There is a saying popular among Republicans "There is an evil party and a stupid party, and it isn’t hard to tell which is which."

Recent comments by Republican legislators prove this saying.  Some Republican legislators have indicated they would be willing to vote for taxes.  The fight is over, the left has won.

Of course, these Legislators will say "I have conditions.  I will not vote for a tax increase until I receive (insert Democrat concession here)."  Democrats will not concede, and in about two weeks, those legislators will vote for the tax increase demanded by the Democrats, without program cuts, without a spending cap, without whatever concession they demanded as a concession for their vote because "I got the best deal I could get, and I have to be responsible."

Democrats know this.  It happens every time.  This is 1991 and 2001 all over again.  Of course, except for Maldonado, who desperately wanted to be a Senator and vote for the 2001 tax increase, but knew that the two were incompatible, the other Legislators who made this week’s "reasonable" pronouncements were not there in those two negotiations, were not aware of what happened, and think they are doing the responsible thing.  What they are doing is what all the "stupid" Republican negotiators of the past have done.  They have given up.  They will get nothing for their vote except two weeks of decent press from the liberal media as a personification of what all Republicans should be, and two years of hell for a stupid vote.  Much like Assemblyman Bob Frazee, who told me in 1993 that the worst thing he ever did in politics was vote for the 1991 tax increase, they will feel guilt and suffer recrimination for foolish vote.  Frazee, elected as a Proposition 13 baby in 1978, believed he had betrayed all that he once held as sacred, and told me that "politics is no fun anymore."  He left the Legislature in 1994.

To add a Democrat insult to injury they have already done to themselves, literally the same day these Republican announce they might vote for $4 billion in tax increases, Democrats in Washington announce they will give $21 billion in federal money to the state.  All the cuts the Republicans said they wanted now will never happen.  The only thing that will happen is the tax increase, and once again, Republicans will look foolish.  Bad at policy, bad at negotiating, bad at the principles in which they claim to believe. 

That $21 billion covers the short term problem.  The tax increase is no longer necessary.  Republicans could go home today and declare victory.  If the news reports are correct though it would appear that they have once again seized defeat from the jaws of victory.  Oh well, they are after all, Republicans, members of the stupid party.

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 24th, 2009 at 12:00 am and is filed under Blog Posts.