28 October 2012 Outrage doesn’t quite suffice

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bob-cesca/republicans-filibuster-ev_b_2018663.html

Republicans Filibuster Everything, Romney Blames Obama for Not Working With Congress

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The Romney campaign released a shockingly Orwellian commercial over the weekend, which perpetuates something Romney himself has been saying for months now. Honestly, there's a book-length analysis to be written here, but I'll keep it as brief as possible given the depth and breadth of what the Republicans have been able to accomplish on this front.

The new ad blames President Obama for not reaching out and working with congressional Republicans to get things done. Yes, really. It also ballyhoos Mitt Romney's claim that he was able to work with a Massachusetts legislature that was 85 percent Democratic.

“I don't know whether to be brutally outraged about this or to congratulate the Republicans on an outstanding execution of political obstruction and subsequent projection. For now, let's go with brutally outraged…”

What bills have the Republicans filibustered? To name a few:

H.R. 12 - Paycheck Fairness Act
H.R. 448 -- Elder Abuse Victims Act
H.R. 466 - Wounded Veteran Job Security Act
H.R. 515 - Radioactive Import Deterrence Act
H.R. 549 -- National Bombing Prevention Act
H.R. 577 - Vision Care for Kids Act
H.R. 626 - Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act
H.R. 1029 - Alien Smuggling and Terrorism Prevention Act
H.R. 1168 -- Veterans Retraining Act
H.R. 1171 - Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program Reauthorization
H.R. 1293 -- Disabled Veterans Home Improvement and Structural Alteration Grant Increase Act
H.R. 1429 -- Stop AIDS in Prison Act
H.R.5281 -- DREAM Act
S.3985 -- Emergency Senior Citizens Relief Act
S.3816 -- Creating American Jobs and Ending Offshoring Act
S.3369 -- A bill to provide for additional disclosure requirements for corporations, labor organizations, Super PACs and other entities
S.2237 -- Small Business Jobs and Tax Relief Act
S.2343 -- Stop the Student Loan Interest Rate Hike Act
S.1660 -- American Jobs Act of 2011
S.3457 -- Veterans Jobs Corps Act

What else?

Here's an astonishing one. The Republicans filibustered the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act -- basically, healthcare for 9/11 heroes. Every Republican senator voted to filibuster this bill. I suppose the Republicans are only interested in 9/11 heroes when they're used as political props.

On the House side, every single Republican, including Paul Ryan, voted against the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act, which forces Congress to pay for new legislation through either budget cuts or revenue increases.

You'd think that by helping to pass these bills, Republicans could boast a solid record on fiscal responsibility, job creation, veterans affairs, anti-terrorism, senior citizens and, hell, 9/11 workers. Instead, they blocked all of it. Jobs for military veterans, tax cuts for small businesses -- you name it. Why? So President Obama and the Democrats could be accused of failure.

And it's working.

Cassi Creek:

          Outrage, in fact, falls far too short.  What I feel for the GOP/teavangelists is contempt and disgust that they would jeopardize the lives and futures of millions of American citizens so that they could hamper the legislative efforts of a POTUS duly elected and properly inaugurated in compliance with the dictates of the Constitution.  These petulant bigots are so unable to accept the political, cultural, and demographic changes that have taken place in these United States that they have hired a number of lobbying firms to mount an advertising campaign, which releases nothing but lies and slander in order to confuse their electoral base.  Their base, given its willingness to listen to  and to inhale the vile output of Fox News, Palin, Limbaugh, Huckabee, and Beck, collectively the linear descendants of Herr Goebbels, incapable of thinking in a rational manner is already sufficiently confused.

          There is a tremendous winter storm/hurricane tag team event which will likely create high levels of havoc in the eastern U.S. over the next two or three days.  Large amounts of infrastructural damage are forecast along with similar amounts of property losses to private citizens.  The GOP/teavangelists, when faced with a similar storm last fall, tried to delay emergency relief programs until they could demand tax cuts to offset the cost of cleanup and repairs.  The timing of this storm is close enough to the election that any such malfeasance on the part of the GOP/teavangelists will show them for the hateful liars they are. 

          Romney will have no authority to help anyone during this storm and its aftermath.  Obama will and should be marshalling his efforts now.  It will be amusing to watch the right-wingers demand services while complaining about big government.