With President George W. Bush's influence waning in the final weeks of his unpopular administration, "no one cares what the White House thinks," a senior Republican aide said.
... because he is a convenient scapegoat for their losses and/or behavior of the past eight years. If they blame him, they are in the clear, right? Under the bus he goes. That will make the "base" happy, allowing them to deny any responsibility for their support of the man and his disastrous policies.
Next, they insist on busting the UAW before they will give out a measly $14 billion in loans. Keep in mind this is the party that had no problem running up the deficit to record levels when they were in charge. Now they see a golden opportunity for political payback, as witnessed in this article from Todd Spangler at the Freep...
Sens. Richard Shelby of Alabama, Bob Corker of Tennessee and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky represent states where foreign automakers have significant operations and the UAW has less sway than in Michigan or Ohio. Each also has been the target of considerable political support from the automakers' union flowing to Democrats who have opposed the senators in elections.
Complicating matters for the union -- which has been lobbying hard for passage of the rescue plan -- is that it threw its political weight behind many of the Democratic opponents who managed to beat Republican incumbents last month. Now those same defeated GOP senators are being asked to save the domestic auto industry from ruination before giving up their seats.
And they intend on making the rank-and-file pay the price, which will weaken the unions, and maybe even support for the Democrats, if workers perceive them as bowing to Republican demands that takes money out of their pocket and threatens their homes and families. Long shot on the culpability, but it's worth a try a this point, right?
Nifty trick. It's either that, or throw the country into further economic chaos, which would tie the hands of the incoming president rather nicely, don't you think? The unemployment numbers are rapidly accelerating, the word "deflation" is being tossed about, and no one can tell me that these guys cannot read the writing on the wall as to what would happen if millions more Americans joined the unemployment line within the next six months.
The "nasty" U.S. recession will tighten its grip next year as unemployment rises and weak home and stock prices imperil consumers, finance firms and debt-laden businesses, a UCLA Anderson Forecast report released on Thursday said.
Additionally, a sustained retreat in prices for goods and services is a very real possibility that would further drag on the economy, according to the forecasting unit's report.
"Where only last quarter we were worried about inflation, we are now worried about its very rare opposite: deflation," the report said. Falling prices would cut demand and discourage employers from hiring.
And if they succeed with all of the above, it might just embolden them to try and stop any sort of stimulus that the Obama administration proposes. Keeping the economy and the American worker in a position of desperation for as long as they can might serve to enhance their chances in 2010, and eventually 2012. If Obama can't deliver the "change" he promised...
Please tell me I'm wrong about all of this. I don't like being this paranoid, but I can't help but fall back on the track record of the past eight years. I don't think the Republicans have learned the lesson yet, and will do anything to keep serving themselves and their "party first" mentality. The American people have never factored into that equation, unless you are fodder for their gain.
If not, you deserve a wage cut, obviously.