Going Forward or Going Backward

GOP Vision

President Obama recently spoke at a DNC finance event in Atlanta , GA. Here are a few of his remarks.

I mean, think about it, these are the folks who were behind the steering wheel and drove the car into the ditch. So we've had to put on our galoshes, we went down there in the mud, we've been pushing, we've been shoving. They've been standing back, watching, say you're not moving fast enough, you ain't doing it right. Why are you doing it that way? You got some mud on the car. Right?

That's all right. We don't need help. We're just going to keep on pushing. We push, we push. The thing is slipping a little bit, but we stay with it. Finally -- finally -- we get this car out of the ditch, where we're just right there on the blacktop. We're about to start driving forward again. They say, hold on, we want the keys back. You can't have the keys back -- you don't know how to drive. You don't know how to drive.

And I do want to point out, when you get in your car, when you go forward, what do you do? You put it in "D." When you want to go back, what do you do? You put it in "R." We won't do want to go into reverse back in the ditch. We want to go forwards. We got to put it in "D."Can't have the keys back.

To read Obama's complete speech, click HERE.

Yes or No? Hell, They Don't Know!

"Party of No" is Really "Party of Do As You're Told"!

What are the Republicans opposed to? It seems as if they are opposed to anything proposed by Barack Obama or the Democrats.

One would think there would be some limit to the Republican strategy of "no." If Obama decided to endorse a bipartisan proposed plan that does the one thing every single American could agree we should do, it would be reducing the deficit, right?

Wrong.

Republicans are opposing a plan to put together a commission of 18 Democrats and Republicans to evaluate different ways to reduce the deficit. The panel would have until December 1 - after the midterm elections - to produce a plan that would then be voted on by Congress.

The Republicans are even opposing this knowing that Nancy Pelosi and Max Baucus are strongly opposing this because it strips some of their influence.

How can the Republicans be opposed to reducing government spending? Isnt that what they want?

You've got a plan to find a way to reduce government spending, a plan to see that it's passed through Congress, a way to oppose the enemy of all those on the right - Nancy Pelosi - and they're still against it. A plan offered by Kent Conrad (D) and Judd Gregg (R) as a way to get both Republicans and Democrats to work together in good faith to reduce the deficit. Why do they oppose this? Obama is for it, of course. (It's also quite obvious "good faith" isn't in any of their character, either).

They'll say that it's because this is just an underhanded Democrat scheme to raise taxes, even though they'll have representatives on the panel. As of now, however, they're threatening that they won't even talk about deficit reduction with the President. They will refuse to sit on the panel.

The GOP, the "Go-Along-Party", because they follow the leader, no matter what!

It's proof that, yet again, the Republicans don't stand for smaller government. They don't stand for less spending. They stand for nothing other than pandering to a constituency who follows in lock-step with their party, despite it's many internal contradictions. Those folks will hate the deficit reduction plan, too, because they always do as they're told.

GOPin' All Over Themselves, Once Again...

Justice David Souter has informed The White House that he will be resigning at the end of this court session.President Obama has not yet placed anyone’s name in nomination to replace Justice Souter’s. In fact, the President has not yet even suggested any names. Nonetheless, the Republicans have announced that they are “gearing up for a fight.”

GOP Gears Up for Court Fight

Senate Republicans admit they have virtually no shot at stopping President Barack Obama’s pick to replace Supreme Court Justice David Souter — but they see a definite political upside in waging a fight...

Conservatives Gear Up For SCOTUS Fight

A group of more than 50 conservative groups held a conference call early Friday to begin plotting strategy, sources on the call said.

"You're already having chatter between conservatives on who is going to be the nominee, what type of nominee is going to be put forward by President Obama," said Brian Darling, the Heritage Foundation's Senate director and a former top Judiciary Committee staffer...

Conservatives Gear Up for High Court Fight

Phone lines around Washington began burning this morning as conservative organizations kicked off preparations for the fight over President Obama's eventual Supreme Court nominee. Associate Justice David Souter's decision to step down at the end of this term has awakened a long-dormant network of conservative organizations that will do their best to augment — and at times pressure — Senate Republican efforts to frame Obama's eventual choice...

This week the Republican party kicked off its campaign to shine its party image.

Three prominent GOP leaders kicked off a campaign Saturday to reshape their party's image, gathering at a restaurant in northern Virginia for the first of a series of town hall meetings. The goal of the initiative, called the National Council for a New America, is to connect Republican leaders with voters across the country to help get the party's electoral fortunes back on track. "Certainly our party has taken its licks the last few cycles, but that's why we're here," House Minority Whip Eric Cantor said...

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said it's time for Republicans "to listen a little bit, learn a little bit." He advised Republicans to work on the party's message and "not be so nostalgic."

"I would say you can't beat something with nothing. The other side has something. The GOP isn't listening to the advice of Jeb Bush. They are certainly trying to beat the Democrats with 'nothing.'

The Senate Republicans might have reached out a hand, and offered some suggestions as to the type of jurist they'd like to see. The Senate Republicans could have suggested that they were looking forward to the nomination, and to the conformation hearings.

But once again the Senate Republicans have defined themselves as the "Party of NO." They have become the obstructionist political party. It appears that it doesn't matter to the Republicans who Obama's nominee for the Supreme Court might be.

The Republican Party is gearing up for a fight, because that is what “The Party of NO!” does. Legions of traditional Republicans are feeling disenfranchised by a party taken over by the Neo-Cons, the crazy Christian Right (who are neither) and the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity and that 'drooling cretin' Glenn Beck.

Traditional Republicans as well as most Americans have grown tired of the constant chorus of fear and hate mongering. The GOP non-message has become repugnant. And the response by the Senate Republicans...”NO!” No to what? They don’t even know yet, but by simple knee jerk reaction, they scream out...”NO!”

Great job at polishing their image!

[H/T] Gil Ross

New Ideas or Recycled Old Ideas

The 'Party of No' -2006 Flashback

A Republican National Committee Web ad released in May of 2006 that attacks Congressional Democrats as the “party of No” for obstructing Bush’s agenda.
H/T: The Plum Line

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