Republicans are the Problem, They Are Sabotaging The Economy for Political Gain

A new Daily Kos/SEIU poll released today found that nearly half of voters believe that Republicans are intentionally stalling efforts to jump start the economy to ensure that President Barack Obama is not re-elected. 49 percent of respondents to the poll say that Republicans are intentionally stalling the economy, compared to 40 percent who say they are not. 11 percent replied “not sure.”

Among independents, 50 percent said that Republicans are stalling the recovery compared to 40 percent who said they are not, and 61 percent of self-described moderates said they are compared to just 40 percent who said they are not.

Recently, news analysts from major networks (not Fox) have began to question whether Republicans really are deliberately tanking the economy to defeat Obama. The behavior of Republicans in Congress is beginning to give credibility to that charge. The poll shows that a very large number of Americans including half of Independent voters agree.

Take the Highway Bill for example, we have been ignoring our infrastructural needs for decades. Not only about roads and bridges, but also water, sewage, power, and communication lines to name a few. In the senate, the highway bill was written with bi-partisan support, however the house refuses to pass it. Why? Probably because of the estimated 1 MILLION jobs it will create....

Speaker Boehner threatens another debt ceiling fight

From: http://www.examiner.com

Speaker of the House John Boehner

Last August the United States nearly went into default as Congress nearly failed to raise the debt ceiling in time. Today, Speaker Boehner (R-OH) is threatening to reignite the conflict next year, when the Congress will once again have to raise the debt ceiling limit to avoid default.

Boehner’s office released prepared remarks from a speech the Speaker is set to deliver today before the Pete Peterson Fiscal Summit in Washington D.C. According to Talking Points Memo, those remarks include the following ominous warning from Boehner,

“Allowing America to default would be irresponsible. But it would be more irresponsible to raise the debt ceiling without taking dramatic steps to reduce spending and reform the budget process.”

Boehner will also say that the House Republicans will not allow any tax increases to be passed in order to pay for the debt ceiling hike. Instead, Republicans will demand all spending cuts to pay for any hike.


The problem is that a similar stance led to the standoff between the House Republicans and the White House last August. Eventually Senate Republicans stepped in to force a compromise by House Republicans, but some damage had already been done. After the near default, Standard and poor’s downgraded the United States credit rating. In their report, the S&P cited the political gridlock in Washington rather than the inability of the United States to pay of its debts.

In the past the debt ceiling was a non-political issue, and was routinely raised in order to put creditors at ease. Many Republicans who voted for debt ceiling increases during the Bush era have objected to any increase under the Obama administration. Democrats have argued that the Republicans are attempting to use the debt ceiling as a weapon to gain concessions in a political “hostage taking” strategy.