I am sorry, but no matter how people try to spin it, the Republicans lost and so did life.
There are many people who I respect that view the deal cut by Republicans as a victory, a victory in the budget battle and a victory in the defense of life. They are wrong.
Let’s get the budget stuff out of the way. The Republicans reduced the deficit by a measly 2%, meaning the at the government will still spend well more than a trillion more than it brings in with our already obscene taxes. That is like Michael Moore not eating the last cookie in 12 cartons of Oreos because he is dieting. It means nothing.
Something else that means nothing is promises. Republicans originally promised $100 billion, then backtracked to $61 billion, and now came away with only $38 billion. The Democrats wanted no cuts. $38 billion in relation to the deficit is as close to nothing as you can get. It is utterly meaningless.
The fact of the matter is that the Republicans were never serious and the Democrats knew it. And they were scared of being blamed for shutting down the government and the Democrats knew it. Not serious and scared. They never stood a chance.
But I have known for a while that the budget battle was a choice between meaningless spending cuts and utterly meaningless spending cuts. We ended up with utterly meaningless spending cuts. What fared worse is life.
The Republicans used defunding of Planned Parenthood as a bargaining chip to get an extra few billion in cuts. They traded life for a rounding error in the budget.
Don’t tell me about the significant victory for life they achieved by getting an agreement to prohibit taxpayer funding for abortions in the District of Columbia and to allow a vote in the Senate over Planned Parenthood funding. Are you telling me that there are no Planned Parenthoods in DC providing abortions? So our tax dollars are still funding abortions in DC. And worse, much worse, is this stand-alone vote in the Senate over Planned Parenthood funding. This is a victory? NO. This is total and humiliating defeat.
How stupid do they think we are? A stand-alone vote on PP is useless and has 0% chance of defunding PP. 0% chance and everyone, especially the Democrats, know it. That is why the Democrats agreed to it.
The only way to defund Planned Parenthood with the current makeup of the Senate and Obama in the White House is to tie it to something the Democrats like even less. The Republicans had that chance by making the Democrats choose between something much worse and Planned Parenthood. If they had to choose between $200 bn in cuts and funding for PP and $100bn and no funding for PP, then they would have had a real dilemma. Instead, the weak and ineffectual Republicans traded it for exactly nothing.
The bottom line is that the Democrats were more willing to shut down the Government over funding PP than the Republicans. Case closed. The Republicans didn’t care enough. And this stand-alone vote charade adds insult to egregious injury.
The ostensibly pro-life Sen. Toomey said this:
“I think what we should do is cut spending as much as we can, get the policy changes that we can, but move on, because there are other, bigger battles that we are fighting.”
Bigger battles than life itself? And you are supposed to be pro-life? This is despicable Sen Toomey. You ought to be ashamed of yourself. The problem is that this is an entire party of Sen. Toomeys.
Some will say that this is the best that could have been achieved in the current climate. Hogwash. Democrats routinely deliver a lot more with a lot less. This is all that these weak Republicans could achieve, and that is the problem.
The bottom line is that the Republicans have learned nothing. They are not serious about life and they are not serious about debt. They are weak, ineffectual, and duplicitous and as a party, they do not deserve my vote.
Instead of patting themselves on the back, the Republicans ought to be ashamed of themselves. I know I am.
Pathetic losers.
April 11, 2011 at 4:31 am
Totally, and absolutely, agreed. It is pathetic.
April 11, 2011 at 4:37 am
I could not possibly agree more. Absolutely the truth.
April 11, 2011 at 5:16 am
We, as a family, were prepared to make the sacrifice for life. We'd lose our paychecks although we'd eventually receive back pay. It's worth it for us to struggle in the short term. Would it have been easy? No, but we were willing to.
My children understand the notion that life is important why can't these idiots?
April 11, 2011 at 5:40 am
Told you it would happen.
As I've said before, the Republican Party is not pro-life. Sure, there are a handful of Republicans in Congress who are pro-life, but the Party in general is not. Never has been – never will be. Read some history – learn some facts – this issue has been around for years.
If the Republicans were pro-life, they would have defunded Planned Parenthood when they controlled BOTH houses of Congress AND the Presidency for six YEARS. Funny how they don't put forward any measly little pro-life bill when they know they could pass it – they wait until they know there is no chance (a Presidential veto in the wings, or lack of a majority in the Congress.) Then they can tell the rubes back home that they tried so hard, but it was those nasty Democrats' fault it didn't pass.
A pro-life President would not have nominated Sandra O'Connor, Anthony Kennedy and John Paul Stevens to the Supreme Court.
But because the pro-life rubes continue to vote for them no matter what, they will continue to do the same thing and the rubes will continue to vote for them, forever and ever amen.
April 11, 2011 at 6:41 am
Time for social conservatives to turn the Republicans into the Whigs.
April 11, 2011 at 1:42 pm
I agree that people should not think that this is a victory to Republicans. But I can understand the poor result.
The democrats puts that the question was spending cuts versus PP, knowing that Republicans need independent votes, that are not pro-life (they, at most, want to reduce abortions) and would dislike a shutdown. Besides that, Republicans only have House.
The bottom line is that we need a truly pro-life political party that is prepared to lose elections in defense of life. Republican aren´t. Besides that, we need to continue our fight in defense of life to obtain much more pro-life support from the voters.
Best,
Pedro Erik
April 11, 2011 at 1:58 pm
Totally disagree. We can stand here and rant and rave and expect to get everything we want by holding our breath and stomping our feet, or we can wake up and face reality. The Democrats control the Senate and they control the White House. That is a simple, undeniable fact, and will remain so until at least January, 2013. We are simply not going to achieve anything significant so long as Harry Reid and Barack Obama are occupying the other two seats of power.
April 11, 2011 at 2:22 pm
slow down and keep an eye on what the folks at Susan B. Anthony say today… that organization headed up the very very very successful anti-planned parethood media blitz.
Things have moved stongly pro-life in washington the last 2 weeks
previously the dems would simply ease the money over to PP nice and quiet-like. This time they had to burn their rocket fuel on the launchpad defending public $$ for abortions.
huge swing pro-life last week, just keep the pressure on and pray.
April 11, 2011 at 2:27 pm
I'm disappointed, but waiting to see what happens with the debt ceiling vote, and most important…. NEXT year's budget… the one THIS House will pass (or try to).
April 11, 2011 at 3:40 pm
The Stupid Party will strive to enact Pro-Life Legislation only when they are assured it will fail.
When they had The POTUS. Senate, and House they die little – just enough to keep their supporters mollified using the old Chicago Cubs battle cry – wait til next year
April 11, 2011 at 4:53 pm
I agree with Paul Zummo. Your expectations are unrealistic. All the GOP has now is an effective break on radical Democratic action. Control of only the House doesn't do much more than that. It's a minor victory to be fighting to reduce Government support of abortions rather than fighting to preventing further support, which is where we were two years ago.
Now Spartacus also has a good point, the old crew did nothing when they had the chance. To be fair however this is a new group, changed by Tea Party involvement. They haven't been properly tested yet.
April 11, 2011 at 6:12 pm
Paul Zummo –
Then why didn't the Republicans do anything for the six YEARS that they controlled both houses of Congress AND the Presidency?
Nobody is ranting and raving – only speaking the facts. The Republican Party is not pro-life.
I am Spartacus has it exactly correct – they will strive to enact pro-life legislation only when they are assured it will fail.
David – The tea party has had minimal effect on the Republican Party – they are only a small percentage of the total House and they have no coherent political philosophy. Their overall issue seems to be to cut government size and spending, and yet almost all of them are for continued massive government spending on the Empire. So they are for cutting spending and increasing spending at the same time – totally incoherent.
April 11, 2011 at 7:42 pm
Nobody is ranting and raving – only speaking the facts. The Republican Party is not pro-life.
Yeah, no ranting and raving here. You got me.
April 12, 2011 at 1:15 am
Paul –
OK, so I'm ranting and raving.
Now, what is your answer to my question: Why didn't the Republicans do anything for the six YEARS that they controlled BOTH houses of Congress AND the Presidency? Please answer that without ranting and raving.
April 12, 2011 at 9:48 am
Thank you!!! I was so upset when I saw all of the initial, "GOP had monumental victory" trash. If we would of had a victory, Obama's speech following the compromise would not have been so joyous. He was gloating. He was absolutely thrilled. He won the "deal" and, at the same time, was handed a really good chance at re-election by the GOP. But, they didn't just hand it to him, they served it on a silver platter. I am disgusted. I am no longer a Republican due to this. I am now only voting independent. Unless I know the person running personally, if they are an (R) I am not voting for them. I also am no longer donating money to the GOP. Thank you for the article!
~Christopher
April 12, 2011 at 3:46 pm
Have you noticed that all the pro-life groups in the forefront of the fight to de-fund are ecstatic?
That's because they understand this was a nice step forward in momentum. With all due respect, this is an appropriations bill to get us through the end of the fiscal year –which is just September. That's not much defunding. The real battle is over what gets funded in an actual budget, not a mere continuing resolution…and no one shuts down the whole government over a mere rider, however desirable.
The important thing is the Dems, who hold all the cards still, since they have one house and the Presidency, blinked. They gave pro-life concessions and they threw their moderate members under the bus, exposing them to the uncomfortable position of having to vote up or down on both Planned Parenthood on Thursday and Obamacare repeal (also a pro-life vote) going into an election year.
Don't you see that it's far more valuable, when the momentum is on our side, to force people to vote for Planned Parenthood, rather than for an appropriation where the pro-life nature of the vote is obscured? Do you want them defunded and discredited for good, or just til September?
Don't lose heart just when it's getting juicy!
April 12, 2011 at 5:16 pm
RC2 –
Don't be delusional. Don't fall for this sham again. Learn something from history. The Republican Party is not pro-life. It never has been and it never will be. Read my question above and ponder what could be the answer to it.
April 12, 2011 at 6:02 pm
I have zero interest in the GOP. I have an interest in winning the pro-life fight, which will not be done by focusing on a rider that expires in September.
April 13, 2011 at 1:36 am
"Why didn't the Republicans do anything for the six YEARS that they controlled BOTH houses of Congress AND the Presidency? Please answer that without ranting and raving."
The Republicans controlled the House and the Senate and the Presidency from 2004-2006. During this time period they had a very narrow majority in the Senate of 54-46, short of the 60 votes necessary to kill a Democrat filibuster. The Democrats attempted to filibuster every pro-life initiative taken by the Republicans.
April 13, 2011 at 5:11 am
Donald –
The threat of a filibuster is another sham. An actual filibuster involves holding the floor of the Senate day and night for 24 hours seven days a week. Instead, we are treated to fake filibusters in which both parties agree that they need 60 votes to pass anything. Thus the parasites are able to fool the American rubes that nothing can be passed without 60 votes. What a joke. If the majority party really wants to break a filibuster, all they need to do is make the minority hold the floor nonstop without adjournment- the minority would soon tire of it and the bill would pass with a simple majority. I believe the last true filibuster happened in the 1950s. Everything since has been a sham. They could easily have passed any law they wanted to with the 55-45 majority they had from 2004-2006. But they didn't. And the reason they didn't is because they are not a pro-life party. As has been stated above by me and other commentators – they only put forward pro-life bills when they know there is no chance of passage. Look at the record – both Congressional and Presidential. Look at the losers that Reagan and Bush One gave us on the Supreme Court – O'Connor, Kennedy, Souter. Is this what a pro-life Party gives us? If this were a pro-life Party we would have had a 7-2 majority on the Supreme Court twenty years ago, before Clinton even took office! Look at the near unanimous Republican support for Clinton's two nominees. Where were the filibusters then? Where was the Borking then?
Don't let them fool you again.