Steve Benen Finally Gets The GOP Plan

Scorched Earth 101 seems simple enough to me and anyone else who's been reading for the last, oh, eighteen months, but even beltway inside types like Benen are starting to finally notice that the Republicans don't give a damn if the economy collapses as long as they can blame Obama.

For weeks, Senate Democrats have tried to pass what's called the "tax-extenders bill" -- a key economic package that extends unemployment benefits, maintains popular tax breaks, protects doctors from Medicare cuts, and boosts state aid to prevent massive job layoffs in the states. The country needs this bill to pass, but Republicans won't let it come up for a vote.


In the hopes of finding a compromise, Dems have repeatedly scaled-back the measure, watering it down and removing worthwhile investments. The GOP has responded by insisting the reductions aren't enough, and that they still won't allow a vote.

It now appears Republicans are going to win this fight -- and Americans will lose.

What's the downside for the Republicans here for not cooperating?  Nobody's assessing any penalties so far.  But it finally looks like somebody starting to.

In the real world, this means millions of jobless Americans will lose their already-modest benefits, and hundreds of thousands of workers will be laid off over the next year, including teachers, police officers, and firefighters. All of this will happen because Republicans are more concerned about the deficit -- a deficit they created under Bush/Cheney -- than the economy.

It's unpleasant to think about, and I really hope it's not true, but it may be time for a discussion about whether GOP lawmakers are trying to deliberately sabotage the economy to help their midterm election strategy. After all, these same Republicans have supported deficit-financed tax-extenders before -- there's no credible reason to change course now. On the contrary, with the economy struggling to break through, the need for this package is more obvious, not less, if your goal is to actually improve economic conditions.

Really?  Why would Republicans want to improve economic conditions with a Democrat they can blame in the White House and midterm elections they want to win?  Why would they ever allow any legislation at all to pass at this point when they can filibuster everything and say "The Democrats failed!  Government has failed!  Vote for us!"

It's probably far too late for Benen to be sounding this alarm here, but it should be at least noted.  the Republican Party does not want the economy to improve.  They want to win.  Those are mutually exclusive things to Republicans.