Here's what conserv/moderate/repubs are getting from their party...hard to argue, folks
Submitted by Smitty on Sun, 01/25/2009 - 7:41pm
I'm a bit late on a Sunday evening to get the best response to this...but, gotta put it here for everyone to consider..and to react to if they want (it's what repubs say nowadays with regard to dems, okay?):
Obama Inauguration Sets Record for Private Jets
Recession? What recession?
The inauguration of Barack Obama set an all-time record for the number of pricey private jets flying into the Washington area for the festivities.
At Washington Dulles airport, up to 600 private jets landed in the days leading up to the inauguration.
That number shatters the old record of 300 private planes that the airport accommodated for President George W. Bush’s second inaugural in 2004, Bloomberg reported.
“Of course, flying private to a celebration of a populist, pro-environment president is a bit like the Detroit execs jetting to Washington for bailout money,” Robert Frank observed in the Wall Street Journal.
“How do you call for social responsibility after touching down in a $40 million, gas-guzzling Gulfstream?”
Obama’s inauguration was the most expensive in history. ABC News estimated the cost at upwards of $170 million, four times what Bush’s inauguration cost four years ago. (Yet, we keep hearing how historical these tough economic times are, second only in size and scope to the Great Depression!!!)
Headlines On This Date 4 Years Ago:
"Republicans spending $42 million on inauguration while troops Die in unarmored Humvees"
"Bush extravagance exceeds any reason during tough economic times"
"Fat cats get their $42 million inauguration party, Ordinary Americans get the shaft"
Headlines Today:
"Historic Obama Inauguration will cost only $120 million"
"Obama Spends $120 million on inauguration; America Needs A Big Party"
"Everyman Obama shows America how to celebrate"
"Citibank executives contribute $8 million to Obama Inauguration"
Let them continue
to base their opposition on the perceived hypocrisy of Democrats, because in 2010, they'll (once again) be trying to figure out what the hell happened to them.
Providing workable and common-sense solutions to the myriad problems Americans consider important is the only way Republicans will recover. Getting hung up on morality, or trying to generate distrust in their rivals, or invoking images of the Brown Menace invading from the South, or any number of other, "Look at that!" issues, doesn't do a damned bit of good in convincing the American people that the Republican Party has a plan for the future.
Wait a minute....
Now...there's absolutely NOTHING I originally posted that says anything whatsoever about "morality" or "the Brown Menace". C'mon, scharrson. Look, I'm trying to present something I've seen from my side of the fence here...not something to "stir the pot". Let's BOTH discuss this without doing that, okay?
The best thinking is independent thinking.
In your title
and in your introduction, you refer to, "...what Republicans are saying." This new talking point is (as I said) another, "Look what they're doing!" approach, which I believe is a big reason McCain (and others) crashed and burned. That's why I mentioned other, "Look at that!" games they've played in the past. I'm not trying to throw a big wad of mud, I'm just showing how the old methods ain't gonna work.
And I can argue the specific point Smitty, because the $43 million figure they use for the 2004 Bush inauguration is not accurate. That's just the amount that the Inauguration Committee raised for the festivities, while costs to the Federal government and the District of Columbia added another $115 million. Which comes to a total of $158 million for Bush, vs (possibly) something just shy of $190 million for Obama. The truth just doesn't have as much "Zing" as the bullshit faulty comparison, does it?