Republican’s House budget bill will cut $272 million from border surveillance and reduce the Border Patrol force by 870 agents. This is odd since border security has been one of the GOP’s signature issues. For the last two years, they’ve been calling for the Obama administration to take serious measures to tighten down on border security. So what gives? Why would they now propose to slash funding for one of their top priorities? Remember John McCain’s “finish the danged fence” ad from last year?
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Has there been a change of heart on the part of Republicans? Has concern over the debt actually reached the point where they would now forgo reigning in the invading hoards of illegal aliens storming the border in the name of fiscal austerity? Nah. Steve Benen has it figured out.
The answer, I suspect, is that House GOP officials don’t really know what they’re doing — they looked at the budget for the fiscal year like a pinata, and just started swinging wildly while blindfolded. It seems quite likely to me that Republicans slashed funding for the Border Patrol without even realizing it.
Indeed, I imagine this happened quite a bit. The same measure included drastic cuts to national security priorities, slashing funds for the National Nuclear Security Administration’s counter-proliferation programs, and even eliminating funds to maintain the nation’s nuclear stockpile. Why would Republicans who claim to care about national security do this? Perhaps because they didn’t understand what they were voting for.
“Pinata” is the perfect metaphor for what Republicans have been doing for the last two years. These clowns have been so busy banging away at Obama, trying to make every issue his Waterloo, that keeping up appearances is no longer a concern of theirs. Neither is logic. They come off as power hungry fools, contradicting themselves from week to week in a frantic attempt to sway public opinion all in the name of taking down this president. Their silent motto has been - if it appears bad for the country, it’s good for GOP prospects in 2012.
It amazes me that anyone but hardcore delusional wingers take anything these bastards say seriously.
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Seems like they said jobs would be a priority, too.
Still waiting for that big jobs bill. Maybe after they do all the other, more important stuff, like …
… pander to their base?
A jobs bill would be seen as another liberal give away. Republicans prefer to create jobs by eliminating taxes and government interference of any kind in the affairs of business. Someone should explain to them that the “starve the beast” maxim is a failed thesis. Destroy the last of the unions and then wages and benefits can fall to levels that will increase the comfort level of the robber barons. Plenty of jobs will then be available at around $7.00 an hour sans benefits since they will cite “Obamacare” as their excuse for no longer needing to provide it as an employee benefit.
Every day, people should be e-mailing and calling Republican members of our state and national legislatures and ask a simple question: “It’s been 50 days since you took office – where are the jobs?
Modifying, of course, the number of days as needed.
their main goal is to do away with the democratic checks and balances on corporations so they can consolidate their power and their wealth at the expense of the rest of us. Oh, and return us to 1800′s mentalities