The GOP is Counting on You To Blame Gridlock on "Congress"

Republicans know how easy jokes about Congress are to make. It's even less popular than lawyers! Plus, Republicans know jokes about "Congress" go over better in mixed company - no better way to turn half a crowd against you than by pointing out that Congressional Republicans are obstructionist, am I right, Mark Warner?

That's why roadblock Republicanism works so well - the GOP can create gridlock, count on the media to falsely blame "both sides", then watch anger at "Washington" & "Congress" fuel its destructive, cynical political agenda (current top item: holding America's economy hostage in hopes of defeating President Obama in 2012).

The whole Republican brand is built around hatred for government. Not desire to improve it - desire to destroy it. As longtime GOP Congressional staffer Mike Lofgren said:

A couple of years ago, a Republican committee staff director told me candidly (and proudly) what the method was to all this obstruction and disruption. Should Republicans succeed in obstructing the Senate from doing its job, it would further lower Congress’s generic favorability rating among the American people. By sabotaging the reputation of an institution of government, the party that is programmatically against government would come out the relative winner…. Undermining Americans’ belief in their own institutions of self-government remains a prime GOP electoral strategy.

And look how well it's working - approval ratings for Congress sit around 12%, while Republicans are at 41% on the generic Congressional ballot.

Congressional Republicans are like The Emperor in Return of the Jedi. Hatred only makes them grow stronger.

Remember, Luke didn't do anything to destroy the second Death Star except keep The Emperor & Darth Vader occupied. It was the people he'd organized with who took down the shield generator & destroyed the main reactor.

What If Your Family Tightened Its Belt GOP-Style?

Claiming that cutting millions from public health & wildlife protections is about "belt-tightening" while ignoring the multi-trillion dollar Bush tax cuts is like telling your kids you're cutting their allowance but keeping the Porsche.

I'm glad the House Sustainable Energy & Environment Coalition is taking a stand.

GOP Fighting to Kill Jobs, Keep Us Addicted to Oil

National Public Radio reported last week on how newly-elected Republican governors are pledging to reject federal funding for high-speed rail. Rejecting rail doesn't just mean more congested roads, more reliance on foreign oil, and more polluted air. It means that in Wisconsin, Gov.-elect Scott Walker may kill jobs in his own state:

Caught in the middle of the backlash are workers for companies such as Talgo, a manufacturer of high-speed trains that just opened a new plant, bringing jobs to Milwaukee.

According to spokeswoman Nora Friend, Talgo will have 40 employees by the end of November, and it plans to hire up to 125 positions. Friend says the company is now faced with telling its workers they might be out of jobs when the trains they are making now are completed.

"If we don't have any more orders, then as a business entity, we have no choice but to shut down the facility," Friend says.

The story also highlights the DC media's nonsensical coverage of the national jobs picture. In this & other instances, Republicans are proactively working to block President Obama & Democrats in Congress from creating jobs. Yet all you hear from pundits is that Obama isn't doing enough to create jobs.

Blocking Climate Action: Republican, But Not Conservative

Bracken Hendricks of the Center for American Progress says that when it comes to the climate crisis, Republicans are putting big money politics ahead of principles:

[F]ar from being conservative, the Republican stance on global warming shows a stunning appetite for risk. When faced with uncertainty and the possibility of costly outcomes, smart businessmen buy insurance, reduce their downside exposure and protect their assets. When confronted with a disease outbreak of unknown proportions, front-line public health workers get busy producing vaccines, pre-positioning supplies and tracking pathogens. And when military planners assess an enemy, they get ready for a worst-case encounter.

When it comes to climate change, conservatives are doing none of this. Instead, they are recklessly betting the farm on a single, best-case scenario: That the scientific consensus about global warming will turn out to be wrong. This is bad risk management and an irresponsible way to run anything, whether a business, an economy or a planet. [...]

The investment needed to slow carbon pollution might total from 1 to 2 percent of global GDP each year for several decades, according to a 2006 study by the British government. This spending would pay for advanced technology, better land use and modern infrastructure. The same study put the cost of inaction - including economic harm from property damage and lost crops - at 5 to 20 percent of global GDP, lasting in perpetuity, with the risk of vastly higher catastrophic damage. You tell me which option is more fiscally responsible.

This new video from the Post Carbon Institute illustrates the choices we face:

Auto-Tuning GOP Climate Obstruction

Concerned About Tax Fairness? Support This Bill.

Whenever I mention the concept of increasing the gas tax to pay for public transportation, people inevitably accuse me of trying to raise taxes on low-income people. My response is twofold:

1. Raising the gas tax affects low-income people less than you'd think. Most of them drive fuel-efficient cars or take public transportation. It hits people who drive gas guzzlers the hardest, and if you can afford a mammoth Canyonero SUV, you probably weren't sweating a few cents difference in the price of gas when you did.
   
   
2. If you're so concerned about taxing the poor, why aren't you speaking out about Virginia's incredibly regressive tax on groceries?

Fortunately, Del. David Englin (D-Alexandria), Del. Joe Morrissey (D-Henrico), and Del. Dave Marsden (D-Fairfax) are working on the second point:

The Middle Class and Small Business Tax Relief Act will repeal the state sales tax on groceries, repeal the corporate income tax for businesses making less than $100,000 per year, and cut the personal income tax for Virginians making between $17,000 and $75,000 per year, all while protecting existing money that is dedicated to public education and transportation.

Eliminating the current 1.5 percent state sales tax on food will provide roughly $230 million per year of tax relief for 7.6 million Virginians in nearly 3 million households. Eliminating the corporate income tax on businesses making less than $100,000 per year will provide $10 million in tax relief to 22,000 businesses. Lowering the personal income tax rate to 5.6 percent for people making between $17,000 and $75,000 per year will provide $130 million in tax relief to more than 1.4 million Virginians. [...]

To accomplish that, the proposal would raise the income tax rate on people making more than $400,000 per year by 1.1 percent, affecting roughly 30,000 Virginians, or the wealthiest four-tenths of a percent of the state's population. Moreover, the legislation is written to ensure that there is no change in the amount or the timing of the current funds that go to local governments for public education and to the Transportation Trust Fund.

I don't usually stray into the realm of taxes on this blog, but I couldn't pass up the chance to talk about this great new bill. A tiny tax hike on the richest 0.4 percent to give a tax break to literally every other Virginian? Sounds good to me.

Virginia's GOP seems intent on blocking any positive legislation this year, but here's hoping this is one bill that can pull a General Lee on the roadblock Republicans.