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Do you believe a faction of republican members of congress would ....

Turin

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... deepen and prolong the recession and roadblock the United States of America economic recovery for a political purpose?
 
Yes, but this isn't a left or right thing. They're politicians. I bet *most* of them would. IMO, people who disagree aren't cynical enough for reality.
 
... deepen and prolong the recession and roadblock the United States of America economic recovery for a political purpose?

A fraction? Of course. Just as a fraction of the Dems would do it with a Republican president.
 
I believe the republicans we have in there now would absolutely do this.
 
Remember that the reps wanted and our currently pushing for the oil pipeline that will create thousands of jobs and lower gas prices, so much for your little parrot dem talking points post, next subject.
 
... deepen and prolong the recession and roadblock the United States of America economic recovery for a political purpose?

I don't think they could do that even if they wanted to. There aren't any proposals coming from the democrats that would help us out of the recession in the first place. Their only answer is to spend more.
 
... deepen and prolong the recession and roadblock the United States of America economic recovery for a political purpose?

Not on purpose...though I can't say the same about the Democrats.

Obama, Reid and Pelosi have already revealed the existence of THEIR faction.
 
Yes, of course they would. And this is a fundamental problem with the way our political system is set up: The "opposition party" (if we define the opposition as the party that doesn't have the White House) has enough power to scuttle, or at least weaken, an economic recovery...without the accountability that goes with it. And you don't have to think that Republicans are evil people to recognize this; it's just a basic problem where the incentives are misaligned. It's like having a CEO who is short-selling the stock of his own company; even if he's a decent guy, he still has a conflict of interest.

Unfortunately I don't think there is an easy solution to this problem. Some steps that would really help would be to eliminate the filibuster in the Senate, and have a computer program redraw the congressional districts every ten years. That would put an end to at least some of the hyperpartisanship and make gridlock less likely.
 
Yes, of course they would. And this is a fundamental problem with the way our political system is set up: The "opposition party" (if we define the opposition as the party that doesn't have the White House) has enough power to scuttle, or at least weaken, an economic recovery...without the accountability that goes with it. And you don't have to think that Republicans are evil people to recognize this; it's just a basic problem where the incentives are misaligned. It's like having a CEO who is short-selling the stock of his own company; even if he's a decent guy, he still has a conflict of interest.

Unfortunately I don't think there is an easy solution to this problem. Some steps that would really help would be to eliminate the filibuster in the Senate, and have a computer program redraw the congressional districts every ten years. That would put an end to at least some of the hyperpartisanship and make gridlock less likely.
Heh, that's funny. I love gridlock. :2razz: It's usually when most politicians agree on something that I get worried.
 
That has indeed been the strategy since day one of the Obama presidency.
 
Yes, of course they would. And this is a fundamental problem with the way our political system is set up: The "opposition party" (if we define the opposition as the party that doesn't have the White House) has enough power to scuttle, or at least weaken, an economic recovery...without the accountability that goes with it. And you don't have to think that Republicans are evil people to recognize this; it's just a basic problem where the incentives are misaligned. It's like having a CEO who is short-selling the stock of his own company; even if he's a decent guy, he still has a conflict of interest.

Unfortunately I don't think there is an easy solution to this problem. Some steps that would really help would be to eliminate the filibuster in the Senate, and have a computer program redraw the congressional districts every ten years. That would put an end to at least some of the hyperpartisanship and make gridlock less likely.

So explain why reps so badly wanted the pipeline and are still pushing for it. The immediate results of employment and holding down gas prices would do nothing but benefit obama.
 
Remember that the reps wanted and our currently pushing for the oil pipeline that will create thousands of jobs and lower gas prices, so much for your little parrot dem talking points post, next subject.
NO
This problem is caused by the environmental extremists, IMO...
Remember what Barry Goldwater had to say about extremism ??
The Dems seem to cave in to them more so than the conservatives..
BUT, what we do not know is this ... the people in the pipeline path may have a legitimate point......
So, lets be a bit more slow to judge......
 
I don't think they could do that even if they wanted to. There aren't any proposals coming from the democrats that would help us out of the recession in the first place... opinion , not fact ! Their only answer is to spend more.
In truth, we are emerging from the recession.....maybe this is happening without any proposals from anyone.....for all I know...
But, I do know that the conservatives cannot be trusted, IMO....
 
Yes they would, and I applaud them for it. I would be more than happy to give up my payroll tax reduction if it meant getting rid of the welfare extension. The money it would save me in the long run would be much greater.
 
When Bush was starting the rescue of the banks etc. it was a Republican thing and supported by them. When Obama continued with these necessary but distasteful actions the Republicans switched and claimed that they were always against the rescue. This clearly proves a few things to me.
 
When Bush was starting the rescue of the banks etc. it was a Republican thing and supported by them. When Obama continued with these necessary but distasteful actions the Republicans switched and claimed that they were always against the rescue. This clearly proves a few things to me.
When Bush was waging war all over the place it was a Republican thing and vehemently opposed by the Democrats. When Obama not only continued most of his foreign policy but even solidified some of it, the anti-war movement pretty much died.

The Republican and Democratic leadership are much the same in the ethics and consistency department. Which is to say, pretty terrible. What do you expect? They're politicians.
 
So explain why reps so badly wanted the pipeline and are still pushing for it. The immediate results of employment and holding down gas prices would do nothing but benefit obama.

Well, I'm sure they have plenty of friends in the oil industry who are lobbying pretty heavily for it who would reward them handsomely if they got it passed. Just because they might be willing to do this one thing which, in a political vacuum, might marginally benefit the economy doesn't mean that they generally have any interest in improving the economy as long as Obama is president. And this isn't a problem with Republicans being bad people, it's a problem with a political system that simply no longer works and rewards bad governance.
 
... deepen and prolong the recession and roadblock the United States of America economic recovery for a political purpose?

The government CANNOT create, plan for, encourage or produce economic recovery. They can only take money and spend it less efficiently, in often damaging ways with unintended consequences; namely price increases.

IMO all a faction of any politicians can do is temporarily slow down a system which has no incentive to be efficient, where agencies will spend money they don't need to at the end of a period for fear that the funds they didn't need would be cut from their ever increasing budgets.
 
... deepen and prolong the recession and roadblock the United States of America economic recovery for a political purpose?

Interesting question.

I think it's a rare breed of sociopath who would purposefully do harm to our country for personal gain, though its not impossible that such a personality could achieve political rank.

But I think the more common problem -- and this is not just Republicans, of course -- is ideology versus utility.

Take the auto bailout. Our local GM plant is humming along and some of neighbors still have their jobs as an indirect result. By most measures, it's been a success. But interference in the market is not without long-term consequence, and for those with true faith in the free market, the short-term positives can't justify the ideological compromise.

The GOP ran a very ideology-tinged campaign in 2010 and gained many seats, so I would argue the makeup of Congress -- and especially the influx of conservatives who define themselves by ideology -- means we're reaching an impasse more quickly and on more fronts than we may have previously. That doesn't mean, however, that the two sides aren't coming from a place of legitimate concern.

Just my 2 cents.
 
Actually, partisian hatred has become so damned intense that I believe there are factions in both the GOP and the Democratic Party that would absolutely bring the country down in flames for political gain.

Neither party is lily pure in this war to take over government... and that's what I believe the end game for both parties is: Absolute governmental control with no opposition oversight.
 
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Actually, partisian hatred has become so damned intense that I believe there are factions in both the GOP and the Democratic Party that would absolutely bring the country down in flames for political gain.

Neither party is lily pure in this war to take over government... and that's what I believe the end game for both parties is: Absolute governmental control with no opposition oversight.

I only go to Hooters cuz they have great hot wings.
 
Heh, that's funny. I love gridlock. :2razz: It's usually when most politicians agree on something that I get worried.

Exactly. :mrgreen:

When there is consensus in DC, it means there is much money being spent.
 
Kind of a loaded question since it assumes that Obama's policies would bring us out of said recession. While I do believe that republicans oppose some legislation purely because of political purposes, some of the legislation that has been "roadblocked" is deemed as detrimental to the recovery by many on the right and center for that matter.
 
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I think the danger is you would interpret that as an intentional damaging of the economy, when in fact it is most likely a fervently held belief in how best to proceed that would as a consequence aid or further economic woes.
 
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