John Boehner's Bad Faith

Republicans will do anything to protect their political orthodoxy.

And that includes extending the depth and length of a dangerous recession.

Paul Krugman has a typically clear-eyed column on the issue this morning that is a true public service.

As the debate over President Obama’s economic stimulus plan gets under way, one thing is certain: many of the plan’s opponents aren’t arguing in good faith. Conservatives really, really don’t want to see a second New Deal, and they certainly don’t want to see government activism vindicated. So they are reaching for any stick they can find with which to beat proposals for increased government spending.... So as a public service, let me try to debunk some of the major antistimulus arguments that have already surfaced. Any time you hear someone reciting one of these arguments, write him or her off as a dishonest flack.

Economic Treason

Update III: History of the Filibuster and Cloture - Great for those who seem believe that we just cannot survive without this relic from the 1850s.

Update II: Thank you William Greider: Stop Senator No, Senate Dems should disable the rule that gives Mitch McConnell a virtual veto over anything he wants to kill. Advocating the filibuster defies reason.

Update: Bush is acting now, good for him.

Or as John Judis outs it: The Feather-Brained GOP Senators Who Sold Out U.S. Workers.

Southern Republican senators [Bush seems to be a non-actor] would throw the country into a depression to lower the wages of workers and break unions.

BuzzFlash calls its "economic treason."

We have to hang on for just 40 more days, and the U.S. Senate should get rid of the filibuster in January, or at least put it at 67 and make the filibusters actually talk. Any parliamentarians in the house?

The stakes are clear: Rid the Senate of this undemocratic relic or stare into the face of a near depression.