The revealing DeMint amendment

[ProSense]

Friday, February 06, 2009

The revealing DeMint amendment

Andrew Koppelman

This blog is not ordinarily a venue for the reporting of straight news, but a major vote in the Senate Wednesday evening has been ignored by the press. Senator James DeMint offered a substitute bill for President Obama’s stimulus package that would consist of nothing but tax cuts, most notably a massive reduction of the top income tax rate from 35% to 25%. The amendment was defeated, but 36 out of the 41 Republican senators voted for it.

The vote makes clear that most Republicans fundamentally disagree with the Keynesian premises of Obama’s stimulus package. Their public statements have harped on details of spending, but the DeMint vote shows that they are opposed to any attempt to stimulate the economy by government spending. They are unalterably convinced that tax cuts are the universal elixir for any economic problem. Under these circumstances, bipartisanship is a delusion. Democrats and Republicans have nothing to negotiate about.

[elleng]

1. as krugman has said;

opposite approaches.

[globalvillage]

2. So, all the rest of their sh*t is just theatre.

For all their blathering, they don't give a damn about anything other than tax cuts.
Idiots.

[sandnsea]

8. The "economy" = private business only

to them. The only thing that matters to them is the private sector. Government's only job is to create a safe environment for private business. The only thing you can possibly do if you only see and believe in the "private sector economy", is fiddle with the fiscal and monetary code. From a strictly private business view point, taxes takes money out of your pocket and are therefore a cost that you must cut. They just don't see beyond that, which is why they're complete failures at creating societies. That's not their agenda, not at all, not one bit.

[babylonsister]

3. Stoopid is as stoopid does. I hope they're cutting their own throats,

figuratively, of course.

[glitch]

4. Not me.

on the figuratively that is. I am more than ready for our species to evolve past them.

[hay rick]

10. Or me.

They are to our society as a tumor is to a person's body.

[stevedeshazer]

5. This is why I keep saying the Senate Republicans are dead.

Most DUers focus on what the Republicans got in tax cuts.

But, what did they lose?

Credibility.

And wait until President Obama has his say.

The Senate is going to work on this through the weekend. No one has said whether the President is on board...

What if he's not? Will he accept this hackneyed bill?

It's really fascinating.

[cally]

6. This is why this bill is such a dramatic change from the past

Since Reagan, the government has used monetary policy and taxcuts. Obama's plan is based upon Keynsian economics. It's a fundamental and dramatic change. Perhaps a larger and more contentious issue than the later bills.

[stevedeshazer]

7. Exactly.

We won. It ain't perfect, but we got most of what we wanted.

When's the last time that happened? It's been at least 1994.

[Urban Prairie]

9. DeMint Deceit

"If Obama is serious about wanting a truly bipartisan bill that creates jobs and ignites economic growth, he can prove it this month by including in his package the proven stimulus of long-term, across-the-board tax relief. And if Republicans are serious about winning back the trust of the American people and leading our nation through these difficult times, we can prove it by demanding he do just that."

Talk BS about using a truly "bipartisan" (read bipartisan to the wealthy Republicans and conservatives) and "winning back" the trust of the American people (read treating the current Democratic administration and majority Congress like they lost the 08 and most of the 06 elections). POS!!

[David Zephyr]

11. DeMint is an idiot.

If he didn't have a pre-packaged ideology, he wouldn't know how to use his mind at all.