It takes your breath away.
For the past several years the GOP has stumbled from one dumb move to another. Examples?
- Running Mitt Romney for president.
- Insulting as often as possible the Latinos, the fastest growing minority in the country.
- Insulting the largest block of voters, i.e.women, by threatening their health care.
- Lining up on all occasions with the 1%.
- Saying "no" to popular ideas, e.g. equal rights for gays, gun controls, food for hungry children and seniors.
- Embracing unpopular ideas, like threatening to put the country into bankruptcy in 2011 by failing to lift the debt ceiling.
There are so many other examples that one more hardly seems necessary. But those clever little Republicans in the House have actually defied the enervating heat of summer to come up with yet another of their "Ideas for Idiots".
This new idea is not as simplistic and wildly exciting as, say, deporting 11 million undocumented people, but it's pretty good for mid-July. Having failed almost 40 times to repeal the new health insurance law, the Republicans in the House are now demanding the Obama administration put a hold on the law's requirement that the uninsured (with federal aid if needed) buy health insurance. The GOP gleefully ties this demand to the federal decision announced days ago that businesses with over 50 employees will get a one-year delay in the requirement they buy health insurance for their workers.
"How come," taunt the Republicans, "the Democrats are giving a break to big business but not to ordinary people?" Or in the more elegant prose of Speaker John Boehner, "Hell, no! It's not fair!"
What a politically silly position to take! The GOP has just opened the door much wider to a good result for Democrats in the 2014 elections. All along the Democrats have worried about the impact of the health care law on the mid-term elections, particularly the provision, effective in 2014, requiring individuals purchase health insurance. Now the GOP has suggested a way to take that card off the table.
The GOP has suggested the idea! Get that? The GOP is saving the Democrats' bacon!
Like we used to say about our Democratic presidential nominees in the days of Dukakis and Mondale: "Where do they get these people?" The GOP has found a way not only to embrace a lot of crazies and dummies but has actually put the dummies into the House leadership. The idea of delaying the mandate has the eager approval of Boehner himself! What is he smoking?
Want some frosting on the cake? The House GOP wants to tie this delay provision to the debt ceiling bill in September. Yes! You heard right! This means the debt ceiling bill will pass easily with lots of GOP votes. Even Michele Bachmann couldn't resist voting for a bill that includes a seemingly big swipe at "Obamacare".
Come here, John Boehner, you old sweetheart! I just want to give you a big hug, orange teddy bear that you are!
With enemies like you and your cohorts, who needs friends?
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