The Audacity of Nope

The close votes on recent major legislation have underscored once again how critical it was in the first year of the Obama Administration to have a filibuster proof Senate. Despite a solid, unwavering bloc of “nay” votes from the Republicans, the President was able to get a stimulus bill passed early in his term that enabled the country to avoid a deeper and more prolonged recession— perhaps, as several noted economists feared, even another Great Depression.

Likewise, he had to rely on his strong majorities in the House and Senate to ram through comprehensive health care legislation because Republicans chose to sit on the sidelines and sulk, rather than get in the game and propose reasonable alternatives. To their credit, three Republicans had the courage to break ranks and cast a vote for common sense and the public good on the financial reform bill.

In his fascinating, and instructive, book on the first year of the Obama Administration (“The Promise: President Obama, Year One”), author and national affairs analyst for Newsweek, as well as political analyst for NBC News and MSNBC, Jonathan Alter reminds us just how deeply entrenched the Republican opposition was — and is — no matter what the issue or the cause. On the stimulus package, for example, when six Republican Senators wanted to cooperate with the Democrats to get legislation passed, Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell “made it clear that any cooperation with Obama was prohibited.” House Minority Leader John Boehner was equally adamant in his opposition and the House ranks held firm for him. This despite the fact that the stimulus bill, as passed, gave middle income taxpayers the largest tax cut since the Reagan Administration.

Alter says the Republicans’ logic, from a purely selfish political point of view, made sense. If the Republicans cooperated and Obama got what he wanted, he would get all the credit. If they cooperated and he failed, they would be tagged with failure as well. But, if they didn’t cooperate and he failed, then they would be home free. Some kind of logic. The same logic applied to health care and the other legislative initiatives the President put forth. And, from all indications, it doesn’t appear the Republicans will budge in their opposition to other major legislation to be put forth by the President coming up this year, including immigration reform and energy and climate change legislation. Their agenda is clear. They are not interested in helping the White House govern the country; they simply want to make sure that Obama doesn’t succeed. Period. At least you have to give them an A+ for doggedness and clarity of purpose.

Where are the Everett Dirksens and other moderate Republicans of yesteryear, who fought hard for Republican core principles, but were willing to join with the Democrats when matters of national importance were at stake? Sadly, there are none left. They became an endangered species with the rise of Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan and now, because of the likes of Tom DeLay and his type, they have become virtually extinct. As a result, when Democrats gain control of the White House and Congress, as they did in 2008, they have to amass an overwhelming majority just to get anything done. That’s not what the forefathers had in mind.

It is not surprising that the electorate, which voted for change overwhelmingly in 2008, giving President Obama the largest majority for a Democratic president since Lyndon Johnson in 1964, is frustrated and is looking around for scapegoats. But, it’s ironic that they want to throw everyone out and start anew, egged on by the Tea Party with its call to “take our country back.” Back from “whom” and to “where” is not clear, but it sounds ominous coming from the likes of Sarah Palin and Rush Limbaugh.

How this will play out in November and in 2012 is still anything but clear. But, wouldn’t it make more sense for voters, frustrated with the lack of action and cooperation in Washington D.C., to target those most responsible for the stalemate? It doesn’t take much to figure out who they are if one pays scant attention to any news outlet other than Fox News and right-wing radio. As President Obama once said plaintively, “Can you imagine how much we could have accomplished with a little help from the other side?”
Gerald E. Lavey