Actually there was one really interesting irony though that happened this week. It used to be people viewed the Senate as being dysfunctional more so than the House. Well we had a bill put out by the senate that was supported by 90% of the chamber, then the House Republicans rejected it. For the first time in a long time the Senate was seen as the functional body, while the House viewed as being in shambles. That looks really bad on the leader of the House, who ran on a platform of progress and strong leadership.
The anger is highly justified as well. More Americans are taking note of what’s happening:
As Americans watch yet another political drama play out on Capitol Hill – this time over whether to extend the payroll tax cut and jobless benefits – they have a question for Congress: Can’t you all just get along? For once?
“It’s like, `Kids, kids, kids,'” said Brenda Bissett, a lawyer from Santa Clarita, Calif., as she waited for coffee Wednesday at a Starbuck’s in downtown Los Angeles. “It’s just frustrating that there’s no compromise … I do it all the time.”
Around the country, people of different backgrounds, incomes and political leanings say they’re angry and downright disgusted by the posturing in Washington after the House rejected a two-month extension of the payroll tax cut passed by the Senate, then both chambers adjourned for the holidays.
If lawmakers don’t act by Jan. 1, payroll taxes will jump almost $20 a week, or $1,000 a year, for a worker earning $50,000, and as much as $82 a week, or $4,272 a year, for a household with two high-paid workers. What’s more, about 6 million people could lose unemployment benefits, and Medicare payments to doctors would be slashed.
“It’s just another smack in our face for the working public. We just can’t get ahead,” said Mike Pryor, a construction worker from Aurora, Ill. “It seems like everything that Congress is doing is always against us … I mean, I’m at a loss for words, and I just can’t understand it, why they have to keep arguing.”
The article goes on to quote tons more people from different backgrounds and political strides, all agreeing that Washington is highly busted.
This kind of sentiment is also stirring a big anti-incumbent sentiment this year. With the Republicans controlling so many seats in the House, that spells big trouble for them. A lot of those “Tea Party” Republicans that rode into power last year may very well likely see their tenure expand only two years. People who complained about things like the healthcare bill and stimulus at least agree that the Democrats were able to push through some legislation.
And that last part is something really worth noting. The tax fight right now isn’t an issue of right versus left, as it started. It has become an issue of the John Boehner House Republicans versus the rest of the country. We have seen more and more Senate Republicans come out blasting Boehner and the House Republicans. Even John McCain accused them of “hurting” the party. It doesn’t stop there either. We got conservative media like Fox News and the National Review also telling Boehner to give it up already.
What it boils down to is we have 60 people going against the will of a nation, including those in their own party, just to play politics. In 9 days Americans will be taking home an average of $40 less per week because of this bullshit game John Boehner is playing. Instead of leading he has bowed to the extremists in his own caucus and it’s so bad that Republicans have even thrown out the 11th commandment sent forth by Ronald Reagan – though shall not speak ill of other Republicans.
If the Republicans do manage to hold onto the House next year, I wonder if John Boehner would continue to be Speaker. I even wonder if Eric Cantor will remain in leadership. I can see the Republicans hold onto the House, but with new blood. If that happens the leadership might be in serious trouble.
Of course so will the rest of the country because it will just be new faces with the same old problems. We need a fundamental change in Washington to get America moving forward again. Partisan bickering needs put aside and a basic understanding of compromise needs to come back to existence. The Democrats have been good at that, but not the GOP. Maybe that’s a product of the headless party I talked about yesterday.