Politics Plus

In a move that I have strongly recommended, Barack Obama appointed Rick Cordray, Elizabeth Warren’s choice, to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).  He also appointed three new members to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).  Republicans have been obstructing all of those appointments, because they want neither consumers nor labor represented federally despite laws that provide for both.  Republicans are furious!

President Obama threw a gauntlet before Congressional Republicans on Wednesday, defying deep opposition to appoint Richard Cordray as director of a new consumer protection agency in a move that ignited a possible legal challenge and Constitutional fight.

The decision to install Mr. Cordray without Senate approval under the Constitutional provision for making appointments when lawmakers are in recess was a provocative opening salvo in Mr. Obama’s re-election strategy of demonizing Congress.

The president, announcing his decision before a political rally-like crowd of 1,300 at a high school here in Mr. Cordray’s home town, seemed to welcome a contentious second session of the 112th Congress, in which any attempts at bipartisan compromise appear in danger of being lost in all-out election-year war.

“I refuse to take ‘no’ for an answer,” Mr. Obama said.

He said he had looked for opportunities to work with Congress. But, he said, “I am not going to not stand by while a minority in the Senate puts party ideology ahead of the people we were elected to serve.”… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <NY Times>

The onslaught of republican whining was expected.

…The Senate’s top Republican, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, accused Obama of an unprecedented power grab that "arrogantly circumvented the American people."

Added House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio: "It’s clear the president would rather trample our system of separation of powers than work with Republicans to move the country forward. This action goes beyond the president’s authority, and I expect the courts will find the appointment to be illegitimate."

It was unclear who might undertake a legal fight. But people familiar with the matter said an outside private group regulated by the consumer agency might be in the best legal position.

By going around the Senate, where Democrats hold an edge but Republicans can block action, Obama essentially declared that the chamber’s short off-and-on sessions are a sham intended to block him, but don’t prevent him from such an appointment…

Inserted from <AP/Google>

Let’s examine these bogus claims.  How could Obama be circumventing the American people when the majority voted for Cordray’s confirmation?  How could Obama be refusing to work with Republicans, when they have repeatedly stated that they will not confirm anyone to head the CFPB?  They re not just whining, they are lying too, as Keith Olbermann and Policy Analyst Ian Mullhiser show.

The key is indeed that Republicans did not act in good faith.

And the Republicans have backed themselves into another corner.  Their only alternative is to support a suit by financial predators against the American people.

Once again we see that there is a clear difference between the parties.

While nations in Europe and Asia are investing in high speed rail, green energy, modern highways, and data networks that give users there ten times the bandwidth for less money than we have here, the Unites States is crumbling.  Our roads and bridges are decaying, we are falling behind in green energy, our power grid and our data networks are obsolete.  The longer this goes on, the less competitive we will become in the world economy.  Democrats have tried several times to invest in infrastructure, also providing a much needed boost to our economy, but Republicans have blocked it at every turn.  Meanwhile, the Republican candidates for President offer no solutions.

Republican presidential candidates have attempted to make their 2012 effort to unseat President Obama about the economy, but time and time again, they have proven unwilling to address the major crises threatening the future of America’s economic growth. At multiple debates, the candidates offered little in the way of how they would address the fiscal crisis engulfing Europe and failed to understand the driving factors behind it. They offered no solutions to the American housing crisis, even as millions of homeowners face foreclosure and prices continue to fall. In sum, their policies would warrant a failing grades in an Econ 101 class.

Now, with evidence piling up that America’s infrastructure is failing on multiple fronts, the candidates are again offering no long-term plans for the nation’s transportation or infrastructure programs, Politico reports:

Though the words “crumbling infrastructure” have become almost cliché in the American lexicon, candidates’ websites are barren of transportation plans, save for expansion of domestic energy production. Only Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) delves into infrastructure policy at all in his Web platform, proposing to privatize the FAA, abolish TSA and halve the Department of Transportation’s budget. DOT should consider itself lucky it’s not one of the five departments Paul would eliminate as president.

POLITICO reached out to all seven of the Republican 2012 campaigns; none chose to flesh out infrastructure positions.

The GOP may choose to ignore the many problems facing America’s infrastructure, but those problems aren’t going away. Economists estimated in 2011 that the United States would need more than $2 trillion in investments just to bring its infrastructure up to date… [emphasis original]

Inserted from <Think Progress>

If Republicans cared about our economy, as they claim, they would have plans to restore infrastructure.  But the Republicans are lying.  We know this, because, if they really cared about our economy, they would not keep sabotaging it to make Obama look bad.  Every penny spent putting Americans to work restore our infrastructure is a penny Republicans cannot give to a billionaire.  Republicans do NOT represent you.