustrate. The Republicans have been and continue to advocate for the repeal of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (aka Obamacare). Since the bill was signed into law by President Obama, there have been quite a few pro-patient provisions that have taken effect. This includes some that take effect today, Saturday, January1st, 2011. 
As the Republicans fight to repeal Obama care and all new improvements, the Democrats will surely point this out. They will (or should) make it plain for the voters to see that the GOP is once again siding with the big insurance companies and against the common man/woman. In the past, the GOP would say "not so" and would spin the truth into some bizzare explanation designed to not make them look callous. Well, those days appear to be gone. The Tea Party Version of the GOP will instead acknowledge their differences with the Democrats. When the case is made that republicans are taking away, from those most in need, much-needed and crucial improvements to their health insurance, the new Republicans will have a very starkl answer :"So"? 

It's exactly what then VP Dick Cheney said during an interview about the U.S. involvement in Iraq. When the reporter told Cheney that a huge majority of Americans did NOT support the war, he simply shrugged: So?

The Dream act did not pass during the lame duck session but I'm sure that those that favor the bill will eventually bring it up yet again. No doubt proponents of the bill will again ask that children who were brought over by those parents (without documentation) be allowed to stay in the U.S. indefinitely as long as they are in college or in the military. The GOP has already said this constitues amnesty and they will have nothing to do with it. When the Democrats say that deporting them is un-American and morally wrong, the GOP will once again echo in unison  "So"?

The point I'm making is that this incoming congress will put aside any pretensions of compassion and very cleary let it be known that this is not your father's GOP, this is the new, cruel and extreme version of the GOP. It's a Bizzaro version of common sense and pragmatism, hopped up on Four Loco and dedicated to the notion that all men are created equal but don't deserve it. We say it's wrong! They say.....So??

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