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Monday, March 22, 2010

Signs of Spine in the Aftermath of HCR Victory

Grampy McSame and other GOP Infant Eminences are pouting and stamping their feet via The Hill:
Democrats shouldn't expect much cooperation from Republicans the rest of this year, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) warned Monday. McCain and another Republican senator decried the effect health reform legislation has had on the Senate, a day after the House passed the upper chamber's bill. GOP senators… caution that the health debate had taken a toll on the institution, warning of little work between parties the rest of this year. "There will be no cooperation for the rest of the year," McCain said... "They have poisoned the well in what they've done and how they've done it." …

"In my opinion, the institution of the Congress has been fundamentally harmed," said Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), pointing to the process Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) used to craft the final health bill.

Observe the response of Harry Reid's office:
“For someone who campaigned on ‘Country First’ and claims to take great pride in bipartisanship, it’s absolutely bizarre for Senator McCain to tell the American people he is going to take his ball and go home until the next election. He must be living in some parallel universe because the fact is, with very few exceptions, we’ve gotten very little cooperation from Senate Republicans in recent years.

“At a time when our economy is suffering and we’re fighting two wars, the American people need Senator McCain and his fellow Republicans to start working with us to confront the challenges facing our country -- not reiterating their constant opposition to helping working families when they need it most.”

Don't be so sure HCR won't help Dems rather than hurt them come November mid-terms, contrary to Villager common wisdom. Success begets success. And all that right-wing nonsense about Dems "ignoring the American people" by struggling to solve problems suffered by the American people (inadequate though the resulting efforts have been so far) has always been less about the American people in fact than about a small shrill minority of assorted white-racists gun-nuts theocrats authoritarians and other loons who like to declare themselves the only Americans who count but who are far from mirroring the "real America" in the least. If Villagers and GOPers fell for that idiotic spin, that's their funeral. They are the ones who need to adjust their flawed assumptions in the face of reality.

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