Top reasons 10 why the "manifesto" is just more jabbering

[mercury14]

1) The Republicans had 6+ years of total control. Why didn't they institute any of this stuff back then? Maybe because they really don't care about this stuff nearly as much as they want you to believe? Isn't this manifesto just a list of things Republicans should have been doing?


2) The manifesto says it's going to end bailouts permanently, including TARP. What?!?!? 120+ Republicans voted for the bailouts. Let's list a few shall we?

- President Bush
- John Boehner (after pleading for it tearfully on the House floor)
- Sen Sessions
- John McCain (after suspending his presidential campaign to go work on bailouts)
- 34 republican senators, which is almost all of them
- Sarah Palin gave an interview saying that the bailouts were good

This shit makes no sense. If republicans really wanted to not have bailouts maybe they should stop advocating for them, voting for them, and rallying their party to support them.


3) Where's the vow to end pork-barrel spending in this manifesto? Could it be that they don't want to end pork and know they're going to get a heaping helping of it when they increase their numbers? You betcha.


4) 35 million fewer people would have health insurance under this plan. The republicans want to return America to the coverage crisis where we have 40 million uninsured and add 1-2 million onto that number each year. What's their plan to address the coverage crisis when by their own estimates their plan will only extend coverage to 3 million people? (source: Eric Holder). The masses of uninsured are a drag on the economy at the very least, so why isn't this being addressed anywhere?


5) The Republicans spent the last two years ushering in the age of filibuster abuse. So when they get back in control at some point, none of this is ever going to get done.


6) They had to slip in the line of anti gay marriage bigotry. Public opinion is turning against the republicans on this mighty fast. How long can they hold on to the hate?


7) The manifesto's plan to cut spending to pre-stimulus, pre-bailout levels is a total joke. For one, the bailouts (which they voted for and helped write), were primarily in the form of bridge loans and mostly paid back (with interest!). And they saved the American auto industry and a wide range of associated industries. Second, just look at this line: "... with common-sense exceptions for seniors, veterans, [etc]". What??? Medicare, Medicaid, and the VA system are massive reasons why spending keeps growing. The cost of care per-service is increasing exponentially government while the number of patients is doing the same. This means that the republicans have no plan to decrease spending. Unless they address these giant elephants in the room, they have no real plan. Period.


8) The republicans' solution is tax cuts. But wait, doesn't that jack up the deficit that they said they will cut down? Oh, yes it does. Republicans want to go beyond the Obama plan to let the Bush tax cuts expire on the top 2% of wage earners. That will increase the deficit by $700 billion. So now the repubs have to come up with $700 billion in cuts just to break even with their own cuts. And they're not going to do it with a manifesto that continues their policy of not spelling out what cuts they want to make.


9) A net hiring freeze on federal employees is stupid and heavy-handed. Just review federal programs for waste, don't say they can't hire. Maybe a new, more efficient federal program needs to hire 50 people while 100 other slots can be eliminated. This couldn't happen with dumb laws like this. Seems like the republicans want to govern off what sounds good rather than what's intelligent.


10) The manifesto tries really hard to hide privatizing social security. See if you can find it. So we know that republicans are trying to bury some unpopular crap in here. That way they can point special interest groups towards it while hiding it from the average American.

 

[semen4her]

Yeah, politics.

I'm all hard and shit now.

 

[cebalrai]

What I don't get is how the republicans are even going to pay for their own tax cuts. I just skimmed this thing and couldn't find it anywhere unless you count the notion of not having future bailouts and stimuli as "payment".

But since republicans have regularly supported bailouts and stimulus packages in the past I see no evidence that they're going to change their ways. This thing is just pandering.

 

[coastal-boy]

Mercury...the reason shit like this works is because a clear majority of the US electorate is stupid. The "manifesto" was required because the GOP needed to be united in order to regain power. From a political aspect, it makes sense. Now everyone can be saying the same thing going into the election. Vegas odds say it will work.

 

[cebalrai]

Also I was hoping for something new. New ideas.... But all I got was the same ideas we always hear from the republican party.

 

[cebalrai]

7) The manifesto's plan to cut spending to pre-stimulus, pre-bailout levels is a total joke. For one, the bailouts (which they voted for and helped write), were primarily in the form of bridge loans and mostly paid back (with interest!). And they saved the American auto industry and a wide range of associated industries. Second, just look at this line: "... with common-sense exceptions for seniors, veterans, [etc]". What??? Medicare, Medicaid, and the VA system are massive reasons why spending keeps growing. The cost of care per-service is increasing exponentially government while the number of patients is doing the same. This means that the republicans have no plan to decrease spending. Unless they address these giant elephants in the room, they have no real plan. Period.

Exactly. This "manifesto" is fail sauce because it doesn't address entitlement spending.

 

[JoeRockStar]

1) The Republicans had 6+ years of total control. Why didn't they institute any of this stuff back then? Maybe because they really don't care about this stuff nearly as much as they want you to believe?

Because the Democrats hadn't fucked up the economy yet so none of it was necessary.

2) The manifesto says it's going to end bailouts permanently, including TARP. What?!?!? 120+ Republicans voted for the bailouts. Let's list a few shall we?

- President Bush
- John Boehner (after pleading for it tearfully on the House floor)
- Sen Sessions
- John McCain (after suspending his presidential campaign to go work on bailouts)
- 34 republican senators, which is almost all of them
- Sarah Palin gave an interview saying that the bailouts were good

This shit makes no sense. If republicans really wanted to not have bailouts maybe they should stop advocating for them, voting for them, and rallying their party to support them.

Can't argue much here. Many of us were AGAINST all the bailouts, especially Wall St and GM. I, for one, believe that if you live by the capitalist sword, you should DIE from it. I wouldn't have given any of them a dime.

3) Where's the vow to end pork-barrel spending in this manifesto? Could it be that they don't want to end pork and know they're going to get a heaping helping of it when they increase their numbers? You betcha.

That's rich coming from you. Didn't your boy Obama promise an end to that too? Lol, that promise barely made it past election day.

4) 35 million fewer people would have health insurance under this plan. The republicans want to return America to the coverage crisis where we have 40 million uninsured and add 1-2 million onto that number each year. What's their plan to address the coverage crisis when by their own estimates their plan will only extend coverage to 3 million people? (source: Eric Holder). The masses of uninsured are a drag on the economy at the very least, so why isn't this being addressed anywhere?

How many of those uninsured are BY CHOICE? At my job, there are about 100 warehouse employees. They are all offered individual coverage plans that cost about $50/month. Wanna guess how many have opted for coverage? 5....that's right 5. 95 would rather spend the money on 22" rims (yes, they ALL have them on their cars). Why am I supposed to give a flying FUCK about these people and their healthcare?

Besides Obamacare still leaves how many millions uninsured?

5) The Republicans spent the last two years ushering in the age of filibuster abuse. So when they get back in control at some point, none of this is ever going to get done.

Because the Dems have never, ever used dirty tricks to get their way. I didn't hear you bitch when "deem & pass" was used to ram through Obamacare. The pretense for that is that is must reduce the deficit. The CBO has publically stated it WILL NOT. People in glass houses, etc.....

6) They had to slip in the line of anti gay marriage bigotry. Public opinion is turning against the republicans on this mighty fast. How long can they hold on to the hate?

I can't argue with you on this one, I have no issue w/ gay marriage.

7) The manifesto's plan to cut spending to pre-stimulus, pre-bailout levels is a total joke. For one, the bailouts (which they voted for and helped write), was primarily in the form of bridge loans and mostly paid back (with interest!). Second, just look at this line: "... with common-sense exceptions for seniors, veterans, [etc]". What??? Medicare, Medicaid, and the VA system are massive reasons why spending keeps growing. The cost of care per-service is increasing exponentially government while the number of patients is doing the same. This means that the republicans have no plan to decrease spending. Unless they address these giant elephants in the room, they have no real plan. Period.

Stopping Obama's plans will do wonders to plug the hemorrhaging. Don't refer to Bush's spending policies because he was no fiscal conservative and many of us hated his drunken sailor spending.

8) The republicans' solution is tax cuts. But wait, doesn't that jack up the deficit that they said they will cut down? Oh, yes it does. Republicans want to go beyond the Obama plan to let the Bush tax cuts expire on the top 2% of wage earners. That will increase the deficit by $700 billion. So now the repubs have to come up with $700 billion in cuts just to break even with their own cuts. And they're not going to do it with a manifesto that continues their policy of not spelling out what cuts they want to make.

You do know that those tax cuts benefit a TON of small businesses? You know, the ones that create JOBS?

9) A net hiring freeze on federal employees is stupid and heavy-handed. Just review federal programs for waste, don't say they can't hire. Maybe a new, more efficient federal program needs to hire 50 people while 100 other slots can be eliminated. This couldn't happen with dumb laws like this. Seems like the republicans want to govern off what sounds good rather than what's intelligent.

So was Obama's ridiculous drilling moratorium that killed how many jobs, but I don't hear you bitching about that? He went completely against his advisory board on that one. But.....he sent a ton of taxpayer $$'s to freaking Brazil to fund their offshore drilling - right after Soros invested billions in Petrobras. No conspiracy here folks, nothing to see, move along.....

You cannot possibly say with a straight face that our zillion gov't bueracracies aren't inefficient and bloated? I was watching a special on the tainted eggs and it talked about the ridiculous number of organizations responsible for food and drug safety. It's ludicrous.

manifesto tries really hard to hide privatizing social security. See if you can find it. So we know that republicans are trying to bury some unpopular crap in here. That way they can point special interest groups towards it while hiding it from the average American.

Sounds like speculation on your part to me. Care to cite a reference?

 

[IrezumiKiss]

There's not a single nonwhite face in the very many photos padding out the actual document, except for one just-barely-there black woman sitting at an audience table on page 44. I guess Asian-Americans and Hispanic-Americans don't exist.

http://www.gop.gov/resources/library/documents/solutions/a-pledge-to-america.pdf

 

[mercury14]

Mercury...the reason shit like this works is because a clear majority of the US electorate is stupid. The "manifesto" was required because the GOP needed to be united in order to regain power. From a political aspect, it makes sense. Now everyone can be saying the same thing going into the election. Vegas odds say it will work.

They were already saying the same thing. Even though it made no sense.

And oops! RedState.com called it "The Most Ridiculous thing to come out of Washington since George McClellan"

http://www.redstate.com/erick/2010/...ome-out-of-washington-since-george-mcclellan/

Perhaps the Most Ridiculous Thing to Come Out of Washington Since George McClellan

A+ Rhetoric. C- Ideas.

Posted by Erick Erickson (Profile)

Wednesday, September 22nd at 6:47PM EDT
210 Comments

The House Republicans’ “Pledge to America” is out. A thrill will run up the leg of a few Chris Matthews’ types on the right. As Dan noted on Twitter, the Contract with America was 869 words and this is 21 pages. The Contract told you everything you needed to know about how a Republican Congress would be different from a Democrat Congress after 40 years of Democrat control.

These 21 pages tell you lots of things, some contradictory things, but mostly this: it is a serious of compromises and milquetoast rhetorical flourishes in search of unanimity among House Republicans because the House GOP does not have the fortitude to lead boldly in opposition to Barack Obama.

I have one message for John Boehner, Eric Cantor, and the House GOP Leadership: If they do not want to use the GOP to lead, I would like to borrow it for a time.

Yes, yes, it is full of mom tested, kid approved pablum that will make certain hearts on the right sing in solidarity. But like a diet full of sugar, it will actually do nothing but keep making Washington fatter before we crash from the sugar high.

It is dreck — dreck with some stuff I like, but like Brussels sprouts in butter. I like the butter, not the Brussels sprouts. Overall, this grand illusion of an agenda that will never happen is best spoken of today and then never again as if it did not happen. It is best forgotten.

The pledge begins by lamenting “an arrogant and out-of-touch government of self-appointed elites” issuing “mandates”, then proceeds to demand health care mandates on insurance companies that will drive up the costs of health care for ordinary Americans.

The plan wants to put “government on the path to a balanced budget” without doing anything substantive. There is a promise to “immediately reduce spending” by cutting off stimulus funds. Wow. Exciting.

There is a plan to cut Congress’s budget, which is pretty much what was promised in 1994. Seriously? In 4 years did the Democrats really blow up the Congressional budget? No — the GOP did that too.

There is no call for a Spending Limitation Amendment or a Balanced Budget Amendment. It is just meaningless stuff the Democrats can easily undo and that ultimately the Senate GOP will even turn its nose up at.

The entirety of this Promise is laughable. Why? It is an illusion that fixates on stuff the GOP already should be doing while not daring to touch on stuff that will have any meaningful longterm effects on the size and scope of the federal government.

This document proves the GOP is more focused on the acquisition of power than the advocacy of long term sound public policy. All the good stuff in it is stuff we expect them to do. What is not in it is more than a little telling that the House GOP has not learned much of anything from 2006.

I will vote Republican in November of 2010. But I will not carry their stagnant water.

 

[rosco rathbone]

Yes, there seems to be bipartisan agreement that this is all a passel of nonsense.

As The GOP Gets Ready to Reveal its Contract With America 2.0 Tomorrow, Let Us Now Pause to Get Real...

 

[Sean Renaud]

http://republicanwhip.house.gov/YouCut/

Honestly this idea alone makes this 21 pages not complete drivel.

 

[Liar]

There's not a single nonwhite face in the very many photos padding out the actual document, except for one just-barely-there black woman sitting at an audience table on page 44. I guess Asian-Americans and Hispanic-Americans don't exist.

http://www.gop.gov/resources/library/documents/solutions/a-pledge-to-america.pdf

Dam, you were not kidding.

I don't usually say LOL, but LOL. One would have thought they'd be propaganda savvy enough to throw in at least a couple of strategically placed tokens.

Well there's that green chick. Green is a color, no?

 

[IrezumiKiss]

America is more than a country. Unless you're foreign. Then it's pretty much a country.

America is an idea – an idea that free people can govern themselves, that government's powers are derived from the consent of the governed, that each of us is endowed by their Creator with the unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness Unless you're gay. Or want to worship in a "mosk". America is the belief that any man or woman can – given economic, political, and religious liberty – advance themselves, their families, and the common good. Hear that? THEMSELVES.

America is an inspiration to those who yearn to be free and have the ability and the dignity to determine their own destiny. Unless you're brown, in Arizona, and caught speeding.

Whenever the agenda of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to institute a new governing agenda and set a different course. [...] Because free people can be descrutive on their own without assistance.

In a self-governing society, the only bulwark against the power of the state is the consent of the governed, and regarding the policies of the current government, the governed do not consent. Unless you're Gay

An unchecked executive, a compliant legislature, and an overreaching judiciary have combined to thwart the will of the people and overturn their votes and their values, and scorning the deepest beliefs of the American people. Ergo, the fourth branch of government - Laissez-faire Capitalism!

An arrogant and out-of-touch government of self-appointed elites makes decisions, issues mandates and enacts laws without accepting or requesting the input of the many. AKA 'The Senate Minority'

http://gawker.com/5646019/on-this-day-republicans-make-a-pledge-to-america?skyline=true&s=i

 

[mercury14]

The baffling part is when the manifesto decries government mandates on the health care industry.

Then it turns around and says that republicans have a plan to issue government mandates on the health care industry. Ones that will raise premiums even by the Repubs' own admission.

This crap makes no sense at all.

 

[richard_daily]

I doubt that even busybody will defend this "manifesto".

 

[Sean Renaud]

The baffling part is when the manifesto decries government mandates on the health care industry.

Then it turns around and says that republicans have a plan to issue government mandates on the health care industry. Ones that will raise premiums even by the Repubs' own admission.

This crap makes no sense at all.

I hope at least one Republican pundit comes out and says that. Hey guys we're gonna repeal Obamacare and replace it. . .with Obamacare 1.8. Complete with that pesky health savings things we made the Dems take out of there bill!

See it was only bad when they wanted it, that fuckin Bill might have been great for the country so we took it out!

 

[mercury14]

http://republicanwhip.house.gov/YouCut/

Honestly this idea alone makes this 21 pages not complete drivel.

Honestly, that website is collecting a whole lot of ideas for cuts to republican programs created during their 6+ years of total control.

You want fewer government employees? Fine, but maybe republicans should have thought of that when they expanded the Department of Education on an unprecidented scale.

 

[mercury14]

I hope at least one Republican pundit comes out and says that. Hey guys we're gonna repeal Obamacare and replace it. . .with Obamacare 1.8. Complete with that pesky health savings things we made the Dems take out of there bill!

See it was only bad when they wanted it, that fuckin Bill might have been great for the country so we took it out!

I'm still trying to figure out why the Republicans didn't lift a finger during on health care during their years of control. They're saying it's a huge and pressing issue and that they have great ideas.




(They just weren't great enough to actually implement though)

 

[GiaCat]

I really don't believe the Republicans are going to ride in and rescue us. If they believed all they say in the manifesto, why didn't they do it while they where in charge?

 

[mercury14]

I really don't believe the Republicans are going to ride in and rescue us. If they believed all they say in the manifesto, why didn't they do it while they where in charge?

Pick one or more than one.

Because:

1) Gays attacked our marriages. Republicans had to devote all their resources to defending us with their moral outrage.

2) Mexicans picked some tomatoes and strawberries in California

3) Peaceful Muslim-Americans waged a cultural war on us simply by going about their business.

4) It was ex-president Clinton's fault

5) The Republican government was too busy trying to block Terry Schiavo's perfectly legal living will.

6) The Republican party has a platform that contradicts itself at every turn, therefore it's paralyzed.

7) Instead of helping the country, the Republican Senate and House was meeting to rename french fries "freedom fries".

8) It was Jimmy Carter's fault.

9) It was Barney Frank's fault.

10) The Bush Administration said the war would cost $80 billion when it was all said and done. Then it costed 10x as much, leaving the Republican government befuzzled and unable to act.

 

[Wrong Element]

I really don't believe the Republicans are going to ride in and rescue us. If they believed all they say in the manifesto, why didn't they do it while they where in charge?

They're trying to revive the magic of the "Contract with America," never mind that there's no evidence most voters had ever heard of it when they went to the polls in 1994.

But there's one big difference between then and now, and you touch on it: the difference between 4 years out of power and 40. These characters are promising now to do all the things they didn't do when they had the full run of Washington. Why should anyone believe them?


But if the American people are dumb enough to fall for it, then by all means. We get the government we deserve. (Not that congressional Democrats are covering themselves in glory at the present time.)

 

[scott_harris70]

Pick one or more than one.

Because:

1) Gays attacked our marriages. Republicans had to devote all their resources to defending us with their moral outrage.

2) Mexicans picked some tomatoes and strawberries in California

3) Peaceful Muslim-Americans waged a cultural war on us simply by going about their business.

4) It was ex-president Clinton's fault

5) The Republican government was too busy trying to block Terry Schiavo's perfectly legal living will.

6) The Republican party has a platform that contradicts itself at every turn, therefore it's paralyzed.

7) Instead of helping the country, the Republican Senate and House was meeting to rename french fries "freedom fries".

8) It was Jimmy Carter's fault.

9) It was Barney Frank's fault.

10) The Bush Administration said the war would cost $80 billion when it was all said and done. Then it costed 10x as much, leaving the Republican government befuzzled and unable to act.

Bill Clinton? Wasn't he that president who left foreign dignitaries standing in the Rose Garden while he got a blow job from a 22 year old intern in the Oval Office? How old was he at the time? I can't recall.

 

[Sean Renaud]

Honestly, that website is collecting a whole lot of ideas for cuts to republican programs created during their 6+ years of total control.

You want fewer government employees? Fine, but maybe republicans should have thought of that when they expanded the Department of Education on an unprecidented scale.

I agree with you. I still love the idea and wish that instead of the Republicans owning it that it should be a bipartisan site that also includes what we would like to spending increases on so and and so forth. Sure it's American Idol but that's a model people got behind and I would like more Americans involved and hopefully somewhat educated on more subjects.

So the basis of the website, forget that it's partison, forget that it's filled with a list of things people could have done already if they cared. Just strip away the "I hate Republican/Conservatives" and what's your opinion on the lets say spirit of the site?

 

[RightField]

I agree with you. I still love the idea and wish that instead of the Republicans owning it that it should be a bipartisan site that also includes what we would like to spending increases on so and and so forth. Sure it's American Idol but that's a model people got behind and I would like more Americans involved and hopefully somewhat educated on more subjects.

So the basis of the website, forget that it's partison, forget that it's filled with a list of things people could have done already if they cared. Just strip away the "I hate Republican/Conservatives" and what's your opinion on the lets say spirit of the site?

It would be nice if it were bipartisan. What are the chances of house or senate democrat congressmen/women doing anything not in line with Pelosi or Reid's dictates?

The whole approach is based on fiscal prudence which has been sorely missing these last couple years.

 

[mercury14]

They're trying to revive the magic of the "Contract with America," never mind that there's no evidence most voters had ever heard of it when they went to the polls in 1994.

But there's one big difference between then and now, and you touch on it: the difference between 4 years out of power and 40. These characters are promising now to do all the things they didn't do when they had the full run of Washington. Why should anyone believe them?


But if the American people are dumb enough to fall for it, then by all means. We get the government we deserve. (Not that congressional Democrats are covering themselves in glory at the present time.)

The difference is that the Contract with America was much more specific. This is just "we believe in low deficits" and "we believe in the sanctity of marriage".