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Opening Arguments

End of the line

The Wall Street Journal's editors aren't buying Evan Bayh's whining about a lack of bipartisanship making him sick and tired of Congress. To them, he's just another Democrat skipping town before the latest liberal crackup hits:

Democrats failed in the latter half of the 1960s, as the twin burdens of the Great Society and Vietnam ended the Kennedy boom and split their party. They failed again after Watergate, as Congress dragged Jimmy Carter to the left and liberals had no answer for stagflation. They failed a third time in the first two Bill Clinton years, as tax increases and HillaryCare led to the Gingrich Congress before Mr. Clinton salvaged his Presidency by tacking to the center.

A fourth crackup is already well underway and is even more remarkable considering how Democrats were set up for success. Inheriting a recession amid GOP failures, Democrats had the chance to restore economic confidence and fix the financial system with modest reforms that would let them take credit for the inevitable recovery. Yet only 13 months later, Democrats are down in the polls, their agenda is stymied by Democratic opposition, and their House and Senate majorities are in peril as moderates like Mr. Bayh flee the scene of this political accident.

Maybe we have to send a bunch of progressives to Washington periodically to keep reminding ourselves that the progressive agenda just doesn't work. But can we really afford those reminders anymore? As the WSJ notes: A fourth crackup is already well underway and is even more remarkable considering how Democrats were set up for success. Inheriting a recession amid GOP failures, Democrats had the chance to restore economic confidence and fix the financial system with modest reforms that would let them take credit for the inevitable recovery. Yet only 13 months later, Democrats are down in the polls, their agenda is stymied by Democratic opposition, and their House and Senate majorities are in peril as moderates like Mr. Bayh flee the scene of this political accident.

Comments

Kevin Knuth
Wed, 02/17/2010 - 2:58pm

You GOP supporters are funny- you want to believe the economy STARTED the day Obama was sworn in. Seems to me the GOP agenda during the Bush admin pretty much failed us.....

Leo Morris
Wed, 02/17/2010 - 5:47pm

You think I'm funny? I'm funny how, I mean funny like a clown, I amuse you? I make you laugh, I'm here to ******* amuse you? What do you mean funny, funny how? How am I funny?

Tim Zank
Wed, 02/17/2010 - 7:58pm

Kevin, We don't believe that at all. We know full well Republicans went absolutely nucking futz on spending until they were rigtly "ousted" in 2006.

Where the problem lies, is with a Congress controlled by democrats since 2006, simply heaping trillions of dollars more on an existing pile of debt that is (by anybody's math) unsustainable. Blame game's over Bubba, both sides created this heaping crap sandwich, and both sides need to fix it by doing one simple thing: stop spending.

It's time to face reality, and most democrats and independents are doing just that. The "hope" has faded because the "change" isn't there. Americans realize promises, platitudes and rhetoric won't cure what ails their family budget, and they also realize the nations budget is the same, albeit much larger.

All the "artful" accounting doesn't change the cold hard fact that 2+2 is still 4.

john b. kalb
Thu, 02/18/2010 - 12:03am

Kevin - Please read the editorial of U.S. News & World Report's editor-in-chief, Mortimer Zuckerman, (a supposed liberal editor) in the January 20, 2010 issue where he said," Obama's ability to connect with voters is what launched him. But what has surprised me is how he has failed to connect with the voters since he's been in office. He's had so much overexposure. You have to be selective. He was doing five Sunday shows. How many press conferences? And now people stop listening to him.... He's lost his audience. He has not rallied public opinion. He has plunged in the polls more than any other public figure since we've been using polls. He's done everything wrong. Well, not everything, but the major things... I don't consider it a triumph. I consider it a disaster"
And that's what his friends are saying about him! One pundit also said, "Whenever Obama walks into any room, anywhere in the world, he is the the least experienced and the least qualified man in the room"
Paul R. Hollrah, on February 1, 2010 wrote an article stating that Obama is destined to be the most unhappy person in
U.S.of A. politics behind John Edwards and Bill Clinton. WOW?

Kevin Knuth
Thu, 02/18/2010 - 9:26am

let's stay on track here- Leo thinks that sending a bunch of progressive's to Washington leads to bad agenda.

I got this from a newsletter I receive:
"It's a breathtaking display of public hypocrisy.

At least 116 Republican governors, senators, and representatives have spent the past year railing against the Recovery Act, while simultaneously requesting funds to create jobs in their districts and taking credit for projects at ribbon-cutting ceremonies.

As the independent PolitiFact put it, they're trying "have their cake... and vote against it too." They know the Recovery Act is creating jobs, but they think attacking it will bring them victory in the 2010 elections.

Today is the anniversary of the President signing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that has saved or created at least 2 million jobs, cut taxes for 95 percent of working families, and made loans to over 42,000 small businesses. And as a former governor, I can tell you it also provided critical relief for state governments facing record budget shortfalls.

But don't take it from me. Listen to Rep. Joe Wilson, who told the Department of Agriculture that the money he was seeking "would provide jobs and investment" for his South Carolina district. Or take it from Minnesota's Tim Pawlenty, who balanced his state budget with the same funds he's so often attacked on TV.

Even the GOP leadership that went all out to kill the bill has gotten into the game -- Sen. Mitch McConnell has bragged about funding for a military project in Kentucky, while Virginia Rep. Eric Cantor sought funds for a high-speed rail project in Virginia to create jobs."

Now you may want to argue those points, but answer me this: Why did Mark Souder add MILLIONS in spending to the newest budget, then vote AGAINST it??? Is it because he wants the earmarks, AND he wants to say he was against the budget? Wouldn't a better man remove the earmark requests THEN vote against the bill?

john b. kalb
Thu, 02/18/2010 - 11:05am

Kevin - You and I agree on your last point in re Souder! How Mark can trumpet himself as a conservative and then make a statement like he did this week about getting "earmarks" to enable job creation is beyond belief!! He is in the same category as Bayh was, in voting for cloture (when he knew it would fail) and then voting for the bill. I say "kick them all out"!!!

john b. kalb
Thu, 02/18/2010 - 11:09am

And Kevin - What "former governor" were you quoting?

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