34 GOP Senators Oppose the Recovery Plan - updated

I borrowed the headline from the choice is yours at Daily Kos. Choice lists the senators with quotes on their cavils and quibbles about the stimulus plan.

Just as House Republicans did, GOP Senators are now pretending they'll vote for the economic recovery package if only those unreasonable Democrats would toss them a bone or two. For the most part, they are lying. They will kick and scream for every concession possible, creating a new faux outrage every few hours. Foolishly, Democrats will likely cave to some of these demands. Then, Republicans will vote against the bill overwhelmingly. It is difficult to imagine anything more sinister than this. They are essentially weakening the bill as much as possible, making it less likely to work. Then they'll bail at the last second, in case it does fail, so they can point their fingers and assign all of the blame to Democrats.

I retract my earlier repentance for using imagery such as "they ought to be sodomized with chainsaws and dipped in a vat of their own bile and vinegar." Every time they pull this shit I feel it more strongly than ever.

They are awful people, willing to put the entire nation at risk in order to play games and posture, raising the most hypocritical objections (where was their fiscal responsibility in the past eight years, for instance?).

Legitimate questions would be fine. Suggestions that might improve bills would be highly desirable. Putting the citizens of their own states at the forefront of their concerns would be most understandable. But they are obstructing for the sake of obstruction, trying to booby-trap the entire effort so they can point fingers when (they hope) it fails. All so they can return to power.

Is this serving the People of the United States?

I think not.


UPDATE:
Digby weighs in on the ever-delusional David Broder (what planet DOES he live on and why do people read him?) and the "wisdom" of village elders, the Republican obstructionists, the desperate governors (including Republicans) who are counting on this stimulus to save their states, Barney Frank's pointing out that the biggest spending bill is called IRAQ, and other matters. Check her out here.

From what the congressional Republicans were saying on the gasbag shows this morning, they have been sent out with talking points that say that whatever is done must be a "shovel ready project" or a tax cut. Helping the states deliver necessary services and keeping the money flowing doesn't seem to be on their agenda. Indeed, I heard more than one complaining about the amount being spent on extended unemployment because that isn't "stimulus" either. (Apparently, the only money that spends is money that one gets from a tax cut. It has magical properties.)

The Republicans should, by rights, feel tremendous pressure to sign on to the popular president's bill. They should be cowed by the fact that they just got their asses handed to them in the election and are barely even hanging on to their power to filibuster. A normal American, who believes in democracy, would believe that they should probably adapt themselves at least somewhat to the will of the people, which the elections since 2006 has clearly been a repudiation conservative governance. But they don't really believe in democracy.They see politics purely as a power game in which their only job is to leverage whatever power they have to attain their partisan goals. Obama can try to unilaterally declare bipartisanship to be inoperative but it won't work if the other side doesn't sign on.

--the BB