Barack Obama Washington Post Editorial

re: “…the same old partisan gridlock that stands in the way of action…”

It’s not enough that the Democrats have control of the House, control of the Senate, control of the Presidency, and a liberal majority on the Supreme Court? 

When did a limp-wristed majority afraid to act on its’ own beliefs become “partisan gridlock?”  You can’t blame Republicans for the Democrats’ lack of courage to support their own convictions.

And elevating Republicans’ reasonable disagreement with socialist programs to the virtual level of a thought crime is frankly Orwellian. If socialist programs had ever accomplished what they set out to do, anywhere, anytime in history that they have been tried, Republicans would probably sign on.  But we’ve been down this road of failed big government responses to economic crisis, and many people who lived through the Great Depression are still alive to attest to those socialist failures.  The way to stimulate our economy is to get government off our backs and allow people to keep the fruits of their labors.

The stimulus plan the President brought out of the House is built on False Dilemmas, ineffective solutions, poor returns on the dollar, and arbitrary market dislocations.  It benefits one class – the government bureaucrat class.  Everyone else loses. 

Great.  The American people get the government they deserve.  And the government they got is Democrats who don’t need Republicans to pass their stimulus plan.  What they need is to grow a pair, men and women alike, and pass their plans in the light of day as THEIR plans, and be judged by THEIR plans’ results as Democrats.  And if they can’t muster the testosterone to be held accountable for their own plans, they have no one to blame but themselves.

And Republicans need to grow some pairs too.  Conservative philosophy is worth standing on.  They must hold the line and not agree to another dollar of spending or taxation.  It would be a big mistake for them to try to blend in with Democrats at this juncture.  Look what happened the last time a Republican tried to pass himself off as a Democrat – the McCain campaign lost definitively.  Tax and spend is a guaranteed loser for a Republican. 

Democrats don’t need bi-partisan support to enact their plans, and each time they ask for it, Republicans should lock their mouths shut and throw away the key.  The change Republicans need in Washington is to quit the spending spree that went on under President Bush, learn when to keep their mouths shut, and start acting conservatively. 

Also See: Alyssa Lappen on Stimulus Plan

Also See: The Fierce Urgency of Pork