Our House of Representatives last week voted to approve the Stimulus Bill that President Obama had presented. The vote was on nearly strict party lines. No Republican House members voted for the bill. So, much for bi-partisan cooperation. Ideology and party power trumps all concerns, even a willingness to possibly compromise. It's their way or the highway.
The Republicans did offer their own solutions which consisted exclusively of...tax breaks. I guess somehow, somewhere, there exists data that tax cuts have done so well for either our economy (Maybe they didn't get the memo that we're in a recession at the end of 7 years of Bush's tax cuts...) or balancing our own federal budget (Maybe they didnt get the memo that the $500 billion surplus in our federal budget in 2000 had turned into a deficit of $500 billion by 2004. All the time the Republicans controlled both houses of Congress and The White House and nary a spending bill was vetoed.)
But I digress.
One reason offered publicly by some Republicans for not voting for the stimulus bill was Rush Limbaugh told them not to saying he hoped Obama would fail was the investment in education funds for state and local governments. They described some of the proposals as wasteful spending and an ill-considered expansion of the federal government’s role, traditionally centered on aid to needy students, into new realms like local school construction. - NY Times, Stimulus Plan Would Provide Flood of Money to Schools
Let me see if I can understand the distinction then with the No Child Left Behind Program that issued federal mandates for scores on standardized testing and penalties (withdrawal of federal funding and federal control of their schools) if the school and the system failed to meet these guidelines.
So, with NCLB, you have a paucity of meaningful support (funds) and a surplus of onerous controls and threats of penalties. And that's good in the sense that the federal role in state and local education systems and their management is....what, overbearing, paternal, condescending, and the program's intent was purely window-dressing for political purposes and the results were neutral to negative. And that's a good program as noted by the Republican support for this program of the previous White House.
But, now with a surplus of meaning support (funds) and a paucity of federal intrusion and micro-managing, nor threats of penalties with federal control of school systems or withdrawal of federal funds...that's a bad program because it increases federal role in school systems.
You have to wonder how do people say negative incentives is a positive program. And changing the incentives, offering meaningful support to the efforts of those whose goal is to educate our children is...bad.
Ideology trumps all...at least for House Republicans.
Their colleagues in other offices thought our country trumped ideology and party power. The Other Republican Officials...appreciate and need the federal dollars and recongize these days that the needs of their citizens and neighbors, their country, trump ideology and party power.
The 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, planned to meet in Washington this weekend with Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and other senators to press for her state's share of the package.
Florida Gov. Charlie Crist worked the phones last week with members of his state's congressional delegation, including House Republicans. Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas, the Republican vice chairman of the National Governors Association, planned to be in Washington on Monday to urge the Senate to approve the plan.
"As the executive of a state experiencing budget challenges, Gov. Douglas has a different perspective on the situation than congressional Republicans," said Douglas' deputy chief of staff, Dennise Casey.
Connecticut's Republican Governor was pushing their state's Senators to vote for the proposal. Link.
Now, what's interesting about this bill...Well, there are many things. But the bill included tax breaks for businesses that the Republicans wanted. But....the desire to see this plan be defeated or hope it meets with defeat in the Senate or hope that it doesn't work is so important...that these House members will risk doing nothing to help us and our economy if it means they won't be seen as....cooperating in a bi-partisan manner.
Ideology and party power trumps concern for our nation.
Let's be clear. There are provisions in there I don't like. There are provisions in there sponsors of the bill don't like. There are provisions that won't work, that will fail. But doing nothing, or offering only tactics that have shown a total failure in the past (tax cuts only) will only add to the suffering of those outside the offices of the RNC and its House members.
Now's the time House GOP members to choose between your party and your country as that's what your leadership defines as your choices.



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