GOP – Great Obstructionist Party
Posted on December 22nd, 2007 by ecthompson
Congratulations, Republicans in the 110th Senate! You’ve become the most obstructionist group in history!
- Yesterday, the Senate Republican minority filibustered its 62nd bill since coming to Congress last January.
- The previous record was 61 filibusters during *both* sessions of the 107th Congress, meaning these new Blockheads have a whole year to spare! [Crooks and Liars]
- This is all part of the master plan to stop Congress from accomplishing, well, anything.
- In fact, the New York Times reports last week that “Senate Republicans are so accustomed to blocking measures that when the Democrats finally agreed last week to their demands on a bill to repari the alternative minimum tax, the Republicans still objected, briefly blocking the version of the bill that they wanted before scrambling to approve it later.” [NY Times]
- What have conservatives been so busy blocking?
- End the occupation of Iraq? BLOCKED.
- Reduce the $13.5 billion subsidy for the top five oil companies? BLOCKED.
- Allow soldiers in Iraq to have rest time equal to their deployment time? BLOCKED
- President Bush got in on the obstructionist action, too, brandishing his veto pen at the merest whiff of policy he didn’t like.
- Providing support for stem-cell research: TWO VETOES
- Providing health insurance for the kids of the working poor: TWO VETOES
- Bringing troops home from Iraq: VETO
- Don’t get too depressed! Although the press has focused heavily on the bills that didn’t make it, there have been some big victories for progressives this year.
- The victories: A minimum wage increase. Implementation of the 9/11 Commission Recommendations. Cutting costs for college tuition. A new energy law insisting on better fuel ecomony. Increased spending for vets. A massive overhaul of ethics and lobbying rules. Tighter instant background checks for purchasing guns. More money for math and science teachers. Tax relief for homeowners facing foreclosure. Increased money for research funding. Increased assistance for victims of Hurricane Katrina. [Seattle Times]
