Looking over the roll call, the drastic cuts received zero Democratic votes, and even Blue Dogs didn't break ranks. Three Republicans -- Walter Jones (N.C.), Reps. Jeff Flake (Ariz.), and John Campbell (Calif.) -- voted with the Dems in opposition, but two of three opposed the measure because they said it wasn't quite brutal enough. (Nine House members -- seven Democrats and two Republicans -- did not vote, but they obviously wouldn't have affected the outcome.)
The gavel came down around 4:30 a.m., making this one of those rare Friday-night/Saturday-morning votes.
The package, which is intended to finance the federal government though the end of the fiscal year, now heads to the Senate, where it stands absolutely no chance whatsoever of passing. Indeed, House Republicans knew this before the vote, and didn't care -- this isn't about governing; it's about right-wing lawmakers pounding their chests in order to impress their reactionary base. House leaders could have worked with Senate leaders on a spending compromise, but Republicans chose not to bother.
As we talked about yesterday, it's hard to overstate how brutal these cuts really are. Overnight, 235 House Republicans voted to slash education, job training, environmental protections, food safety, community health centers, nuclear security, energy efficiency programs, scientific research, FEMA, Planned Parenthood, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Social Security Administration, and the Centers for Disease Control, among other things.
The projected job losses from these cuts, we learned this week, could total 1 million American workers, all of whom would be forced into unemployment, on purpose, because Republicans think it'd be good for the economy.
As the House GOP sees it, we can't afford these expenditures because of the deficit they helped create. We can, however, afford massive tax breaks for people who don't need them, which cost a lot more, and which Republicans didn't even try to pay for.
The GOP proposal, in other words, is the sort of budget a caucus might put together if it was really angry with Americans, as if we'd done something to offend them. (Maybe, if we apologize, they'll stop trying to hurt so many people?)
Oddly enough, perhaps no one is happier with the vote than the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee -- this one measure will be exploited for hundreds of hours of campaign ads, questioning the misguided principles of vulnerable Republican incumbents who were misguided enough to vote for this monstrosity.
So yes, why do Republicans hate education, job training, environmental protections, food safety, community health centers, nuclear security, energy efficiency programs, scientific research, FEMA, Planned Parenthood, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Social Security Administration, and the Centers for Disease Control?
It's because they don't want government to work. They want it to fail so they can privatize it as much as possible and reap the economic benefits for decades to come.
Seems to be working well so far, but I think when 2012 comes around, the backlash may surprise a lot of people.
But wouldn't it all be so much better if it was privately run! After all, government is so inefficient and everything would be so much better if the wealthy could profit from it.
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ReplyDeleteThe projected job losses from these cuts, we learned this week, could total 1 million American workers, all of whom would be forced into unemployment, on purpose, because Republicans think it'd be good for the economy.
I see political fiction writer Benen links to the pathetic Dana Milbank who uses the 1 million job losses number created out of the ass of a Communist. I'm guessing the number of jobs lost will be between 1 and 2 percent of the Commie's number. It'll probably be a healthy percentage of new people the Obama administration hired that shouldn't have been hired. Just wait until Obamacare goes down the toilet, and boy will there be the wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Seems to be working well so far, but I think when 2012 comes around, the backlash may surprise a lot of people.
I think you're right. It should guarantee a Republican takeover of the U.S. Senate. Especially if Democrats shut down the government.
Look at Wisconsin: the people of Wisconsin and the rest of the American people are on the side of Gov. Walker and the Republicans, not the astro-turf deadbeats who illegally walked off of their jobs or were bussed in. And it turns out Doyle raised taxes on the rich, and the pig still left a deficit for Walker before he got into office. Where's the fucking money?
Haven't you lefties learned? You lost and you're losers.
you mean the kind of losers who spend saturday night posting comments on blogs? guilty as charged. now, what's your excuse?
ReplyDeleteJobs?
ReplyDeleteZandar, you don't even believe the unemployment rate is 9%. You've said so yourself that the real unemployment numbers are much higher because Obama's Department of Labor isn't counting people who have given up looking for work altogether.
Even you believe Obama is lying to us about jobs. The stimulus has failed utterly and you know it.
But you somehow think cuts will cost a million jobs and Obamacare will create jobs?
I guarantee you that Obamacare will never make it to 2014. It will be repealed in January, 2013 by a Republican Congress and President.
And that will happen because the real unemployment rate in November 2012 will still be well into the double digits.
Not even you buy the 9% unemployment rate. Not even you believe Obama's propaganda on jobs "created or saved" by the stimulus.
You've said as much.
The new crop of congresscritters wants to Go Galt, but they don't want to go alone.
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