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Walking the Talk
Author: BobR    Date: 12/03/2010 02:10:18

There's an old saying that goes "don't talk the talk if you can't walk the walk". It goes right along with "put up or shut up" and "don't let your mouth write a check your ass can't cash". (okay - that last one is usually said in a '79 Camaro while wearing a Member's Only jacket, but I digress...). The Republicans have been doing a lot of talking. How are they walking? Let's check...

I've written previously about Republican candidates back-pedaling on ear marks. It's been the Tea Party ("Taxed Enough Already") that has complained the loudest about taxes and spending. You would think that legislators that self-identify as tea-partiers would reject ear marks out of principal. You'd be wrong. It seems that those legislators took home $1 Billion worth of pork to their home states and districts. Apparently, it's only pork when it's for a Democrat's district.

Republicans have also beaten the "lower taxes = more jobs" and "lower taxes are better for the economy" mantra since the Reagan era. They even pointed to the tax haven of Ireland as a model of prosperity fueled by low taxes... that is - until the bottom fell out:
During the 2008 Presidential campaign, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) praised the Irish economy for its low corporate tax rate and said that if the U.S. would just follow suit, companies would “be able to create jobs, increase your business, make more investment.”

(bold-face mine...) Also quoted are folks from the Heritage Foundation, the CATO Institute, the American Enterprise Institute, and Mitt Romney. Once the Irish economy essentially collapsed, suddenly they blamed Ireland's excessive corporate taxes. Hello?

McCain was also one of the guys that said "let's wait until the Pentagon finishes its study" before rolling back Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Apparently, McCain never counted on the Pentagon to agree it should be rolled back. When they did, he had the nerve to dismiss the credentials of Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Adm. Mike Mullen. I guess the only result that counts is the result he wants. That's not what he professed in 2006:
"We have the most qualified, the bravest and most capable military we've ever had in our history, and so I think that the policy is working. And I understand the opposition to it, and I've had these debates and discussions, but the day that the leadership of the military comes to me and says, Senator, we ought to change the policy, then I think we ought to consider seriously changing it because those leaders in the military are the ones we give the responsibility to."

Also bouncing around the newsroom are the fact that Republicans talk about reducing the deficit, but won't vote for recommendations for measures to do it. They've also positioned themselves as the "Family Values" party since the Reagan era, but apparently that doesn't include making sure kids get proper nutrition at school.

And what of the Democrats? Today they voted to censure Charlie Rangel for ethics violations. This is the first vote for censure in 27 years. The last time was in 1983 for Reps involved in a sex scandal. This may seem like heavy-handed punishment, but it does show that not only do the Democrats talk about the dignity of the office and government, they also walk the walk.

 

58 comments (Latest Comment: 12/03/2010 21:41:24 by Raine)
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