GOP '09: The Party Of Bad Faith

Let's hope we get more change than this

Cantor and Boehner and that whole, rotten, reactionary crew-- in fact, every single Republican in the House-- rolled Obama. In his first week in office he offered them his hand-- and billions of dollars in tax breaks for their corporate buddies-- and they responded with a clenched fist. Remember at his inaugural when he said "To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history, but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist." He may have been addressing other unsavory characters but the shoe certainly fits. And many Democrats feel this whole post-partisan thing is a charade and, for starters, they want those billions of dollars in tax breaks for businesses to be yanked from the Stimulus bill and used more productively.

Republicans fight for real-- and with knives. Obama better stop throwing flowers. He finally spoke up about the scandal of the banksters who accepted hundreds of billions in taxpayer dollars and then doled out $18 billion to themselves and their cronies in bonuses-- all the while passing on alleviating the credit crunch Democrats thought (naively) they would be getting for the unaccounted for billions that they foolishly entrusted to the same Bush Regime that had already ripped off untold billions over the past 8 years-- at home and abroad.

"It is shameful," Obama said from the Oval Office. "And part of what we're going to need is for the folks on Wall Street who are asking for help to show some restraint, and show some discipline, and show some sense of responsibility."

The president said the public dislikes the idea of helping the financial sector, only to see the hole get bigger because of lavish spending. The comptroller's report found that Wall Street employees got paid about the same amount of bonuses as they did in the boom time of 2004.

Obama said he and Geithner will speak directly to Wall Street leaders about the bonuses, which threaten to undermine public support for more government intervention. The House just approved an economic stimulus plan that would cost taxpayers more than $800 billion; the Senate is considering its own version.

..."There will be time for them to make profits, and there will be time for them to get bonuses," Obama said. "Now is not that time."

No, it isn't. It's the time for fucking accountability already. And I don't mean a slap on the wrist. These criminal banksters should all be rounded up and thrown in prison like the common criminals they are-- and I mean prison, not multimillion dollar penthouses. And those bonuses? That $18.4 billion should be taken back immediately-- with interest. The Obama DOJ should follow Andrew Cuomo's lead in New York on this.

In yesterday's Washington Post Dan Froomkin was wondering where that populist is who inspired millions and millions of America while he campaigned for a fairer and more equitable America last summer and fall.

[A]s Obama takes on the enormous challenge of trying to right a perilously listing economy, he seems to be abandoning at least some of that populism in an attempt not to upset Republicans and Wall Street.

In his first days, Obama has spent more time jawing with-- and making concessions to-- Republicans than Democrats. His photo ops are with corporate CEOs, not labor leaders or laid-off workers. His senior economic team represents the dominant Wall Street culture, and is apparently considering a financial rescue plan that will most directly help the same fat cats who gave themselves more than $18 billion in bonuses last year, even as they tanked the economy. Despite dramatic new ethics policies, Obama is peppering his administration with lobbyists. And he appears to be in no hurry to repeal Bush's tax cuts for the rich.

At the same time, the Obama team is eschewing even the easiest appeals to populism, responding with discreet pressure rather than more public outrage earlier this week when it was revealed that executives at Citibank-- who received a $45 billion infusion of tax dollars -- were buying a $50 million corporate jet.

And what does Obama have to show for all this outreach and restraint?

A stick in the eye... and lots of bad faith. Cantor and those clowns want to play games? The Democrats should pass the Employee Free Choice Act next week and ask them what game they want to play next. It's what they fear and loathe more than anything. Nevada reactionary John Ensign:

If you know anything about politics, it is a game changer. It is a total game changer for the next 40 to 50 years if the Democrats are able to get this legislation.

Ensign's paymaster, former WalMart CEO, Lee Scott:

We like driving the car and we’re not going to give the steering wheel to anybody but us.

Obama has got to wake up and realize that not only is Republican dogma worthless and counterproductive-- just look what that dogma has wrought-- but that these Republicans themselves are dealing from bad faith.