Sen. Lindsey Graham & D.C. Republicans Obstruct Stimulus & Whine About Loss of Power

Last week, South Carolina Republican Senator, Lindsey Graham, created a stir and made the media rounds after throwing a tantrum on the Senate floor. I watched the entire tantrum live on C-Span and dissected it to see if it contained anything of value. I am looking for anything new the Republicans might offer that isn't the revenue reduction scheme they typically pander. I can honestly report that I found nothing. The Republicans in Washington don't like being out of power and they don't like Nancy Pelosi. They don't like Pelosi so much they are willing to throw the entire nation under the bus while they pout and lick their wounds.

As proof, I am posting Graham's entire tantrum with my commentary. You will find it at the end of this post. It's quite long, so I will break it down with some smaller portions just in case you don't have time to watch the entire thing. I tried to cut it down, but I didn't want anyone accusing me of taking the Senator's remarks out of context, so please bear with me. Whether this interests you or not, his delivery - what he said and how he acted - is representative of the rest of the D.C. Republicans.

Graham starts his tantrum giving Democrats permission to point fingers at George Bush and then proceeds to point his finger at the Democrats.

Admittedly, many Democrats have taken every opportunity to make sure the public knows this isn't their mess. The economy didn't get this way overnight. It was six years of total Republican control and two years of Republican obstruction and vetoes that sent our economy spiraling into free fall. The de facto leader of the Republican party, Rush Limbaugh, started calling the country's economic woes the "Obama Recession" not long after election day. You can't blame Democrats for wanting to set the story straight.

....And there you have it. It's the process. Senator Lindsey Graham has just exposed so many of those Republicans who claim philosophical differences as hypocrites. Listen to the press releases and the speeches on the House and Senate floor and the members chant this line like a mantra. Over and over and over again you hear complaints about "the process."

These Republicans don't seem to care about solving our economic problems. They are too busy whining about being in the minority. We've had eight years of Bush tax cuts and it didn't keep us from getting into this mess and Republicans think more tax cuts will get us out of this mess? The little bit we might get each month in tax savings isn't going to be enough to make a difference to the person who is having to choose between buying prescription drugs and putting food on the table. It won't mean long-term housing stability for many who are behind on mortgages or who have homes that have been devalued. When the banker calls their mortgage, that $400 tax rebate isn't going to be enough.

It is amazing how out of touch with reality and his own party Sen. Lindsey Graham is. He claims that Republicans don't believe this mess they created can all be fixed with tax cuts and yet the alternate bill submitted by House Republicans was a Tax Relief bill.

When House and Senate Republicans weren't whining about the process, they were complaining that the stimulus package didn't offer enough in tax breaks. I'm not sure who Lindsey Graham is fooling with this claim, but certainly anyone paying attention while the bill was making its way through the house knows he doesn't have a firm grasp on the reality of what his own party is saying or doing in this regard.

Then, Lindsey Graham gets to the crux of the matter.

Big, bad, mean Nancy Pelosi has hurt their feelings once again. What could Nancy Pelosi possibly have said or done to make hundreds of House and Senate Republicans pull together to block a bill that will create jobs and jump start our economy?

She reminded Republicans that Democrats won in November and that they are now in charge. Ooooooh. Poor little pissy Republicans. Big, bad, mean old Nancy Pelosi reminds Republicans they lost in November and they decide to throw the American people under the bus.

Graham continued complaining about the process throughout his speech. He mentioned a bipartisan group of 16 senators who were working in a room somewhere trying to come up with a solution and then later claims that there is no negotiating going on.

He claims that discussions in committee only lasted an hour and a half and later was corrected with the correct figure - 11.5 hours.

He repeatedly tossed red meat to his party by mentioning Ronal Reagan and Nancy Pelosi....but never in the same breath.

Graham's most egregious claim came when he accused President Barack Obama of not participating in this process. Obama has met with House and Senate Republican leadership, House and Senate rank and file members and he's entertained many at the White House. He has reached out to Republicans more in the last two weeks than George Bush did in any given year - especially the rank and file GOP members. Graham's not being disingenuous. Lindsey Graham is flat out lying.

In one tantrum of a speech Graham whined, lied and made a fool out of himself. You would think that delivering a speech on the floor of the United States Senate in a manner that reminds people of a three year old refusing to eat his peas would be embarrassing enough, but Graham took it a step further.

He accused Obama & the Democrats of doing too many news shows and having too many press conferences.

Soon after leaving the Senate floor, guess where he headed?

Hardball and Fox News. No lie. After accusing Democrats of doing too many news shows, Lindsey Graham headed for the closest camera he could find.

Lindsey Graham on Fox News

Lindsey Graham on Hardball

"Change You Can Believe In" does not mean giving Republicans another shot at ruining our economy. They've done enough damage for one century.