I have been following Cspan all this week for coverage of all the votes and the debate on them.

From the repeated talking points from the dems (sometimes as many as 9 or 10 speakers saying the same thing during the debate of a single bill) the process becomes clear.

Action Plan

Stall and delay all session long even risking being called the do nothing congress

Pass pandering versions of the bills you can guarantee will not pass or be vetoed

End Game

Blame obstructionist republicans (I can't tell you how many times I heard that very phrase this week)

Blame veto happy President (at least 50 times for that one)

Plan to fix

Tell voters they need a veto proof majority in both houses (cheaper by the dozen dozen on that one)

Dem to the White House to stop the vetoes (50 or 60 of those before I lost count)

During breaks on Cspan call ins heard the same thing at least a dozen times from all three phone lines Republican, Independent and Democrat

Exact same talking points popping up all over the left at the usual suspects.

Egads! Once again the huge veto-proof Republican majority in the House and Senate have ridden roughshod over the poor hapless Democrats. Oh the cruelty of it.

I notice that, yet again, Democrats perceive taxation as something that has no effect on the behavior of taxpayers.

“We are forced today to recognize that we don’t have the votes to pursue the pay-as-you-go principle that we adopted in a bipartisan fashion,” Mr. Hoyer said.

Mr. Hoyer? I don't think that means what you think it means, considering,

"Republicans almost in lock step in both bodies have prevented us [from increasing taxes]."

NED

Or, ahem, you could just cut, ah, spending by say....$50 billion or so? Wouldn't, ahem...ahh. that keep Pay-Go alive and....ah....kicking?

To sum up - they screwed up the AMT in freakin'1969 and in 2007, 38 years later, it is now a crises that must be immediately fixed, and the only possible fix is to scrap rules they didn't want to live by anyway.

By the by, entitlement spending is increasing by $100 billion per year. yawn.

"Ever wonder why the very people who keep saying that we don't need to drill for more oil, we just need to consume less of it, can't understand the same principle when it's applied to tax dollars?"

-- Mallard Filmore

Geoman:

Or, ahem, you could just cut, ah, spending by say....$50 billion or so? Wouldn't, ahem... ahh. that keep Pay-Go alive and.... ah.... kicking?

Heh, there's a fellow who doesn't follow links in the posts he reads <g>!

Dafydd

amazing, a president who has screwed up everything he's ever touched, with the help of his lackeys in congress gets more legislation that will hurt the country and you guys consider this a victory... no wonder we're in such trouble.

Ibfamous:

You're probably not going to make much of an impact when you begin by announcing premises that will turn off nearly everybody to the right of the Clintons.

My recommendation is that you expand upon your comment; but this time, make some effort to convince people -- even those who don't already agree with you! -- that:

• President Bush has "screwed up everything he's ever touched" (since most of us believe the opposite, seeing great improvements in the tax structure, our national security, our intelligence gathering, our spending priorities and such under Bush);
• That congressional Republicans function as Bush's "lackeys" (when most of us believe they have been nearly as guilty as the Democrats at undercutting Bush's foreign and domestic policies, from Iraq, to Iran, to Social Security privatization, to spending, to judicial appointments, to "anti-torture" legislation that includes a ban on waterboarding by the military, to McCain-Feingold); and
• That the recent Bush policies on which the Democrats caved to the president "will hurt the country" (when most of us consider the corresponding Democratic policies so much worse, from tax hikes to institutionalized pseudoscience such as AGCC, to a compulsion to surrender in Iraq, to government-run health care, to sucking up to our enemies, to fully open borders, to mandating complete secularization of society, to selling Israel down the river).

If you can actually articulate some argument more advanced than a generalized snarl, I'll bet you'd get a reasoned response. If you're more used to the argumentary style of, say, dKos, Juan Cole, Pandagon, et al, you may be pleasantly surprised at how willing the Right is actually to talk with the Left.

Dafydd

Dafydd,
I think we heard the sum total of the guy's arguments.

And everyone he talks to in person probably nods in total agreement.

Thanks for hissing in, . Now you can slither in with a comment, o wise. (sign out)

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