Let's Talk About Conservative Pretense

As right-wing mouth-breathers continue to scream against Obama's so-called "socialist agenda" and his "pork-laden stimulus package," let's remind the Chicken Littles what 8 years of conservative leadership in Washington D.C. have wrought us:

* Misled the American people into an endless war in Iraq that has made the United States less safe, has resulted in the death and injury of thousands of American troops and Iraqis, has cost American taxpayers as much as one trillion dollars, has strained our military to the breaking point, and has prevented us from finishing the job in Afghanistan.
* Stood idly by while thousands of Americans lost everything during Hurricane Katrina – and still haven’t taken leadership to rebuild the Gulf Coast and help people return home.
* Allowed trickle-down, laissez-faire economics to help the rich get richer, while regular Americans struggle with soaring gas and food prices, a meltdown in the housing market, and exploding debt during today’s economic recession.
* Turned control of our country’s health care system over to insurance and pharmaceutical companies, leaving millions of Americans incapable of paying for the rising costs of health benefits and turning emergency rooms into primary care physicians.
* Broke their promise to America’s children, failing to fund early education programs and No Child Left Behind.
* Ignored the scientific reality of climate change, obstructing efforts to make our air and water cleaner so oil and gas companies and big business could achieve record profits.
* Turned their backs on America’s workers, assaulting workers’ rights and impeding regular Americans’ efforts to form unions and bargain for better pay and working conditions.

The reason why I bring this all up is because we still have conservative Republicans whining over earmarks in Obama's stimulus package, which contain solutions to the very same problems I listed above! The conservative grousing would be laughable if it weren't so damn hypocritical. Lady Rose of Sanity Rant gives a perfect example. She writes:

The Republicans whining over earmarks is just as silly and totally hypocritical because they load up a ton of earmarks into every spending bill. A prime example was Sen. Lindsey Graham's interview this weekend where he contradicts himself exceprt:

"We do need earmark reform," said Graham. "I wish [the president] would veto the bill, we'd get back together and come up with the earmark reform process." Seconds later, however, Graham was reminded that he himself had inserted 37 earmarks in the legislation, including $950,000 for "a convention center in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina." After defending the transparency and necessity of such an expenditure, Graham finally finished the 180, saying of the Myrtle Beach funding: "I voted to take all earmarks out, but I will come back in the new process and put that back in."

So he is basically saying, lets pretend to have stand for NO earmarks and stop this budget so the Republicans can claim victory, but later when no one is looking he will put back in his own earmarks.

But don't listen to us ramble on about the GOP sanctimoniousness...take a listen straight from the horses' mouths'!

Mark Bruno
AWOP Politics Contributor
Author of Left Of Center Blog

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Peace Y'all