Hey, this Digg’s for you!

Shorter Mitch: don’t do what I did and push something through without me knowing what’s going on.

And even shorter Mitch: I’m an a** so f*ck everybody.

Oh, delightful, Boehner’s on board too!

“The American people are facing tough economic times, and they expect Washington to act – but we must act in a responsible way that helps get our economy moving again, not with more pork-barrel spending that does nothing but give taxpayers’ money to special interests and campaign contributors. Republicans are prepared to work with the incoming Administration and with Democrats in Congress to craft legislation that will help our troubled economy.”

“But now reports indicate that Congress may be asked to pass a bill spending as much as one trillion dollars of the taxpayers’ money in January. If that is true, I hope that the Democratic Leadership will agree that such a massive piece of legislation should be debated in a fair, honest, and open way. To that end, I would ask the Democratic Leadership to guarantee that such a bill will not be brought to the floor of the House unless there have been public hearings in the appropriate committees, the entire text has been available online for the American people to review for at least one week, and it includes no special-interest earmarks.”

“Polls show that the American people know that more irresponsible spending on government programs isn’t what the economy needs. Now is the time for Democrats and Republicans to work together on reforms that will unleash America’s economic potential and help our economy create jobs, and I hope President-elect Obama and the Democratic Leadership in Congress will keep their campaign promises to work with us in an open and bipartisan way.”

I’d sure like to see those polls you refer to, TanMan.

Someone might want to suggest that accommodation is impossible.

Indeed. What Digby says.

To that end, I would ask the Democratic Leadership Congress pass legislation to guarantee that such a no bill will ever not be brought to the floor of the House or Senate unless there have been public hearings in the appropriate committees, the entire text has been available online for the American people to review for at least one week, and it includes no special-interest earmarks.

Just a couple of minor revisions. Otherwise, sounds good.

The polls he cites are from PulledOutHisAss.com, of course.

Meanwhile, Nate Silver explains why Mitch’s position isn’t just amoral, it’s stupid politically as well.

mcconnell and boehner are creating a record of opposition so that they can, when the economic crisis gets worse, blame it on the dems. it won’t matter that the Rs are full of shit or that they helped make things worse , they will still be saying “i told you so.”

just another reason why the dems can’t afford to fuck up this time.

Can we start throwing shoes at this toothless prick anytime now?

-G

unprecedented government spending

For endless wars, death and destruction, fine and dandy. For constructive stuff that actually helps the living, not so much.

So is Mitch going to admit he was wrong all those times when the GOoPers shoved bills through without allowing reading time, or even debate time?
I’d like to see him called out on that at every possible opportunity, preferably by the majority leader (whoever that might be in this next session, and I hope it isn’t Harry because he’s a useless piece of sh*t).

Also he needs to be reminded at every possible opportunity of all those times when he pulled that ‘cutting taxes is good for the economy’ and ‘regulation is bad for the economy’ stuff, because he was clearly wrong then, too.

(What?
No, I have no intention of forgetting what the GOoPers have done to the country. I want them hung out to dry in the globally warming winds.)

Mitch and his GOP cronies need more time to conspire with the Big Oil and Arab countries to spike the price of Oil up again in time for them to pocket all of the stimulus dollars, like they did last summer.

It is not fair that they cannot rape the Government anymore so they are going to take their ball and go home.

“mcconnell and boehner are creating a record of opposition so that they can, when the economic crisis gets worse, blame it on the dems.”

They’re also opposing a stimulus for the same reason they and Bush are against national health care (as Paul Krugman explained): They aren’t afraid it won’t work; they’re afraid it will.

The hypocrisy exceeds acceptable limits.

someone needs to point out that he will drive the remaining loyalists to his party straight over to us

Is there no end to what the American people accept? The system is obviously broken and our elected representatives are not of a mind to fix it other than in ways that make rich people richer. Why is this? You won’t like the answer. If “they” won’t do it, than “we” must. Unfortunately we need the irresponsibility of following orders. We like bitching about the mess here and there, and we are pretty irrational to top it off.

An economy based on consumer spending needs consumers with money to spend. Concentrations of wealth defeat this need. Rich people buy cars and houses but not nearly in the numbers needed to keep things going. To tax rich people or otherwise free up that money for consuming is resisted by most as redistributing wealth, a large no-no. It may be we can ask our largest creditors to rewrite the terms of our borrowing rather than print money. We either spread the wealth or most of us go down the tube. I don’t think many of us, elected representatives included, are ready to face that reality.

I have some workboots I was going to toss out, but I’ll happily chuck em at Mary McConnell. Two sets, large and smelly ,caked with mud, Mary deserves no less.

Remember when Chimpy used to go to campaign in the home districts of Democrats who didn’t support his legislation? Well two can play that game.

Also, if they’re going to filibuster then let’s make them filibuster. Make them stand up there and talk, and get it on tape.

McConnel, Shelby and Corker et al would willingly committ acts of economic treason if they felt there was and advantage to their party. Unfortunately a weak and compliant Democratic leadership in Congress will likely let them get away with deep sixing Obama’s economic stimulus package. Should that happen let them then suffer the fate of traitors.

This is another reason to change the filibuster rule and bring it down to 54 or 55 to invoke cloture.

I agree there is this contradiction between Obama wanting to reach out to Republicans who are increasingly more not less extreme in their intransigence. As Republicans get wiped out in blue states and continue to lose ground in swing states, those who are left represent red to the bone nutcase constituencies. These guys have very nearly brought the country down with their fact free extremist views. They aren’t going to stop now.

Final point, the main reason why the filibuster rule won’t be changed is because Harry Reid is 3/4 Republican himself and looking at what happened with Lieberman he is far from alone.

So we have a need for decisive action. Obama selects a group of Establishment approved figures who bear a heavy responsability for the financial meltdown and who are already halfway in agreement with Republicans. Then you get Republican obstruction, and the result is that efforts to address our economic crisis either will not happen or will fall far short of what is needed.

I call double bs. Where was this cautiousness when the giant giveaway to Wall Street was passed within in days. Why no cooling off or cautiousness for that one?

Crediblitiy is gone for these jokers. We need Obama to call bullshit.

I agree how our taxing policies create the very society we don’t want and which constantly undermines our economy.

Your absolutely right. Obama and Congress will end up with a half-assed stimulus package that will do little to alleviate the problems working and middle class American families are experiencing. The health care plan will likely be an even bigger and sorrier abomination.

This is another reason to change the filibuster rule and bring it down to 54 or 55 to invoke cloture.

i’ve been reading up a bit on the senate rules – and i can’t find a reason that this can’t be done. the senate gets to make it own rules and needs only a majority for that. no need to invoke the nuclear option to do away with the filibuster rules, such as they are, entirely. i don’t see why they can’t be rewritten instead.

does anyone know of a reason rule 22 can’t be rewritten by the senate of the 111th congress? if there is, i’d love to know about it.

Karl Rove is Great

Karl is simply the gift that keeps giving. Karl crafted Dubya into what I say is the last legitimate GOP candidate, and painted the entire Republican party into a corner so small that soon they’ll be achieving the same electorial success as some third parties.

As a Republican you either have base-cred, or you have to earn it forever. If you’re not of the GOP base from day one, you have to spend your entire political life trying to prove yourself to these folks.

So here we have McConnell and others stuck playing to that base, that ever shrinking base of loons, who are the “Real Americans” living in parts of the South and Appalachia and that’s about all, while the rest of America will look at them in utter disgust.

Karl, Hannity, Rush, and Beck keep stirring that base with hate, racism, fear, and more hate. Everyone else is moving on and is tired of this crap. But that’s all they got, just the emotional charge of hatred. They have no coherent policy on anything, no ideas, no nothing.

Hopefully, history will see Karl and George as the team that destroyed the Republican party.

And then, where will we be?

Perhaps well into a new Dark Age, replete with divine rights,especially for MONEY, but also including that of ‘droight de seignor’.

Won’t THAT be ‘quaint’?

There has never been one that I know of. I think that Democrats like to make it sound like the filibuster is written in stone because it makes a fine excuse for not getting anything done. But as the Republicans showed with the threat of the nuclear option, this isn’t so, and given current conditions it shouldn’t be –although I expect Democrats to continue to hide behind it.

The new Republican slogan:

MOAR HUVER HOOVER !!!

ya had me at “Mitch McConnell obstructs” Teddy.

Hopefully, history will see Karl and George as the team that destroyed the Republican party.

The problem is that they may have destroyed the country in the process.

Well, at least they are honest for a change. They are perfectly willing to destroy the country for some minor political advantage and now they are saying it out loud. I think the Democratic leadership needs to trumpet this loud and long every time the Republicans attempt to block any stimulous legislation. In the Senate, they need to be forced to actually filibuster. No more vote counting and cringing. If they want to filibuster a bill, then they have to actually filibuster.

thanks. it’s harder to convinced myself there is no reason something can’t be done. sure looks like this is the case here, at least i haven’t been able to find any impediment. and it’s not like the senate rules haven’t been changed before – a lot. maybe under normal circumstances there are reasons of collegiality not to do it – but these aren’t normal circumstances (especially wrt the economy) and the republicans are going to stone wall anyway.

imo, if obama and senate democrats are actually serious about “getting shit done” the first thing they will do is rewrite senate rule 22 for the 111th congress.

This is where one hopes 9audaciously) that Obama does have folks regularly visiting this site; for the ‘hints’, at least, selise and Hugh.

See, I’m already gettin’ muh 9’s in.

Anticipating the new (and hopefully, better) new year …

McConnell: “Now that we’ve killed America, we need to make sure it stays dead.”