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John Boehner can't stop talking about the "will of the public" these days. Now that the Republicans have won the House, he keeps saying over and over that the Democrats must go along with Republican plans from now on because they have to listen to the... will of the public.
Well, here's what I don't remember -- the Republicans giving a damn about the will of the public after the 2008 elections. The American people spoke as loudly and clearly as I have ever seen in any election in my lifetime. They gave the House and the Senate by overwhelming margins to the Democrats. They also gave the Democrats the White House, and along with it, complete control of Washington. And did the Republicans listen to the will of the public, then? No, they blocked that will at every turn.
So, you'll excuse me now if I'm not buying the sudden increased interest the GOP has in listening to the American people and the results of an election. They never for one second respected the results of the 2008 election. They didn't give a damn what the American people wanted.
And that's their right as the opposition party, but they don't get to pretend now that they respect the results of an election and take it as a mandate to go in a certain political direction. And the Democrats would be damned fools if they fell for that trick.
By the way, the GOP has a funny definition of what the American people want. Here is the popularity,according to recent polls, of the different pieces of legislation they just opposed:
- Don't Ask, Don't Tell -- 77%
- START Treaty -- 67%
- Dream Act -- 54%
- Tax Cuts for Only the Middle Class and Not the Rich -- 67%
- 9/11 Responders Bill -- 99% (no polling on this, but who on God's green earth was against this)
By the way, the Obama administration has been given tremendous credit by the media for passing three out of five of these priorties. Really? Not one of the things they got through had popularity less than 67%. In fact, they conceded to the Republicans on an issue where they had two-thirds of the country behind them (no tax cuts for the rich).
The Republicans certainly don't get any credit for these bills passing despite their best efforts. In fact, they opposed these universally popular proposals -- and defeated some of them. And they spent the last two years completely and utterly ignoring the will of the voters. So, the next time they come with that nonsense line, someone should shove the real truth down their throats.
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