We have heard, since President Obama took office, about how he needs to work at bipartisanship. And, indeed he has. He has made every effort to reach across the aisle to the Republican Party and include them in the work of the people.
So. How is that going for him, you might ask? So far, he has been mocked and scoffed at by those who were just so lately rejected in a landslide by the American people. WTF? Is that correct? Those who were just last November essentially reduced to a Regional Party are still so arrogant that they refuse to participate? They are still demanding that it's their way or nothing? Sorry. But yes, that is the case.
The vote for the Stimulus package had ZERO Republican votes in the House. And, a total of THREE Republican votes in the Senate. That, to me, doesn't sound like there is any desire on the part of the minority party to do the work of the people. That instead sounds like obstructionism. And, from the sounds emanating from the leadership of that minority party, we can expect a whole lot more of the same. It seems they have decided to continue the action that lost them control of the entire government over two election cycles.
So, RustyBrown, what is your view on all of this? Well Thanks for asking. Until the next election cycle when we will have our magical "60", we form a coalition in the Senate to accomplish there what must be done. Since Senator Franken will soon take his seat, it will take only a couple of votes to make that a working coalition.
What about the Republican Party, the minority party you ask? Simple. They have now pushed themselves away from the table. They have made themselves, by virtue of their own doings, irrelevant to any and all discussions. If they are willing to change their tactics and make some drastic changes in their policy views, they can once again be part of the dialog. However, at this moment, they are as extinct as the Mastodons.
The country is in a very bad way. The stimulus package that will get the ball rolling toward putting the economy back on it's feet has been passed. Albeit without the help of the Republican Party, save three. That being the case, we must now proceed without them and conduct the business of the people. That is to say, righting all of the wrongs perpetrated upon the nation by the Republican Party, who had complete control of the levers of government for six years. Their policies and politics failed completely. Both were soundly rejected. It is time to move on. Without them.
