Saturday Word: Who’s Listening?

Saturday Word: Who’s Listening?
By JANIE LORBER
Copyright by The New York Times
September 25, 2010, 9:59 AM
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/25/saturday-word-whos-listening/?hp


Republicans and Democrats agree on one thing this Saturday morning – Americans are speaking out. But what they are saying and who’s listening isn’t exactly clear.

In his weekly national address, President Obama said the governing agenda that House Republicans unveiled this week is no more than “an echo of a disastrous decade we can’t afford to relive.”

“America may be speaking out, but Republicans in Congress sure aren’t listening,” Mr. Obama said, citing Republican opposition to the new health care law and the campaign finance disclosure bill that Senate Democrats failed to pass for a second time this week.

Amid the roaring debate over what to do about the expiring Bush-era tax cuts, Mr. Obama criticized Republicans for letting the rich off easy. (House Democrats may force a vote on the issue next week, even though the Senate will not take it up until after the elections.)

“For all their talk about reining in spending and getting our deficits under control, they want to borrow another $700 billion, and use it to give tax cuts to millionaires and billionaires,” Mr. Obama said, referring to the revenue lost by extending the tax cuts for the wealthiest two percent of Americans.

G.O.P. Address: Representative Kevin McCarthy of California offered the Republican remarks this morning, blaming the administration’s policies for persistent unemployment and the rising deficit.

“Our government has failed us,” Mr. McCarthy said. “From the billion-dollar bailouts to the ‘stimulus’ package that failed to stimulate to the government takeover of health care, you cried, ‘stop.’ But the Democratic majority in Washington has refused to listen.”

“I am speaking to you on behalf of Republicans to tell you that we’ve been listening, and we’ve heard you.”

Mr. McCarthy called on Democrats to consider the ideas in the party’s “Pledge to America,” saying it “could be implemented right now if the powers-that-be in Washington would allow it.”

Libertarians on the Rise: The Libertarian Party seems to see an opportunity in the rancor among Republicans and public dissatisfaction with Democrats.

The Libertarian Party — which has 21 candidates for U.S. Senate and 170 candidates for U.S. House on ballots in November — dismissed the Republican proposal as “distortions, hypocrisies, and idiocy,” slamming the party for pouring money into federal programs from TARP to the War on Drugs.

“Instead of a ‘Pledge to America,’ the Republicans should have written an ‘Apology to America,’” read a statement issued on Friday. “It is deeply insulting to see the Republicans refer to “America’s founding values” on their cover. The Republican Party has no understanding whatsoever of America’s founding values.”

The Libertarian Party also has it in for the left, saying that Democrats could have repealed the military’s “don’t ask don’t tell” policy if they really wanted to, The Washington Post notes. (A handful of Democrats joined Republicans in blocking debate on a measure, which was attached to the annual defense bill.) The chairman of the Libertarian Party, Mark Hinkle, called it “a complete and total betrayal of all the promises they made to gay and lesbian voters for years.”

Tea Party Not So Keen on Pledge: Key members of the Tea Party movement are not so keen on the Republican pledge either. Some told Politico that the proposal doesn’t go far enough and others expressed “outright disgust at what some saw as a transparent ploy to quell tea partiers’ anger with the Republican establishment just long enough to get their votes Nov. 2.”

PMA Leader Pleads Guilty: Paul J. Magliocchetti, the founder of the now-defunct PMA lobbying group, who helped clients secure $100 million in military contracts, pleaded guilty on Friday to illegally funneling more than $380,000 in campaign contributions to House members managing the Pentagon’s budget. The plea bargain may be good news for the lawmakers with whom he associated. The agreement doesn’t require Mr. Magliocchetti to cooperate with prosecutors in an investigation of members of Congress.

Clinton Global Initiative Rakes in $6 Billion: Former President Bill Clinton’s three-day conference in New York City pulled in 300 new pledges valued at $6 billion for the Clinton Global Initiative, the Associated Press reports.

Colbert on the Hill: The Wall Street Journal has posted this round-up of analysis on Stephen Colbert’s performance – er, testimony – before a House Judiciary subcommittee on Friday.

O’Donnell on Evolution: As promised, Bill Maher, the liberal host of HBO’s “Real Time,” unveiled a new video clip of Delaware’s Republican Senate nominee, Christine O’Donnell, taped for his ABC series “Politically Incorrect.” Friday night’s revelation: In 1998, Ms. O’Donnell argued that evolution is a “myth.”