The Liars

Let's talk about Republican hypocrisy. Some how the Republicans who have used reconciliation for their own agenda are crying foul now that the Democrats want to use it themselves to pass health care. Some Republicans are saying that health care is too big to pass through reconciliation, yet they voted for the Bush tax cuts through reconciliation. Which according to the Congressional Budget Office added 2.5 trillion to the federal debt. Lamar Alexander (R Tennessee) is one of the most outspoken opponents of using reconciliation yet when Bush was in office he voted for the Bush tax cuts in 2003 and 2005, the tax increase prevention act of 2005, and the college cost reduction act in 2007. John McCain wants new senate rules so that reconciliation cannot be used to break a filibuster for entitlement programs such as medicare, medicaid, and social security yet his own record of voting yes for changes in these programs using reconciliation is a complete reversal of what he is preaching, now that Republicans are not in power. Even Senator Orrin Hatch (R Utah) in a recent op ed column in the Washington Post denounces the use of reconciliation, saying that jamming through health care, against the will of the people would wreak havoc on our system of checks and balances and damage the prospects of bipartisanship. Funny though if you look at his own record, he was part of reconciliation 13 times out of the 21 times it has been used. In his own words "to jam" through the Republican agenda when they did not have enough votes to stop a filibuster. He goes on to say that the only time the Republicans used reconciliation was when there was significant bi partisan support. Interesting because the 2003 Bush tax cuts that have wreaked havoc on our deficit was passed through reconciliation, with Sen. Hatch voting yes and a total vote of 50-50. Vice President Cheney had to break the tie (the one time he actually did his job). I guess this is what Sen. Hatches' definition of bipartisanship is. Sen. Hatch is an outright liar, plain and simple. Another thing that is talked about a lot is the federal deficit. Its interesting that during eight years of Bush/Cheney, all you heard from them was when they were pushing the tax cuts, is that deficits don't matter. Why all of a sudden, when the Democrats are now in power, do deficits matter? The idiots at Fox News convey the message that we are in this mess because of Obama. It's sure ironic that when Bush came into office he had a surplus in the budget but when he left there was over a 1.5 trillion dollar deficit. How is that Obama's fault?