Are Congressional Republicans myopic? Or just really bad at math?

Last week, the national Republican Party unveiled their Pledge to America. If you watched the brilliant Jon Stewart piece on this, you know that the much-ballyhoo'd Pledge is the Same Old Sh-- from the Grand Old Party (AKA, the Party of No Ideas): tax cuts for the rich (AKA, trickle down economics); elimination of "Obamacare" (AKA, pay-your-own-way health savings accounts); traditional values (AKA, we hope everyone has forgotten those gay sex scandals); control spending (AKA, we hope everyone has forgotten our deficit-spending binge under Bush II); reduce government (AKA, we hope everyone has forgotten those earmarks and bail-outs we voted for); support the troupes; stand by our friends; tort reform; yada, yada, yada.

There was much comparison in the media of the Pledge to America and the Contract with America, Newt Gingrich's document from the early 1990s when the Republicans took control of Congress. As Stewart so aptly pointed out, the Pledge to America is "not even a sequel [to the Contract with America], it's a shot-by-shot remake." He proceed to show clips of long-term Congressional Republicans like House Minority Leader John Boehner (above, courtesy of NPR) spouting the same ideas in 1994 - 2004 as they outlined last week in the Pledge.

The grand finale was Boehner 2010 side-by-side with Boehner of the past saying exactly the same words with the same emphasis and pacing. (How's that for living up to your stereotype of the Party of No Ideas?)

Fast forward one week...

Pundits are now analyzing and commenting on the content of the Pledge to America, and more data are being released about the dismal state of the economy. ("Drat, we thought we could get by with soundbites!" Boehner is overheard saying in Southern Ohio tanning spa.)

- The Economic Policy Institute released a report that says the Republicans' job creation plan (AKA, give more money to the rich) would result in the loss of 1.1 million jobs. (I guess they are the only ones who have not heard that giving money to the rich is the least effective way to stimulate the economy and jobs and that trickle down economics doesn't work.)

- The 2010 Census data revealed that the gap between rich and poor is widening (duh), and that poverty has increased in most states. (So, why have Republicans vote against extension of unemployment repeatedly? Why are they holding extension of the middle class tax cuts hostage? Why did they try to block Obama's jobs bill? Why do they want to eliminate the public safety nets of healthcare reform and Social Security? Why? Because all of these things are unfriendly to the corportists. They represent the multinational corporations of America-- not the people.)

- Robert Reich said on NPR that the middle class can't go any deeper into debt and can't work longer hours. They're doing everything they can to survive.

And besides all of this, their plan just doesn't add up. They want to repeal healthcare reform and make all of the Bush II's tax cuts (especially those for the ultra rich) permanent PLUS cut government and cut the deficit.

George Bush I called trickle down economics "voodoo economics" when he ran against Ronald Reagan for president. What the Republicans are proposing with the Pledge to America is "voodoo math". Healthcare reform and sunsetting Bush II's tax cuts on the richest Americans save us BILLIONS of dollars. If Congressional Republicans are allowed to accomplish these two goals, the US economy will be hurt even more. Also, decreasing the size of government means eliminating government jobs. On the NPR's Diane Rehm Show, one commentator said that even if the Republicans take government spending back to Reagan era levels + cut more, we would still be no where near a balanced budget.

The bottom line is: the Pledge to American is a hoax. Don't buy the lie.

I got scared yesterday but Keith and Gabby helped me through it

I was scared and depressed yesterday by the time I left work. Too much talk radio can do that to you, and I don't listen to the really horrible shows (ie, Jon Justice, Rush, etc.)

It started with Diane Rehm talking about the fate of education in the US if the Tea Baggers make strides in the November election. She asked the US head of the Department of Education what would happen if the Congress voted to eliminate the Department of Education, which is apparently one of their campaign rallying cries.

After she asked that question, the call was dropped. It was almost prophetic. I could hear in Diane's voice that she felt the same way. Silence... that's what would happen if they eliminated the Department of Education. Ideas would be lost or not shared-- especially unpopular ones. Education would be left to special interest groups-- religious, political, cultural-- and the melting pot of public education would die, thus creating more inequity, more division, more distrust. Sigh...

Later in the day, on the John C. Scott Show, there was a mixed bag, as usual. He started out with big-wig Republican operative Bruce Ash (grrrrr) gloating about a Republican Congress-- as if it were a done deal.

After that Jim Kiser (pro-Charter Change hack) quoting a Southern Arizona Leadership Council (SALC) poll of a whopping 600 people that concluded 2/3 of Tucsonans are not satisfied with the way the city is being run.

OK, there are some smart people among the SALC membership-- including former UA president Peter Likins-- so I would expect them to conduct valid surveys ... but apparently not. Drawing conclusions for a city of nearly 1 million from a sample of 600 is laughable. Unfortunately, they can get away with it because reporters and talk show hosts never challenge the sampling on surveys, ask exactly what questions were asked, or ask if the findings are statistically significant.

I am particularly suspicious of the Rasmussen polls which are published widely and which regularly offer Ash a reason to gloat (grrr). Their latest poll, which also came out yesterday, reports that Governor Jan Brewer gained 2 points over her challenger Terry Goddard after her disastrous performance in the debate last week. (This seems unbelievable, really.) Again, what question was asked? Is 2 points a significant change? My guess is that 2 points is within the margin of error-- so no real change-- which is also surprising since she came across as a dolt.

So, after a day of depressing news and bad numbers, I decided to take action and stopped at Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords' office on the way home. OK, some times she annoys me with that Blue Dog thing, but maybe she's just acting that way to appease the Chochise County voters. Anyway, she's sooooooooooo much more reasonable than Jesse "privatize this" Kelly. It would be a very dark day in Southern Arizona if Kelly were elected. Anyway, I signed up to volunteer for her, as I have in the past. Like Harvey Milk, I won't give up without a fight.

A glutton for punishment, I watched Keith Olberman online later in the evening, and he actually picked up my spirits significantly.

Last night, Olberman reported Gallup data on whether people would vote for a generic Republican or Democrat for Congress. This question is asked every week. Last week the Republicans were up significantly. This week the 2 parties are in a dead heat-- see the graphic above. (So, why was Bruce Ash gloating?) Anyway, Olberman further reported that the lead on that question-- generic Republican vs. generic Democrat-- has changed 6 times since May 2010.

Anyway, that data doesn't sound like or look like a referendum against Democrats to me. I believe that some of this midterm election gloom and doom is being fueled by big money from corporations (thanks to the Roberts court decision), ginned up by Faux News, and then repeated by reporters and bloggers to demoralize us.

We can do this, people! Don't listen to the pundits. Let's make some phone calls and knock on doors.

UPDATE: In the category of great minds think alike, Blog for Arizona posted a similar article this morning (ahem... a few hours after mine, I must add). Check it out because the AZ Blue Meanie does go into more depth than I did.