Is this partisanship?
2 posters
Page 1 of 1
Is this partisanship?
by Aaron Thu Feb 12, 2009 10:15 am
Obama Campaign to Lend Partisanship Draws Few Republican Allies
Laura Litvan Laura Litvan
Thu Feb 12, 12:01 am ET
Feb. 12 (Bloomberg) -- In her 30 years in Washington, no president had invited Maine Senator Olympia Snowe to the White House for a private meeting -- until Democrat Barack Obama asked her over last week.
She is now part of an exclusive club of Republicans willing to work with Obama, so far limited to just two other members, Senator Susan Collins of Maine and Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania.
The president is doing a little better with their party members outside of Washington. Charlie Crist of Florida and Arnold Schwarzenegger of California are among the four Republican governors who came out in support of Obama’s economic recovery plan because it contains millions of dollars for their states.
Obama’s promise to purge Washington of partisanship is giving way to a more familiar reality. To push his stimulus proposal, he has been forced to cobble together support from just a few Republican moderates in Congress and the handful of governors and mayors.
“He’s running up against a long and nasty history of partisanship that isn’t going to change overnight,” said Ross Baker, a professor of political science at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
No House Republicans
source
Aaron- Number of posts : 9841
Age : 58
Location : Putnam County for now
Registration date : 2007-12-28
Re: Is this partisanship?
by Cato Thu Feb 12, 2009 10:55 am
The very last thing we need right now is "partisanship". What we need is people with the balls to stand up to the lefties and thier so called "stimulus package".
Cato
Cato
Cato- Number of posts : 2010
Location : Behind my desk
Registration date : 2007-12-28
Re: Is this partisanship?
by Aaron Thu Feb 12, 2009 11:05 am
I agree. But if the bill were truly partisan as our President says he wants, perhaps it wouldn't have been a liberal spending bill but instead a true infrastructure spending/tax cuts bill.
If the infrastructure is going to be taxpayer financed, we may as well do it now and tax cuts would help some and that would have been a much better bill then this monstrosity is.
If the infrastructure is going to be taxpayer financed, we may as well do it now and tax cuts would help some and that would have been a much better bill then this monstrosity is.
Aaron- Number of posts : 9841
Age : 58
Location : Putnam County for now
Registration date : 2007-12-28
Re: Is this partisanship?
by Cato Thu Feb 12, 2009 11:14 am
Aaron wrote:I agree. But if the bill were truly partisan as our President says he wants, perhaps it wouldn't have been a liberal spending bill but instead a true infrastructure spending/tax cuts bill.
If the infrastructure is going to be taxpayer financed, we may as well do it now and tax cuts would help some and that would have been a much better bill then this monstrosity is.
Yea, but the catch is, it isn't about partisanship or infrastructure, its about buying votes and repaying favors. About the last thing Obama or the democratic congress wants is input from republicans.
Cato- Number of posts : 2010
Location : Behind my desk
Registration date : 2007-12-28
Re: Is this partisanship?
by Aaron Thu Feb 12, 2009 11:28 am
And the problem for America is, Democrats don’t really need partisanship right now. Not when they have "moderate" Republicans from Maine in Collins and Snow and Arlin Spector willing to give them their votes for what amounts to very little in return.
And then you take someone like Snowe, who has been looked at with disdain for years by Republican leadership simply because she doesn't toe the party line on social issues and suddenly Obama is bringing her to the White House for 1-on-1 meetings and treating her like she matters, so course she’s going to go along.
And there in lies part of the Republican problem. They've become so exclusive with their "my way or the highway" routine that social moderates get tired of their rhetoric and that's why they're willing to listen to the other side.
Obama can talk about change all he wants but the bottom lines is, he's playing the same Washington game that's been played for centuries. He's just using honey to catch the fly instead of vinegar.
And he'll use this tatic to pass the legislation he wants to pass and if Republicans don't smarten up, then we're going to be stuck with a hell of a lot worse then this liberal spending bill.
Reagan did it and look what he won from Democrats. Now Obama’s doing the same thing and he’ll likely win the same type of concessions from Republicans.
And then you take someone like Snowe, who has been looked at with disdain for years by Republican leadership simply because she doesn't toe the party line on social issues and suddenly Obama is bringing her to the White House for 1-on-1 meetings and treating her like she matters, so course she’s going to go along.
And there in lies part of the Republican problem. They've become so exclusive with their "my way or the highway" routine that social moderates get tired of their rhetoric and that's why they're willing to listen to the other side.
Obama can talk about change all he wants but the bottom lines is, he's playing the same Washington game that's been played for centuries. He's just using honey to catch the fly instead of vinegar.
And he'll use this tatic to pass the legislation he wants to pass and if Republicans don't smarten up, then we're going to be stuck with a hell of a lot worse then this liberal spending bill.
Reagan did it and look what he won from Democrats. Now Obama’s doing the same thing and he’ll likely win the same type of concessions from Republicans.
Aaron- Number of posts : 9841
Age : 58
Location : Putnam County for now
Registration date : 2007-12-28
Page 1 of 1
Permissions in this forum:
You cannot reply to topics in this forum