The ABCs of the GOP: I is for

ILLUSION

One thing is absolutely crystal clear about politics… it is hard work. Whether it be the media members that have to cover this ever-evolving rollercoaster of stuff, the super-smart staffers that have to be on-call all hours of the day and night, or the politicians themselves giving speeches and shaking the hands of millions of people, it’s HARD. Despite what they may say on TV, every person that you see as a Washington politician has worked very hard to get to where they are. Each one has run a successful campaign, and has the will of thousands and sometimes millions of voters.

From this, we know that the national Republican party works extremely hard to deliver their message and ideology. In many ways, delivery and discipline are their greatest strengths. But what is not a strong point of the current GOP?? Actually running the country. For their part, they are most just creating the illusion of doing that.

What more proof could you ask for than the 33rd vote to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act… 33 repetitive votes in just 18 months. Eventhough Republicans know that the result of the vote will be the same as the 32 other times they’ve tried it, they decided to do it again. Clearly the choice to do something like this over and over again is wasting the time of the American people. It may give the illusion of actual legislation, but it’s nothing more than running out the clock.

Well maybe I’m wrong about that…

The votes didn’t just waste our time. They also wasted our money. In trying to hold up this illusion of total outrage, the House GOP spent $50 million dollars of our tax money. For the party that claims to be such careful stewards of the public purse, these votes seem to be a pretty outlandish and useless expenditure. Meanwhile every day in this country, more teachers, firefighters and polieceman are laid off from work. How many of them would still have their jobs if Congress had decided to put that money to better use?

Speaking of illusions, it’s pretty odd how the GOP works in that regard. After three years of constant fighting and posturing, Republicans suddenly joined Congressional Democrats last week and passed the highway and student loan bill. This legislation could have been passed years earlier, but Republicans have been using the controversial Keystone XL pipeline as their latest energy whipping boy. Yet when the clock finally ran down to the wire and 2 million American Jobs were on the line, the GOP decided to compromise and Keystone was left out of the bill entirely. I’m glad for this, don’t get me wrong. But isn’t it a little hypocritical? If Keystone was so important to them, why is it suddenly not mentioned for weeks? If your greatest concern is the sky falling due to the deficit, then why is it ok for you to BORROW $105 Billion more dollars without paying for it. They’ve just INCREASED the deficit by voting on this bill, yet there is no outrage, the sky is not falling, and China has not invaded our shores.

Maybe all of those temper tantrums are illusions too.

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