Hey! I’ve got an idea!
Let’s race through another jumungous game-changing country-transforming bill before the public can turn on it and us!
It worked so well for Obamacare.
Now if I can stop being sarcastic for a moment (it’s difficult), let me observe that I can’t recall another administration or Congress in my lifetime that had the audacity to do this—to pass such huge legislation so quickly without enough due deliberation, hearings, or debate, in the absence of a pressing and imminent emergency or crisis. The bailout bill was quickly pushed through at the tail end of Bush’s second term, but that was in response to a seeming emergency and did not set up transformational change that would inevitably carry forward into the distant future. Another example—although certainly not within my lifetime—would be some of the New Deal legislation that was also a targeted response to a huge and bona fide crisis that had to be met. You can disagree with what was done and its long-reaching effects and precedent, and whether the situation would have gotten better faster if the New Deal had never happened or whether the legislation helped or made things worse, but it’s understandable that the public agreed that speed was of the essence and something dramatic had to happen.
Nothing of the sort is the case now. People saw health care insurance as in great need of reform, sure. And our immigration system likewise, as well as the problem of the permeable border (a problem the new bill, if passed, would almost certainly do nothing about; words are cheap). But not so pressing as to require the circumvention of the lack of due deliberation.
I’m curious: why did previous administrations not do what this administration and Congress are now doing in terms of speed? Did they lack the imagination to do it? Or is it because they didn’t think it could be done in the practical sense—or because they didn’t think it should be done in the moral sense? Did they think the American people would rise up and stop them somehow? Did they think Congress would balk? Or did they think they owed the people a greater service as their elected representatives?
At this point I’m very grateful there’s a House of Representatives. For now, anyway.
[ADDENDUM: And next, of course, it’s time to bankrupt the coal companies (and you can’t say Obama didn’t warn us). Because the people have been clamoring for it so.
The agenda will continue, despite all obstacles. The people hoped, and they will get their change, whether they like it or not.
I wrote about the phenomenon back in January of 2010. Note that Obama is doing now exactly and precisely what he said then—immigration reform and energy:
Did anyone doubt that, emboldened by his “success” in passing the HCR legislation that America didn’t (and still doesn’t) want and that is likely to lead to greater financial ruin, Obama would be inspired to press a cooperative Democratic Congress to enact still more legislation that America doesn’t want and is likely to lead to greater financial ruin?
Well, if you doubted it for even a moment (and I doubt you did doubt it), then doubt no more:
“But what I’m not going to be dissuaded from is us going ahead and taking on these big challenges that are critical in terms of America’s long-term economic health.”
The president said specifically that it was important for Congress to move ahead with legislation on energy and immigration policy as well as financial regulatory reform.
Note the typically Orwellian assertion that the first two have anything to do with our economic health, except to undermine it.
“Legislation on energy”””one may assume that translates to cap and trade which Obama himself said (back in the days when he was still telling a little bit of the truth now and then) would “bankrupt” those who tried to build new coal plants as well as causing utility rates to “skyrocket.”
As for “immigration reform”””that of course is designed to lock in the all-important Hispanic vote as well as the larger purpose of swelling voter rolls by 2012, in order to counter the fact that everything Obama is doing will lose him votes with current American voters.
Don’t doubt for a moment that this is the plan. The only question is whether Democrats in Congress will follow their leader with the same rigid discipline (and disregard for America’s future) they showed in passing HCR.
But I think we know the answer. Now that they’ve given up listening to their constituents, and already have large targets painted on their backs, what have they got to lose by supporting him? So I wouldn’t count on a single Democrat to go against the president, Pelosi, and Reid (unless they’re not needed for passage of the bills), although I suppose it’s still possible that some may surprise us and become profiles in courage . But I, for one, would be shocked were that to happen.
The real question is what will the RINO Republicans do. The Republican Party ultimately held firm in opposing Obamacare, but will this rare moment of unity continue? Watch Lindsey Graham and see.
There are two things I’d change in the above excerpt (other than time-limited things like “2012” and “targets on their backs”). The first is the word “Pelosi,” because the House is now controlled by Republicans. Of course, that could change in 2014, and she could be back in her old leadership role. The second is “cap-and-trade,” because I think (as best I can determine) Obama is now planning to wage his war on coal by executive action through the EPA.
Those who think Obama undisciplined or unfocused or a failure should read the above and ruminate on it. He’s extremely disciplined and focused about what matters to him. He is following his game plan exactly, and so far he has been succeeding.]
[ADDENDUM II: And read this for some interesting news on recent developments in the science of climate change.]
Previous administrations didn’t have as much blackmail material over Republicans as the current Democrats do.
Obamacare was wheeled and dealed and then rammed through so swiftly because the democrats controlled both the senate and house. They didn’t care what the public thought, they knew most people were not paying attention to the legislation until it was too late. The amnesty drive is another matter. Without the RINOs in the senate this would be dead in the water as they would not have the 60 votes to stop cloture.
Unfortunately, it is difficult to feel the House leadership has the gumption to resist this terrible campaign.
parker:
That’s my point. The House has the power to stop it, but will they? Democrats are implacable, and Republicans the opposite of that.
And if you look at my addendum to this post, Obama’s next step doesn’t need Congress’s approval.
Those who live by the rules (the conservatives, I mean) shall die by the rules. We are done for, surrounded by snakes and vermin, full of pretense, like McCain and Graham and Rubio…and the list goes on.
neo,
As a few pundits have noted, it will not matter what the House does as any counter legislation it might pass will go into reconciliation and the senate will probably end up getting most of what it wants and the house very little. The House holds the pursue strings but will not use its power. Even executive orders need funding and can be stopped or at least hampered if a majority of the house had the will to thwart the messiah.
LOLOL. You’re on a roll neo.
On topic is The Idiot Vote …it’s the first comment there that you want to pay special attention to.
…I refer back to my hanging comment in a previous thread.
GOP politicians no longer fear their base.
Fear would be a healthy thing for them to learn anew.
Without consequences – at least, consequences that really, truly matter – the end result is going to be something similar to Carolyn’s comment in the above link.
GOP delenda est.
parker:
I’m not sure which thing you’re talking about. Immigration? I don’t think that sort of bill can go to reconciliation. It has to be a budget bill. Obamacare qualified because the bill was (cleverly) put under the heading of a budget bill when it was first passed (at least, that’s the way I recall it). I don’t think the immigration bill has ever been given that label.
If you’re talking about the EPA standards changes, those don’t need Congressional approval at all. The only avenue to resist them is some sort of state-by-state defiance.
davisbr:
My impression is that none of our elected representatives fear voter backlash at this point. And the voters are shell-shocked and demoralized.
And that was always part of the Obama plan. Always. He is a student of these things.
I can’t recall another administration or Congress in my lifetime that had the audacity to do this
They didn’t have a populace addicted to handheld devices and other perpetual entertainment.
It’s a Brave New World, evabody! 1984 is so passé.
And on the second topic of the “war on coal”, I guess the Prez has not actually looked at the science data lately where the models that predicted the AGW catastrophe are now failing at the 98% confidence level. Or, he didn’t ask Merkel about how the Germans are abandoning their renewables and starting to build coal plants.
All of the above is rhetorical of course…. for Obama AGW is just a tool to extend more control over the population; it doesn’t matter whether it’s real or not.
Lock and load.
I should have typed conference committee instead of reconciliation. My bad.
Neo is certainly right that “voters are shell-shocked and demoralized.”
But Jennifer Rubin thinks some help may be on the way, thanks to Obama’s executive action on coal:
I think Obamacare was the game changer. They got a taste for the power of bending the rules, bribing holdouts with kickbacks, and hiding their true goal amidst thousands of pages, that they can’t help but try it again. The speed and the size of the bills protect them from having to discuss it too much in public.
I think Republicans are going along with it because despite what they may claim, they are just as detached from their constituents as the Democrats, especially ones like McCain & Graham, who have been DC residents for decades.
Those are good questions Neo – for Democrats the answer is simple enough- they’re dealing with a bunch of skow moving indecisive dolts. They realize blitzkrieg is the best way to defeat Boner and the split leadership who will thrash about unsure about whether they will be better off supporting or opposing. They’re just not too quick on their feet
As for why McCain, Graham, and a host of other republican plutocrats are going full steam ahead – one has to suspect there is a lot of campaign money at stake – in other words personal interests are in front of the common good. But nobody seems to understand their motivation – as a political strategy it flies in the face of everything. They are writing the death warrant of their party, while screeching at everyone who disagrees they’re saving it.
I won’t cast a vote in 2014 for my congressman if he supports this in any form. I will actively encourage everyone I know to vote for the other guy, or not at all. There’s no reason to support these guys when they insist on destroying themselves and ignoring the rest of us. They can go down in flames .
The answer is yes to all of your questions. But mostly, other administrations didn’t want to fundamentally transform the country they were raised and mentored to hate.
And of course the past administrations couldn’t play the race card; the Democrat party wasn’t so radically leftist; and the citizenry was not yet so uninformed, stupid, unprincipled and easily distracted and misled.
SI SE PUEDE!
Legalizing eleven million workers is going to catch blacks and young people who need work in the neck. They will get what they voted for, good and hard.
Raising the cost of energy will be hard on the middle and working class, but who cares, right?
http://tinyurl.com/om9scdk
This is around the bend of caca creek and the paddles are lost. Tens of thousands of jobs in the coal industry on the line and this is what the power behind the throne is interested in?
MArco Rubio will be a one term Senator. Our little Republican group supported him when he was a no-hoper against Charlie Crist. At this point, I think every one of us has either faxed or phoned our disappointment with him and absolute decision to find someone to run in the primary against him, regardless of the outcome of this vote. Ever more than the stupidity of falling for the blandishments of Chuckie Schumer is the obviously very low opinion all our distinguished representatives have of our intelligence. The open contempt that they have for the voters may derive from Hollywood or from the last election, so they are compelled to import a new set of voters who will acknowledge their wonderfulness.
All I can figure is that all the RINOS (and I now include Marco in this group) have serious donor money coming their way and figure they can pull the wool over the eyes of their constituents one more time. You would think the Romney debacle would have taught them that money can’t reliably buy an election.
“Ever more than the stupidity of falling for the blandishments of Chuckie Schumer is the obviously very low opinion all our distinguished representatives have of our intelligence.”
They think only a tiny number are watching and millions of us are brain dead. One day they will be in for a big surprise. They may have the numbers but we have the right on our side.
I keep thinking the RINOs have cynically calculated that Rome is no longer a Republic, and it’s time to crouch and lick the hand of Caesar. As for the masses, who cares what we think? Enough bread and circuses, and the masses won’t rise.
And where would we go? Whom would we rally behind? Each champion is isolated and then subjected to withering fire from the vast Leftwing conspiracy.
But the Gods of the Copybook Headings will have their way in the end. In the meantime, I keep thinking that we’re just coming out of a long (courtesy of our Founding Fathers) and, apart from the War Between the States, nearly idyllic domestic tranquillity and freedom, and plunging into the same stress and storm that most of our fellow humans have to endure.
Freedom isn’t free. The price of liberty is eternal vigilance. Too many of us took it all for granted for far too long.
As far as the illegal alien thing goes — one argument that DOES work with blue-collar Democrats is to point out that Obozo and Co. are importing Millions of SCAB WORKERS. They get that Instantly, and grimace.
Also mentioning that Medicare is being cut back savagely (I think it’s by $700 billion).
Neo, I think you pegged it about BO’s methods: he’s learned he can get away with murder on steroids. And he’s drunk with power.
The time will come soon when people will eagerly accept the price of 50% termination casualties in the US bureaucracy, for a final solution. That will be considered “cheap”.
As time goes on, the amount of patriot and tyrannical blood required to cleanse American sins and injustices will grow by entire oceans. With each day, each passing year, the cost will grow. Until at a certain point, what was once considered unthinkable and too costly, will be thought of as CHEAP.
And for those who think these things will go away with Obama’s regime…. they have yet to comprehend even 10% of the Left’s organizational nature.
There’s no doubt about the direct threat to two-party rule that this obscenity of an amnesty bill presents to the nation. That said, many have wondered as to, what’s the rush? Why are the democrats, RINO’s and Obama pushing this so hard, now?
To answer that question, I think it helpful to look at what it is doing and whether there is any hidden benefit to Obama and the democrats in pushing for it now.
What its doing is sucking all of the ‘conversational air’ out of the room. It’s completely drawn everyone’s focus upon it, yes?
They’re rushing it through and there are so many loopholes in it, that it’s creating a tremendous uproar on the right.
Obama and the democrats know, that we know, that this bill is about amnesty and gaining for the democrats as many as 33 million new “undocumented democrat” voters. Which shall of course establish permanent one party rule in America. The threat is real, the scam completely unethical and, it completely compels our attention.
OK, but that doesn’t answer, why now?
Perhaps it’s because new evidence has emerged in the Benghazi betrayal of Americans; Libyan Intelligence: Muslim Brotherhood, Morsi Involved in U.S. Consulate Attack
“According to a Libyan intelligence document, the Muslim Brotherhood, including Egyptian President Morsi, were involved in the September 11, 2012 terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi,… It discusses the preliminary findings of the investigation, specifically concerning an “Egyptian cell” which was involved in the consulate attack.
According to the report, during interrogations, these Egyptian jihadi cell members “confessed to very serious and important information concerning the financial sources of the group and the planners of the event and the storming and burning of the U.S. consulate in Benghazi…. And among the more prominent figures whose names were mentioned by cell members during confessions were: Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi; preacher Muhammad Hegazi; Egyptian Sheikh Muhammad Hassan; former presidential candidate, Hazim Salih Abu Isma’il…”
It should be noted that these findings are unsurprising, considering that some videos made during the consulate attack record people speaking in the Egyptian dialect–and one of those videos depicts some men approaching the beleaguered U.S. compound, even as one of them yells to the besiegers, “Don’t shoot–Dr. Morsi sent us!””
Apparently, the Obama administration knew of the video no later than the day after the attack. Intelligence would have identified the Egyptian accent and the translation made almost immediately.
But a possibly offhand comment is not confirmation. However, if ‘Morsi was confirmed as directly involved in the Benghazi attack, it would be a mortal blow to Obama’s “Arab Spring” meme. His entire Mideast policy would be exposed to even low-information voters, as bankrupt.
The Obama administration also would have been informed of the results of the Libyan ‘interrogations’ while they were going on, so they’ve known of this report for quite some time.
Obviously, Obama and the democrats do not want wide-spread exposure of this news. What better way to assist the MSM in ignoring it, than to have a BIG compelling story to cover, on another topic?
And if it does come out, say in Rep. Issa’s Benghazi hearings, then Obama will still have achieved his primary aim; “fundamental transformation” of America; one party rule and a critical first step in nationalizing 1/6th of the US economy.
They’re “making hay, while they can”.
Has Ayotte turned out to be yet another NE RINO?
Steve:
See this.
I’ll see her call for a primary challenge and raise her a call for a petition to recall.