Republicans have moved quickly from being angry refusniks to being a party with hyperactivity, at least in the House. We'll see how these symptoms of bipolar disorder play out. In the meantime, let's take a look at their proposed agenda.
Top billing goes to health care legislation repeal with a kick-off date of January 13. It looks as though "repeal" isn't quite what will happen. Instead, Republicans seem to be planning a reframing of the bill to make it look as though they owned it from the get-go.
GOP leaders pledged to “repeal and replace” the healthcare law, but the House will not vote on a separate replacement bill next week. Instead, lawmakers will consider a resolution that instructs three committees to report healthcare legislation. The resolution sets 12 goals for the bill, including lowering healthcare costs and premiums, increasing the number of insured Americans and “to provide people with pre-existing conditions access to affordable health coverage” - a key, popular element of the Democratic healthcare law. The bill, according to the resolution, must not “accelerate the insolvency of entitlement programs or increase the tax burden on Americans.”
"Obamacare is a job killer for businesses small and large, and the top priority for House Republicans is going to be to cut spending and grow the economy and jobs,” Cantor spokesman Brad Dayspring said. “Further, ObamaCare failed to lower costs as the president promised that it would and does not allow people to keep the care they currently have if they like it. That is why the House will repeal it next week." ...The Hill
Darrel Issa doesn't seem to have dates certain for his pillaging plans, but his mood disorder has produced a hefty list of targets to "look at." "Looking at" will tend to attract TV cameras looking at Issa and that, indeed, maybe be a lot more important to Issa than dates certain and real goals.
The California Republican said he planned to look at mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the "impact of government hyperregulation on job creation," the work of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, WikiLeaks, the work of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), corruption in Afghanistan and other items. ...The Hill
What the Republicans are doing makes the rest of the country look positively sane. No manic depression out here: we're keeping our eyes fixed on the real target and our preferences may lead to the House Republicans crashing and burning. A poll yesterday suggests that we'll watch the Republicans wrangling for two years and then send our votes in another direction. It looks as though The American People -- right across income groups -- would rather go after income disparity and leave entitlement programs alone.
Raising taxes on the rich beats out cuts to defense spending, Medicare and Social Security as U.S. adults' top preference on how to close the deficit, according to a 60 Minutes/Vanity Fair poll.
Sixty-one percent of Americans said that increasing taxes to the wealthy should be the first step toward balancing the budget.
By contrast, 20 percent of respondents preferred cuts to defense spending as the first option, while 4 percent said that cutting Medicare would be the best way to start cutting the deficit. Three percent said they preferred cutting Social Security.
Increased taxes on the wealthy tops those four options even among higher earners who might be most affected by a tax hike, the poll suggested. Fifty-eight percent of respondents making between $50,000 and $100,000 per year rated tax hikes as the best first step to balancing the budget, while 46 percent of those making more than $100,000 said it was their top choice, as well. ...The Hill
