Oh, The South.
South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn is super pissed that Southern GOP governors are threatening to refuse federal stimulus money. He's backtracked from his original assertion that the move is "a slap in the face of African-Americans," but only by about a fourth of an inch.
Sassy academic Joseph A. Palermo incisively compares the prattle of certain Southern GOP governors to a neo-Confederate uprising. The would-be secessionists:
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal - Indian-American GOP superstar with ambition overload
Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour - fattest governor in the nation, by far
South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford - a literal lover of the original Confederacy
Texas Gov. Rick Perry - gets a stiffy every time a mentally retarded minority death row inmate is executed
But to be fair to the above state executives, I don't think they're consciously trying to make life more difficult for minorities in their home states, just the one who recently became President. And who's helping them along with that? Oh, it's Jim Clyburn.
Remember that one time he successfully inserted language in the stimulus bill that endowed state legislatures with the power to override their governors' refusal of federal stimulus funds? No state lawmaker would turn down even a single road project for his or her district. Sounds to me like Jindal & Co. can posture all they want, knowing in the end, they can cry separation of powers and the voters will get the funds.
Poor Rep. Clyburn. He should have spent less time simmering with hatred and paranoia and more time pondering the obvious fact that the would-be secessionists - an ambitious and practical lot - could have never raised this stink without his help.
~Slim
Showing posts with label stimulus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label stimulus. Show all posts
Monday, February 23
Deficit Doublespeak (Not Having Any of It Edition)
As someone who is very uncomfortable with change, it comforts me greatly to know that our new administration is doing its best to calm my nerves. After the election, I was kept up at night at the thought that lobbyists would be driven from government positions and that the decision making over the war would be well thought out and the consequences fully considered. Thankfully, none of that has happened yet. And now to quell my fears even more, the new administration is continuing the fun and games of rhetorical truthspeak and the silliness of word games.
Today, the President announced his bold and brave plan to cut the deficit in half. To try to satisfy lowly Republicans and shed what he perceives as the slime of a liberal lavel, he is screaming from the highest rooftop of a corporation headquarters, non-unionized factory, or Cayman Island bank, “See I can be like you, too! Just accept me.” Of course, his plan is a weak attempt to gain political points with word games.
Really Obama? You’re going to cut the deficit in the coming years from where it is now? How talented our President is to assure us that in future years we will not face the passage of hundreds of billions of dollars in stimulus packages and bailout bills.
Our deficit is higher than normal this year because of these emergency expenses. To embrace the President’s bold deficit-cutting agenda is a farce. He won’t be cutting it to pre-Bush levels. He’ll be returning it to pre-recession levels. This is bold policy--returning our deficit levels to pre-recession levels once the recession is over? Maybe when he does it, he can give a speech on the steps of the Treasury Department in front of a big “MISSION ACCOMPLISHED” banner.
I applaud this President’s rhetorical balls. Sure, it has won over media stains like Norah O’Donnell whose idea of an effective stimulus is the battery operated device she keeps under the news desk for stories about this administration. I, on the other hand, see right through this nonsense, and I AM NOT HAVING ANY OF IT.
-Ginger
Today, the President announced his bold and brave plan to cut the deficit in half. To try to satisfy lowly Republicans and shed what he perceives as the slime of a liberal lavel, he is screaming from the highest rooftop of a corporation headquarters, non-unionized factory, or Cayman Island bank, “See I can be like you, too! Just accept me.” Of course, his plan is a weak attempt to gain political points with word games.
Really Obama? You’re going to cut the deficit in the coming years from where it is now? How talented our President is to assure us that in future years we will not face the passage of hundreds of billions of dollars in stimulus packages and bailout bills.
Our deficit is higher than normal this year because of these emergency expenses. To embrace the President’s bold deficit-cutting agenda is a farce. He won’t be cutting it to pre-Bush levels. He’ll be returning it to pre-recession levels. This is bold policy--returning our deficit levels to pre-recession levels once the recession is over? Maybe when he does it, he can give a speech on the steps of the Treasury Department in front of a big “MISSION ACCOMPLISHED” banner.
I applaud this President’s rhetorical balls. Sure, it has won over media stains like Norah O’Donnell whose idea of an effective stimulus is the battery operated device she keeps under the news desk for stories about this administration. I, on the other hand, see right through this nonsense, and I AM NOT HAVING ANY OF IT.
-Ginger
Sunday, February 22
Rhodes to Perdition
The stimulus bill offers us a wonderful look at how ridiculous is the state of Louisiana. Current governor and Republican Presidential hopeful, Bobby Jindal, is claiming he won't take federal stimulus money to help stabilize the economy of his state. Despite the fact that the bill has been passed by both houses of Congress and signed by the President, and that federal tax revenue flowing out of his state will help pay for this package, he wants to refuse it.
So, here are two important questions that come out of this fool-fest in the bayou.
First, will the Republican party's favorite poster child for equality and tolerance turn down a package that help his constituents? Will his misguided principles trump the needs and well-being of some of the poorest, hardest-hit Americans? Of course his alternative is to take the money silently while railing against it (a la Reagan-era tax hikes). So, if he picks the former he's a scumbag, if he takes the latter he is two-faced (and still kind of a scumbag).
Second, if he does bend his constituents over a levee and fill them with the swampy magic of continued economic hardship what is their response? Do they boot his ass out of office after one term Kathleen Blanco-style. Or like all upstanding, poor, conservative Republicans do they put their kids to bed hungry, genuflect before a portrait of Ronald Reagan, and blame Democrats, lesbians, and terrorists for all the tragedy in the world?
-Ginger
So, here are two important questions that come out of this fool-fest in the bayou.
First, will the Republican party's favorite poster child for equality and tolerance turn down a package that help his constituents? Will his misguided principles trump the needs and well-being of some of the poorest, hardest-hit Americans? Of course his alternative is to take the money silently while railing against it (a la Reagan-era tax hikes). So, if he picks the former he's a scumbag, if he takes the latter he is two-faced (and still kind of a scumbag).
Second, if he does bend his constituents over a levee and fill them with the swampy magic of continued economic hardship what is their response? Do they boot his ass out of office after one term Kathleen Blanco-style. Or like all upstanding, poor, conservative Republicans do they put their kids to bed hungry, genuflect before a portrait of Ronald Reagan, and blame Democrats, lesbians, and terrorists for all the tragedy in the world?
-Ginger
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