As Republicans confronted President Barack Obama in another budget battle last week, their leadership included another new face: Representative Eric Cantor of Virginia, who as the party’s chief vote wrangler is as responsible as anyone for the tough line the party has taken in this first legislative standoff with Obama. This battle has vaulted Cantor to the front lines of his party as it tries to recover from the losses of November.
As Republican whip, Cantor succeeded again on Friday in denying the White House the support of a single House Republican on the stimulus bill. That was a calculated challenge to the president, who, in his weekly address on Saturday, hailed the bill as “an ambitious plan at a time we badly need it.”
Cantor said he had studied Gingrich’s years in power and had been in regular touch with him as he sought to help his party find the right tone and message. Indeed, one of Gingrich’s leading victories in unifying his caucus against Clinton’s package of tax increases to balance the budget in 1993 has been echoed in the events of the last few weeks.
RONALD REAGAN started it, Bill Clinton finished it and last week Barack Obama was accused of engineering its destruction. One of the few undisputed triumphs of American government of the past 20 years – the sweeping welfare reform programme that sent millions of dole claimants back to work – has been plunged into jeopardy by billions of dollars in state handouts included in the president’s controversial economic stimulus package.
A conversation has been coming up more and more in my house………”Is it time to consider leaving the USA?”
I’m not talking about giving up my citizenship; I’m just talking about moving to a place where life is much simpler. Where people are still smiling and enjoying each and everyday. A place where politics don’t come up as much as what fish are biting on or what board to hit the waves with.
Just thinking………………..
The more I think about this the more I realize that you don’t need to leave the USA to accomplish this, you just need to turn off the fucking news. You just need to get back to what’s really important in life and it’s not Politics, it’s family, friends and in my case I can add fishing and surfing.
Believe me when I say that when your laying on your death bed, politics will be the last thing on your mind.
Well Ranando, I certainly can’t disagree with your premise. I “do” politics because that’s my interest, positive or negative. But, yes, of course, I get “politicked out” like everyone else. It’s certainly easy to get caught up in it all, though. I wish I had the fiscal ability and luxury to just turn things off. But what politicians do directly affects me, my wages, those of my wife, my living conditions pretty much month-to-month. THAT is the hook that I cannot avoid, not being independently wealthy.
BZ
I believe that the World around me is good. I believe that 99.9% of the people on it are good as well.
I believe in living a positive life with positive people and I have no time for negativity.
When you see any positive things happening with these assholes in Washington, please let me know.
Spending a week at the beach with my wife is positive. Spending a week listening to Rush Limbaugh is negative.
I will chose the positive everytime time.
It has nothing to do with how much money one may have.
I’m just speaking for me and no one else.
I can chose to go to Washington and march in movement for gun rights or I can go hunting and fishing in Montana with some friends, I’ll chose Montana everytime.
Movement in Washington, all negative. Hunting with friends in Montana, all positive.
For those things I can change I will get involved. For those things I have no control over (Washington Politics) I will not waste my time.
This is the way I try to live, right or wrong so far so good.
BZ, Ranando might be right. I just spent about 10 frigging hours reading the highlites of the porkzilla bill and I want to kill somebody or something. There is aABSOLUTELY NO WAY anybody read that thing before they voted for it, NO WAY, never mind actually understand it. Check out my latest blog and see what I mean. It’s enough to make a grown man cry! or drink!!
Ranando: Now there you and I differ. I do NOT believe that 99% of the people are inherently good. I’ve watched them closely, intently, for 30+ years as a cop. I believe that quite a number of people embody True Evil. And one cannot denature Evil. Some exist solely as corruptors, killers, rapers. Their simple nature is to destroy because they have no idea how to create. I believe that the Middle Eastern version of Islam is much like this. I believe that many of these corruptors worm themselves into every niche, including government. Every government. And some of these corruptors, killers even, RUN governments.
I wish I had the luxury of setting many of our current actions on Ignore Mode. I wish I had the luxury of going fishing in Montana. That’s just not in the cards. My wife got furloughed, I lost 25% of my work force. Was thinking of retiring next year; that’s not in the cards either. Likely another 5 years or so.
Wish I could BE positive, but I don’t have too much “insulation” in my life and, with most everything, money IS insulation. That you can pull it off is a great thing and I hope you continue to be able to do so.
AA: I’ll drop by and, gulp, look.
BZ
If in fact it is a GOP testicle showing…it’s caught in Harry Reid’s zipper. I started to say Barney Frank’s Zipper but the visual was too depressing.
BZ, the issue of good and evil, in OUR eyes, is likely an entirely different matter. Most civilians haven’t seen 2% of what we have, that explains a lot of the *positive* thing.
I can understand it too. It took me a lot of years to find a woman that could understand the way I think, and that’s because she comes from a cop family too, he attitude is as shitty as mine concerning the *good* of man!
Is it coincidence that most of the people who believe a very high percentage people are inherently good are also libs?
He won’t sign the bill until Tuesday.
I hope he gets Globally Warmed in and can’t make it down here to Phoenix on Wednesday.
That would be a shame.
Yeah.
Total shame.