We are led by little men and women
Lance on Sep 29 2008 at 6:33 pm | Filed under: Domestic Politics, Economics, Lance's Page
I was not in favor of the Paulson plan if you haven’t caught that yet. Still, the pitiful display from our congress today set a recent low.
First, faced with an unpopular and contentious bill which she feels for the good of the nation must be passed, we get a partisan and divisive speech from Nancy Pelosi:
Pelosi had said that the $700 billion price tag of the measure “is a number that is staggering, but tells us only the costs of the Bush Administration’s failed economic policies — policies built on budgetary recklessness, on an anything goes mentality, with no regulation, no supervision, and no discipline in the system.”
Pure horse hockey. More importantly, if Pelosi believes her rhetoric about the importance of this bill the poor judgment, lack of leadership and inability to understand the importance of statesmanship in a crisis should be grounds for immediate dismissal from her post.
Then, we get this pathetic response from the Republican leadership:
“I do believe that we could have gotten there today had it not been for this partisan speech that the speaker gave on the floor of the House,” House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) said, adding that Pelosi “poisoned” the GOP conference.
Deputy Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) held up a copy of Pelosi’s floor speech at a press conference and said she had “failed to listen and to lead” on the issue.
The Speaker had blasted the Bush administration in her speech and Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) asserted that some GOP lawmakers, who had reluctantly agreed to support the bill, might have changed their minds following Pelosi’s remarks.
“Might” have effected them? What whining. If it is false it shows the same tin ear that Pelosi demonstrated. If it is true it is even worse. Either way, did it not occur to them how petty it would look in a moment of crisis?
If these congressman or women really didn’t support the bill and were going to vote for it anyway, the idea that they would change their votes because Pelosi was her normal clueless self is enough to deprive them of my vote forever. It is even more damning if they thought the bill was necessary and voted against it due to her behavior.
This is a disgrace.
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Heard on FoxNews last night that there were only 12 or 15 Republicans who might have switched votes because of what Pelosi said. Of course, that was enough to derail the bill, which still shows poor leadership.
Mike Pence thought the bill sucked, stood on principle, and voted no.
“Today Congress took a stand for the American taxpayer and free markets. The American people rejected this corporate bailout and today the People’s House did likewise.
“It is now imperative that Congress come together and develop a response to the crisis facing our financial markets that reflects the American people’s belief in personal responsibility and fiscal discipline.
“There are alternatives to the massive federal bailout that Congress rejected. I look forward to working with my colleagues in both parties to develop a response to this crisis that puts taxpayers first and preserves the essential freedom of the American marketplace.”
What’s the first rule of holes, if you’re in one, stop digging. We’re not going to borrow our way out of this bad debt. Our debtor nation is the cause of this problem, and we’re not going to solve it by continuing on the same bankrupt path.
BTW here’s the Republican Study Committee’s “Economic Rescue Alternative Plan.”