There's Something Happening Here...

It looks like the media's waking up and deciding to start telling...the truth.

I KNOW. It's really bizarre, but look at the proof. Yesterday, USA Today called for the killing of the filibuster in this terse editorial which includes:

The filibuster is a Faustian bargain that undermines the will of voters. The promise of change that swept Barack Obama into the presidency and padded Democratic majorities in the House and Senate last year has been largely derailed by the Senate's Republican minority, which has kept a broad array of legislation from coming to a vote.

More than outrageous, this legislative tyranny holds hostage our democracy to the whims of a political party that was on the losing end of an election cycle. The voters who gave Democrats control of Congress and the White House in the recent elections expect results, not inaction. They expect Congress to bring bills to a vote, not allow a mean-spirited minority to filibuster them to death.

If Democrats won't use the majority voters gave them to end this bad practice, then they deserve to suffer their wrath in November's elections.

"Legislative tyranny holds hostage our democracy..." That's today's GOP. We knew it. Our friends knew it. Now the nation knows it (we hope). Here's a recap of yesterday's filibuster news from Rachel Maddow.

Today, we get an assessment on how successful last year's much-derided stimulus program was. Apparently, it could not have worked any better than it has - and (shocker!) it HAS WORKED.

Imagine if, one year ago, Congress had passed a stimulus bill that really worked.

Let’s say this bill had started spending money within a matter of weeks and had rapidly helped the economy. Let’s also imagine it was large enough to have had a huge impact on jobs — employing something like two million people who would otherwise be unemployed right now.

If that had happened, what would the economy look like today?

Well, it would look almost exactly as it does now. Because those nice descriptions of the stimulus that I just gave aren’t hypothetical. They are descriptions of the actual bill.

Perhaps the best-known economic research firms are IHS Global Insight, Macroeconomic Advisers and Moody’s Economy.com. They all estimate that the bill has added 1.6 million to 1.8 million jobs so far and that its ultimate impact will be roughly 2.5 million jobs. The Congressional Budget Office, an independent agency, considers these estimates to be conservative.

Word is getting out: The GOP has been spoon-feeding its constituents and the media enough bullshit that it's being thrown up back in their faces. See? Journalism is possible in these days of the Fox News business model.

Comments

[cage free brown]

why aren't Democrats all over television clobbering away at this? why haven't they been on television clobbering away at this ever since the State of the Union?

the stimulus worked! if they hadn't played so much footsy then it would have worked BETTER! why can't the damned Democrats sound off on this issue like they've got a pair? why can't they sound off on ANY issue like they've got a pair.

I still hear about the Stimulus like it's a bad thing on freaking Local news/weather/sports broadcasts. Is "bi-partisanship" the only horn that Democrats are allowed to toot? it sure looks that way.

[cage free brown]

sorry, I disappeared up my own butt. I do that. I agree. the worm is turning ever so slightly and it's a good feeling. how much MORE would it be turning if the leadership gave a flying f@ck about it?

[RepubAnon]

They're setting the stage to eliminate the filibuster if the Republicans regain the White House in 2012. If not, they'll keep it...

[bartkid]

>It looks like the media's waking up and deciding to start telling...the truth.

I will believe it when I see not just Rachel saying this, but Bob Schieffer (CBS's Sunday morning show) and David Gregory (NBC's Meet the Press) say as much, too.