February 9, 2009

Shorter Republican message

"Perfectly glad to see the economy tank as long as we win seats."

Oh, and by the way, can someone tell me how the Republicans would have responded (and how the MSM would have echoed it) had a Democrat compared their resistance to Bush to that of the Taliban?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Streak I don't see the quote "Perfectly glad to see the economy tank as long as long as we win seats" anywhere in that article.

That was not the theme of the article. Rather it had to do with the Republicans thinking they are starting to reestablish their ideological roots. From that they see a future in which they will win seats.

As for the comparison to the Taliban, that was straight up dumb, doesn't make an sense, and you're right Republicans would have eaten a Democrats alive for saying something like that.

steves said...

I was just going to say the same thing LB did. I have a hard time believing there are Republicans that would be happy with a bad economy. It reminds me of Republicans saying that Democrats wanted us to "lose" the GWOT.

While Obama enjoys very high approval rating, the polling data suggests that everyone is not in love with the stimulus package. While a majority thinks we should "do something," this drops off when you start talking specifics. I think some Republicans have their own ideas as to what should be done.

I am firmly within the "do something" camp, but I am concerned about several things:

1. I don't like how fast this is being forced on us. I know how shitty things are, but the vast majority of economists are saying we need more hearings, discussions, and dialog. I also don't like the way it is being presented. Blogger Mike echos this concern in Scare Tactics: They're Not Just For Republicans Anymore. People's behavior with money is strongly influenced by their emotions and perceptions and scare tactics will most likely be harmful. FDR knew this which is why he said, "the ionly thing we have to fear is fear itself."

2. I am also concerned about what the money will be spent on. In hindsight, I don't think the last bailout was an entirely good thing and didn't do what it was supposed to do. I know that there are no sure things and Congress and the Administration are trying to not make the same mistakes, but I am worried that this bill will get stuffed with pork.

The Taliban comment was kind of stupid and I am sure Republicans and Limbaugh et al would have been all over the Dems if they had made that comment.

Streak said...

LB, that was my failed attempt at humor. The actual quote was not that. that is why I said "shorter" Republican message. Sorry for the confusion.

I understand the Republican reestablishment of their roots, but do think there are people who are still following Rush Limbaugh's wish that Obama would fail.

Steve, I agree about the scare tactics too. That has concerned me as well. but it has struck me that this might also be the entire moral from the "kid crying wolf" story. What if our economy is really in terrible shape? Thanks to the Republican scare tactics, we now doubt everything like this.

But I also think that the concern about what is in this bill, while understandable, is missing a little of the point. So some of this package (like everything passed by Congress) includes some weird funding. Those weird fundings--resodding the mall, or adding computers to this agency--those either keep people employed or get them employed. That isn't a bad thing when our employment numbers are tanking.

Monk-in-Training said...

One thing that can make people think Republicans want Pres. Obama to fail is Rush saying "I want Obama to fail".

Most people in the country think of Rush as one of the main spokesmen of the GOP.

Just sayin.