Playing To The Mob

[babylonsister]

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/playing-to-mob.html

Playing To The Mob

by digby


It would appear that the Republicans have decided that America is now a Hobbesian hellhole so devoid of decency and good will that they can repeatedly hold unemployed people hostage for political purposes and be rewarded for it.

Remember Jim Bunning's one-man government shut down earlier this month? Remember how everyone -- even Republicans -- condemned it?

Well, it seems the GOP has had a change of heart. According to a report by Politico's Manu Raju this morning, multiple Republicans in the Senate are now preparing to repeat Bunning's scheme to block unemployment benefits if Democrats attempt to pass an emergency extension of them again, a move that could come as early as this week.

Playing the role of Bunning next time will likely be Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK). But he'll have an ensemble cast to help.

The unemployed only comprise 10% of the working population so a good portion of the other 90% will probably agree that they're all just freeloaders ("I got me a job, why can't they get one too?") And a few more are so mind-bogglingly ignorant that they'll go along with the rationale that the biggest problem we face right now is a future debt. But most of the people who will respond positively to this are the shock troops who simply don't believe that anyone but their team has a legitimate claim to govern this country. The whole thing is a base motivation strategy (in both senses of the word "base")but it's really just another bit of proof that the right wing of this country has become a nihilistic force with no remaining pretensions of virtue.

And god help us if these people are rewarded for this behavior at the ballot box. They are so morally twisted at this point that I'm not sure what they'll do, but it isn't a good idea to take any chances. Considering their overwrought reaction to the passage of a health care bill, I think we can see how easily their deluded sense of besiegement could turn very ugly if they have the power of the state at their disposal.

[Webster Green]

1. Seems like they are trying to run themselves out of town.

People are starting to figure out what their antics are all about.

[babylonsister]

2. Then I wish they'd hurry up and do it! Why are rethugs so mum

when they pull stunts like this? How can anyone, especially someone unemployed, agree with them?

It astounds me.

[babylonsister]

3. UPDATE: Coburn Shoots Down Jobless Benefits Extension

http://washingtonindependent.com/80518/coburn-shoots-down-jobless-benefits-extension

Coburn Shoots Down Jobless Benefits Extension
By Mike Lillis 3/25/10 5:00 PM


To thousands of unemployed folks, two very different events are conspiring to pose an imminent threat to their federal benefits: (1) The deadline to file for jobless benefits arrives April 5, and (2) Congress leaves this weekend for a two-week vacation, and won’t be back to Washington until April 12.

Recognizing the timing issue, Democrats are trying this afternoon to pass a bill — approved by the House earlier in the month — which would extend the unemployment insurance filing deadline (not to be confused with creating a Tier V) through April. The proposal would also extend COBRA health benefits, and delay a 21 percent cut poised to hit Medicare doctors on April 1 — a problem not addressed by the larger health reform bills passed this week.

“We should not let these programs expire,” Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) just said on the chamber floor, moments before he asked for unanimous consent to pass the bill.

It didn’t happen.

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) objected, arguing that the bill isn’t offset with cuts elsewhere. It wasn’t unexpected. The Republicans this afternoon have been pushing an accompanying measure that would offset the costs.

“I don’t care how we pay for it,” Coburn said, “as long as we don’t add to our kids’ debt.”

Democrats have fought the pay-for proposal, arguing that the deficit spending is justified to address emergencies in a down economy. Stay tuned…