On Monday night's Special Report, Brit Hume pleaded for sympathy for House Republicans. He said, "If you have an ounce of compassion this Christmas season, save it for John Boehner and the House Republicans.”
Hume continued,
“President Obama is treating them as if he has them over a barrel headed for the fiscal cliff, and he does. This is not because Mr. Obama won re-election, after all he won only 51%, and needed the greatest voter-mobilization operation in history to do it. His leverage now stems from the law which ends the Bush tax rates on January 1, imposing new, higher tax rates and a steep set of spending cuts that fall with special force on the military. Nobody wants these things, but Republicans, the low-tax and strong-defense party, want them least of all.”
Nobody wants these things, Brit? The reality is that Americans favor defense spending cuts over cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. And they favor higher taxes on the rich by a 2-1 margin. Until the Republicans understand, they won’t get any compassion.
Sorry, Britton; I’m afraid I just can’t muster up much sympathy for members of the same party as someone [Mitch McConnell] who said:
“The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president.”
And, to add to other posters’ points below:
“This is not because Mr. Obama won re-election, after all he won only 51%, and needed the greatest voter-mobilization operation in history to do it.”
Yes, Britton; that 51% constitutes a mandate.
But, don’t take my word for it — ask your fellow republicans:
“I am now predicting a 330 vote electoral landslide (for Mitt Romney)” — Larry Kudlow
“Electorally it won’t even be close . . . I predict a Romney victory by 100 to 120 electoral votes” — Wayne Allen Root
“I’m projecting Minnesota to go for Romney (in a 321-217 landslide)” — George Will
“We’re going to win by a landslide — my own view is that Romney is going to carry 325 electoral votes” — ’lil dick Morris
And, Britton, the “greatest voter-mobilization operation in history” might not have been necessary — if it hadn’t been for all the voter ID laws, removal of registered voters from the rolls, and general voter suppression the GOP was actively engaged in . . .
.
I would prefer to give my compassion to those who dealing with the lost of someone they love and will be dealing with the grief of being without them for the first time during the holidays. Also to those where day to day life is a struggle to put food on table and keep a place to call home. Those who can’t afford health care and are or will be dealing with decisions on how to pay without going into a life of financial ruins in case they need help.
But that’s just me. You know us bleeding heart liberals.
*Sorry, couldn’t really think of a better word
Let me see if I understand that correctly. This is the same House GOP that could have averted this entire matter by making the “grand bargain” in 2011 regarding the debt ceiling – but then refused to do so in a temper tantrum because they hoped to damage President Obama’s reelection chances. (And by the way, that tactic backfired, in case they hadn’t noticed.)
This is the same House GOP that pulled a stunt like this last year to try to keep Obama from going on a holiday vacation, only to find themselves humiliated.
This is the same House GOP that has hardline members advocating for going over the “cliff” so they can somehow get imaginary leverage.
And Hume’s petulant attempt to dismiss Obama’s reelection margin is telling. Yes, Obama won with 51 percent of the popular vote, which is about the margin one would expect in a polarized country. And yes, Obama mobilized his base, as you would expect any successful candidate to do. So what? Obama won the election, not Romney. Sorry to burst the bubble on that, but the election was over a month ago. And to quote an Aaron Sorkin film, Hume’s guy was running for President, Obama IS the President.