PresBo Blames GOP... Is He Right?

Obama and the Democrats have been trying to blame everything on the GOP. I don't mean talks about "Bush's economy" or other "blame Bush" rhetoric we still hear from Democrats, I mean the whole "party of no" and "obstructionists" talk. PresBo stood up in front of the GOP on Friday and scolded them... he said now that the Democrats have lost their super-majority Republicans will actually have to take a stake in governing.

But is there any truth in these claims?

PresBo claims that the Republicans have voted against all the major agenda items, and that proves they're just obstructing Democrats for their own political advantage. Now, I have no idea if some of that DOES cross the minds of GOP Congressmen, but look at the Democrats' agenda items. Their signature issues are a major overhaul of the healthcare system that dramatically increases government involvement and control of our national system, a cap & trade system to limit carbon emissions that will drive up energy costs for the whole country, and over-regulating or just assuming control of banks and auto companies... with more industries maybe on the way.

With this kind of ultra-liberal agenda, they're surprised that people who call themselves conservatives are voting no? There is a lot of room here to oppose these policies on ideological grounds.

Take the stimulus, for example. It is a massive spending program that has proven to have had little or no positive effect on the economy... unless you ask a Democrat. Then it saved this entire world from complete and total economic destruction. The GOP voted against it, as I think they should have, despite the small number of tax breaks tucked inside it. Ideologically speaking, a small-government fiscal conservative could not support that bill.


And the upcoming jobs bill, which is basically stimulus-lite, should draw similar opposition from the GOP... and for the same reasons. It won't work and will waste a lot of money that we'll have to borrow in order to spend.

Remember that our two-party system relies on principled opposition... to have the majority party with absolute control over the White House and both Houses of Congress complain that the powerless minority party isn't cooperating and embracing their agenda... well, it's ridiculous.

When the Democrats were in the minority, they employed many of the same tactics that the GOP is employing today. They obstructed, delayed, and filibustered when they could. That's what the minority party does in order to force the majority party to compromise. Heck, for most of Obama's term the Democrats haven't even had to worry about a filibuster in the Senate... a situation the Democrats didn't have to live with.

The GOP has been essentially powerless to either stop bad legislation or force compromise to make liberal legislation more balanced. Blaming them for doing what a minority party is SUPPOSED to do is stupid.

And the Democrats know it, which makes things worse. Think of how they want the Republicans to act. Do THEY act that way when THEY'RE in the minority?

Obama wants Republicans to "embrace his agenda," but the Democrats don't do that when they're in the minority. They don't vote in favor of bills they think are wrong, and they don't let things sail through unhindered if they can slow or stop them. Republicans are worse... how?

Yes, I understand that the GOP is opposing Obama and the Democrats on almost every issue, but that's understandable for three reasons.

First, the agenda is highly liberal, meaning conservatives are predisposed to oppose it, anyway. Second, the GOP is largely powerless, and that leads them to maintain party unity as much as possible. Third, the Democrats have made the situation worse with their rhetoric and high-handed actions.

Over the past year, we've seen a lot of finger-pointing and heard name-calling from the Democrats, blaming the GOP for this or that. The President has recently increased his tempo, and regularly lectures or scolds them for their actions. When ObamaCare was first being put together, the GOP was told that their ideas wouldn't be considered. "I won," Obama told them. He went on and on about free-market solutions being the "failed policies" that caused our economic troubles. And the final round of health care talks, the ones to produce the House-Senate "compromise" bill, excluded all Republicans... only Democrats were allowed a seat at the table.

Yes, I understand that Republicans have fired back on occasion... but look at the provocation!

With all that, you certainly can't expect Republicans to be eager and willing to cooperate with the very people who have been treating them this way all year long.

You reap what you sow, and the Democrats have gone out of their way to sow discord, strife, and ill-feelings. They're getting it back now in the form of a unified Republican party, and they're trying to USE that situation for their own political benefit.

So no, I don't think that the Democrats' complaints are fair. While there is some truth in their claims, much of it was caused by their own disregard for a minority party that couldn't even put together a filibuster. Instead of blaming Republicans for the situation their own egos created, the Democrats need to relearn the lesson that you can't ignore half the country in order to push a radical ideological agenda.

I don't think this rhetoric will play in Peoria, so to speak. As a method to change their fall election prospects, it's a weak one.