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More Republican Lies Exposed: Fiscal Conservatism Dies, and Progressive Candidates Show Leadership |
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Bush Republicans aka corporatists are screaming for money to bail out their incompetent friends on Wall Street. When Congress didn’t give it to them - or even before, it turns out - they started printing it, risking serious inflation.
House Republicans are running scared, scrambling to ditch the president and blame Democrats. But it’s clear they don’t have any real ideas for solving America’s problems. I’ll give you a hint, Boehner: we can’t drill our way out of this one.
What we’re seeing is no less than the death throes of Reaganism, finally exposed for what it is and was: a giant lie, a smokescreen of “fiscal conservatism” used to hide predatory business practices that hurt ordinary Americans.
Meanwhile, progressives in and out of office are lining up to offer workable alternatives to the crisis. Progressive solutions, unlike Republican gimmicks, show real financial responsibility - and that’s why progressive proposals require much less than $700 billion while offering much more in terms of help for suffering Americans and commonsense ideas to help prevent another crisis down the road.
Look at the differences in how progressives and Republicans explained their “no” votes. Republican minority leader John Boehner could offer no ideas about the bill’s flaws, just blame: absurdly, he blamed Nancy Pelosi’s speech for tanking the bill, as though Republicans are terrified of Pelosi. Other Republicans simply parroted worn-out slogans about “small government” and “economic freedom” as though they’ve never heard of a man named George Bush and never voted for his big-government policies like the Iraq war and scores of no-bid contracts to predatory corporations.
Now take a look at the statement from Tom Udall, Democratic House member and soon-to-be freshman Senator from New Mexico:
I cannot in good conscience vote for a rushed $700 billion taxpayer funded bailout to shore up Wall Street while ignoring our middle class and the nation’s underlying economic flaws that caused this crisis in the first place. I will, however, continue fighting to do what’s right and fix our financial markets to prevent similar crises from occurring again.
This is in addition to a statement from last week:
“The Administration’s proposal, as it has been presented to Congress, needs significant changes. First, any plan that puts taxpayer money at risk must ensure that taxpayers get paid back before shareholders, bondholders or executives—so that corporate CEOs do not get a golden parachute while taxpayers are left to pay the bill.
“Additionally, Congress should act further to keep Americans in their homes by addressing the crisis in the mortgage industry as well as the one in the financial sector. Any economic package that allows tens of thousands of Americans to lose their homes is simply inadequate.
“Finally, there must be accountability. If we invest taxpayer dollars to protect our financial markets, we should make sure that money is spent effectively and efficiently, with proper oversight and accountability. No administration should be given unlimited authority over the spending of $700 billion or more of taxpayers’ dollars. Any bailout plan needs to ensure that those managing the bailout are responsible to Congress and the American people.â€
Those are ideas, and they come not from someone scared to death of losing his seat, but from someone whom polling has regularly placed in a double-digit lead over his opponent. This is a progressive speaking with the voice of confidence.
Oregon’s next Democratic Senator, Jeff Merkley, expressed a similar sentiment:
“The Republicans in Washington are demanding a blank check to fix the mess they created and that is completely unacceptable. Real families are hurting in this economy and George Bush is only concerned about CEOs on Wall Street. Gordon Smith rubber-stamped the Bush policies that led to this mess. I urge him to reject any blank check that puts special interests on Wall Street ahead of families on Main Street.
Gordon Smith says, “don’t play the blame game” - what he really means is “don’t hold me accountable”. Oregonians need new leadership in Washington and that starts with rejecting the failed policies and philosophies of Gordon Smith and the Republican party in November. In the meantime, Smith must stop giving blank checks to the Bush Administration - he did it with the Iraq war, and he shouldn’t do it now.”
These progressive candidates are connecting the dots, correctly placing this bailout in the context of Bush’s other failures. They’re also showing leadership by rejecting a bad bill and pointing the way toward a better one.
Look out for Part Two later tonight, when I’ll talk about how progressive thinkers are busy crafting workable alternatives to the bailout bill.
If we’re lucky, or just fucking tenacious enough collectively, this will be the death of an ideology.
Of course, Republicans will be blamed again, as in everything else. The fact that the Democrats had basically approved Bush’s plan before McCain got involved is just overlooked. Together, both parties agreed on a much better bill than the original proposed by Bush. House Republicans still wanted something better, and that’s where it still stands.
The voters are overwhelmingly against a bailout, and at least the House Republicans are listening to them. They may eventually settle on a bailout, if necessary, but the Republicans are the ones who are listening to the people.
“Going very much against the media meme that the current financial crisis is all George W. Bush and the Republicans%u2019 fault, Bill Clinton on Thursday told ABC%u2019s Chris Cuomo that Democrats for years have been %u201Cresisting any efforts by Republicans in the Congress or by me when I was President to put some standards and tighten up a little on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.%u201D
Yeah, Clinton is right: Republicans sought to prevent this crisis from happening. A bill for more oversight sponsored by McCain was voted down in the committee by Democrats back in 2005, so it failed.
Now McCain and the House Republicans are the only ones resisting Bush and Paulson. But, the Republicans will still get the blame.