| I'm not surprised Salazar joined, of course. He has done as much as he can possibly get away with in Congress to derail President Obama's agenda, which cannot honestly be characterized as progressive or even centrist. No, the spectrum to concentrate on is corporatist, and Salazar is more pro-corporatist than the President by a good margin. He is especially pro-dirty energy, which is working to the direct, growing detriment of his district's constituents as we speak.
I am slightly surprised that Markey joined. I have given her kudos for standing strong on issues where she has voted progressively. I've gone so far as to donate money to her re-election campaign when she does so, in fact. I have written posts extolling her courage and strength when she has come out strongly in public in defense of those votes. Has she been the most progressive Colorado Representative? No, she has cast some votes that made me grind my teeth. But she's done more good than harm in my eyes. It's her language in responding to the President that I object to.
"Investments in infrastructure are critical to our long-term economic recovery but should be paid for with unspent funds from the Economic Recovery Act without adding to the federal deficit."
So, so close, Rep. Markey. The spending would be an investment, thank you for framing it that way. But we're in no danger if the federal deficit is allowed to grow a little bit more right now. We have an employment and infrastructure crisis breaking this country, not a debt or deficit crisis.
Eric Wortman, a spokesman for Salazar, said his boss also didn't think there was a need for additional stimulus spending at this point.
No, you're correct, Rep. Salazar, corporations need way more relief from the devastating taxes we saddle them with than does our infrastructure. Apparently, we have enough people who are fully employed too. We're glad to know that.
How many times has Sen. Bennet, Rep. Salazar or Rep. Markey used this kind of logic when announcing they would vote against unpaid for supplementals to continue occupying Iraq or Afghanistan? That's a trick question - they haven't voted against those supplementals. They haven't gone to the press using this same kind of language to knock this President's or the last President's reckless waste of sums of money far larger than $50 billion.
Sen. Bennet and Rep. Salazar loves them some right-wing talking points, that's for sure. Rep. Markey has shown us she knows better in the past. Unfortunately for us, it's late in the election season and we're likely to get more of this before we get less. Unfortunately for them, when voters are presented with proud Cons and Democrats trying to be as Con-like as possible, voters tend to pick the real thing. In other words, stop talking like righties, Dems.
This year's election isn't about being pro- or anti-Obama, ladies and gentlemen. It's about getting things done to move this country forward. The House has little to fear on this; all members need to do is show the work they've done. The case in the Senate is far different. They have very little work to stand by. I would be worried about that, were I Sen. Bennet. |
