GOP Hijinks

Be prepared this coming year for alot of symbolics and loud noise, while your pocket will be picked by the expert corporate lobbyists now staffing the New GOP House members.

We start next year off with the reading of the full Constitution. I'm sure we will see a daily rendition of the Pledge of Allegiance next. This is the ole' Lee Atwater technique of wrapping yourself in the American flag and talk loudly about such things as the deficit but don't do anything about it.

We hear alot about the will of the people. Newt Gingrich is saying that the new Republican House could be as revolutionary as the Democratic House of the 1930s. Interesting that Newt should avoid talking about the recently ended 111th Congress, which rivalled the Democratic Congress of the 1930s in accomplishments.

This all would be interesting to observe because the internecine war has already started among Republicans, but the sad thing is that it affects all of us now. Less than half the American people even know that the Republicans won a chamber of Congress. The so-called people's will actually runs counter to the 2010 election results. It still is baffling and sometime I hope I read something that explains how the 2010 mid-terms happened.

January 1 starts the 2012 campaign. I am going to try being disciplined and not get into this nonsense at this stage. The Republican line-up already is amazingly weak. But then again so were their winning candidates in 2010. And no, I don't believe the reapportionment of congressional seats will affect the 2012 election.

What we do know is that, despite the bipartisan compromises in the Lame Duck session, we will see less of that this year. By and large, except for the debt ceiling vote and the defense budget,it's going to be an all out war by the Republicans to block, roll-back and thwart all of President Obama's achievements in the last two years. Already,key health insurance lobbyists have been hired by the House Republicans to de-fang Obamacare. Corporate lobbyists have been hired to be the chief of staffs for the incoming teabaggers. So we know the charge of teabaggers as an astroturf movement is already true.

I feel for Paul Krugman's dilemma about trying to be an urban, erudite observer of the political and economic scene without going over the edge. Krugman has already called out the Republicans as big frauds on the deficit by analyzing their new Cut-Go rules.

The Cut-Go rules in the House reverse the Democrat's PayGo rules, which mean you must come up with revenues for every increase in program spending. With the new regime, all tax cuts are sancrosanct, especially all those we have learned about in the last two years such as rewarding American corporations for out-sourcing American jobs. You got a preview of what is to come when the American Chamber of Commerce lobbied against the 9/11 Responders bill because it would close loopholes for foreign companies in the U.S. The New York Chamber of Commerce was so incensed at the national chamber that they both endorsed the bill and slammed the U.S. Chamber, which anonymously bankrolled all the Repubican Senate and House candidates in the mid-terms.

The Cut-Go rules explicitly say that tax-cuts do not contribute to the deficit--something which sent Paul Krugman around the bend. You will hear this for the next two years and Republicans will actually move to make the tax cuts for the top income-earners permanent. You will also see no decline in any defense spending by either party.

Ergo,the Cut-Go rules mean that for every increase in program spending an equal amount must be cut from somewhere. The juicy target for Republicans will be anything that is connected to the social welfare system. Despite having campaigned on preserving Medicare against the Democrats--remember that campaign slogan--Republicans will go after Medicare and Medicaid with a meat axe. In fact,anything that is effective economic stimulus will be a target--unemployment insurance,the remains of the stimulus package and state governments. Already the Republican House members have openly stated that the states, who are in dire financial shape, will receive no assistance.

The first vote we have been told is to cut Congress' budget. That actually may be a good idea for the next two years. Republicans are also toying with the idea of passing declarations of disapproval about other Obama programs. This lets them get on record about the past two years.

The war between the economic conservatives and the social conservatives has already erupted. The Religious Right wants to stall the repeal of DADT by stopping any funding for its implementation. Others on the Religious Right are vowing to attack the policy by focusing on the policy of showers in the military. That's right--showers. Already conservative groups are starting to disassociate themselves from CPAC because they accept GOProud, the Republican gay organization as members. You will see this played out on the House floor.

I find these so-called constitutionalists fascinating. If they disagree with a military policy, then if the Commander-In-Chief is a black man,you can interfere with the executive's perogative by insisting you can change it.

We will see more of that from the House--evenforeign policy initiatives, which will fly in the face of commonsense and the real national interest. Ricky Cantor has already pledged his allegiance to Bibi Netanyahu. Expect to see inflammatory statements about the Iran policy over the next two years.

There will be hearings on Radical Islam in America to gin up the anti-Muslim sentiment in the country. Also,we will see new restrictive policies on immigration.

The good news is that the new House Republican policy of 72 hours to circulate a bill before a vote will turn out to be unworkable. First, the committee chairperson has to determine the constitutionality of the law, then the full committee will have 72 hours to examine the bill, then the committee vote. Second, before a full House vote, the bill again must be determined to be constitutional--with a specific citing of the appropriate article. Then we have 72 hours before the vote.

Now let's backtrack to Gentleman John Boehner's schedule--Two weeks on, One Week off. The House meets Tuesday through Thursday. So 72 hours equals a House week. So by my calculation, it will take at least one month to six weeks before a bill goes from committee through the full House. That doesn't include time for debate.

So the game to watch is what little rewards to corporations get plugged into legislation. The GOP knows no voters care about these things, while they are the real reason they are there. With the new army of lobbyists now holding official staff positions,these little treats will get too numerous to mention or keep track of.

John Boehner keeps calling Obama's agenda "job-killing"--even though the private sector under Obama has created more jobs than the entire Bush Administration did in eight years. But one key promise by the new House Republicans is to create jobs. They will not have any excuse--although they will make one up. But anything like an infrastructure initiative,etc. will be done directly between the House and Senate Republicans and President Obama. I also feel the same with the debt ceiling measure.

Otherwise,let loose the dogs of war.