REPUBLICAN CREDIBILITY

UNITED FRONT

Nick Anderson / Houston Chronicle

Will the Republican Party have a political price to pay for their pattern of obstructionism and use of scary, fear-mongering predictions — that simply turn out to be wrong?  Like:  Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction and mushroom clouds.  How about:  Clinton’s raising taxes on the rich (with not one Republican vote) will destroy the economy.  Then there’s:  Bush’s tax cuts on the rich will lead to a healthy, thriving economy.  How’d those prognostications work out for you, Republican Party?

Now we are hearing:  This Healthcare Reform will destroy the economy.  It’s Armageddon.  There are death panels in the legislation.  It’s a socialist, government take-over of our country.  Healthcare Reform will have tax-payer-funded “abortion on demand.”  It’s the end of freedom.  Or even the latest:  This new law is unconstitutional.

This is a law that moderate Republicans in years-gone-by would have loved — following the support of the American Medical Association, AARP, and the hospital industry.  But those moderates are gone, replaced with ideological right-wingers.  And now the Republican Party is a party of wing-nuts and naysayers.  While being the party of “no” may bring them an electoral win in the short-term, in the long run it defines Republicans as incapable of governing our nation, because…well, they don’t believe in government!

At some point, will the American people stop and evaluate the credibility of the Republican Party, and their spawn, the Tea Partiers?  

Already some of the Republicans are trying to pivot away from their previous lies and misinformation about Healthcare Reform.  A few Republican leaders and pundits have begun to say, “Well, we’ll reform the bill, not repeal it.”  How do you reform Armageddon?  And over the weekend I heard a righty pundit say, “You know, I don’t really mind the health exchanges.” 

Uh huh.  You’re sooo believable and trustworthy, Republicans.  The next time Republicans tell us that the sky is falling because the Democrats are actually doing something for our country, let’s all say together, “uh huh, yeah right — you’re sooo credible, Republicans!”