For anyone that doubted the conclusions I had drawn last week when I said that if the Republicans were rewarded for the “just say no/take your ball and go home” tactics of the last two years, Mike Pence has erased any of those doubts now. On Friday, The Hill’s Michael O’brien released an article laying out the GOP game plan post elections titled, “GOP says compromise not on the agenda if they retake the House.”
If the title was not enough to lay out the projected game plan inside you have the following:
"Look, the time to go along and get along is over," said Rep. Mike Pence (Ind.), the chairman of the House Republican Conference. "House Republicans know that. We’ve taken firm and principled stands against their big government plans throughout this Congress, and we’ve got, if the American people will send them, we’ve got a cavalry of men and women headed to Washington, D.C. that are going to stand with us."
I don’t claim to be the smartest kid in the class, but I don’t remember when Mike Pence and his Republican colleagues thought in the last two years there was ever a time to get along. The only thing that is a bigger joke than claiming they had at some point sought to work together to solve problems is his claim that now they are taking principled stands on big government, spending and deficits while seeking to expand governments role in the lifestyle decisions of the people and calling for an extension of the Bush tax cuts without finding a dime to pay for them.
If voters want to send a message to Washington to actually get something done the only way to do that is to punish behavior like the last two years, not reward it because as you learn in any psychology class the positive reinforcement of even bad behavior leads to repeated behavior. If you want to do things like roll back medicare, social security and other social safety net programs that have been a foundation of this country, then by all means go ahead and vote for the Republicans. What I would say thought is do not go out and cast a ballot in anger because you are frustrated with where the economy is right now without understanding the full consequences of what they will do with your vote.
If you thought the first two years of the Obama administration had a hard time getting an agenda through Congress just wait until the Republican House can truly be the equal to the filibuster demanding Senate.
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