Just heard Mitch McConnell
again in his senate press conference. Let’s make sure we understand the Republican position. Tax cuts are far less efficient as stimulus than spending. In other words, they save fewer jobs. But McConnell apparently wants all tax cuts and no spending. He didn’t seem that extreme even a few days ago. But now that’s where he is. In other words, no jobs bill.
So how many millions of Americans have to lose their jobs for Mitch McConnell’s political gambit?
Has the Democratic Governors Association been subpoenaed as part of the federal criminal investigation into the pay-to-play allegations in New Mexico that derailed the Richardson nomination?
The DGA declined to tell the Albuquerque newspaper, so we gave it a try. The group — which is currently chaired by Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer (and whose executive director happens to be Tom Daschle’s son Nathan) — basically stiffed us, too. Zack Roth reports.
What he says happened …
Administration sources insist this was Daschle’s decision alone.
That was certainly the line from Robert Gibbs at the podium TuesdayA source close to Daschle says “he didn’t have the stomach for the fight.”
The double-barreled combination of a blistering New York Times editorial and a front-page story raising questions about President Obama’s commitment to ethics reform in Washington convinced Daschle he had to go.Already depressed by the recent discovery that his younger brother is stricken with brain cancer, Daschle wasn’t prepared for another week of Senate hazing and damaging headlines.
And, he didn’t want to hurt his friend, Barack Obama.
Late Update: On the other hand, this passage, from a little further down in George’s piece strikes me as more than a tad overwrought …
As sad as he and Daschle’s network of White House friends are about his withdrawal, they know how much damage this has done to Obama’s reputation. The Administration was appearing to set one standard for its allies, and another for the rest of Washington.
From TPM Reader BD …
I don’t think there’s any question now – the Republicans are building up as intense an offense as they can to permanently damage Obama and the Democrats in Congress. Looking over all the stories – Republicans uniting against the stimulus bill, McCain joining in, the piling on against Daschle, the insistance that “bipartisanship” means Democratic capitulation – it’s clear they want to hurt the Dems as critically as possible. They’ve been wounded and, well, you know what they say about wounded animals. They’re dangerous. These creeps would gladly take down the country to damage the Dems for their own party – just like they did with Clinton’s impeachment.
There’s no reason to wait. It’s time to fight back – intensely and relentlessly. I want to see Obama’s political database pulled out NOW to beat back the Repubs. Just tell all 3 million of us who donated to his campaign who we should telephone, e-mail, visit, blog about, whatever. I’ll gladly take part in overrunning Mitch McConnell or John McCain’s offices with reminders that they lost the election and are now obviously harming the country for their own purposes.
All about Mitch’s Millions.
The investigation into possible pay-to-play in New Mexico state government last month derailed Bill Richardson’s bid to be Commerce Secretary. Now, investigators have requested correspondence between Richardson’s office and the Democratic Governors Association, for which Richardson was vice-chair during the period at issue. Has the DGA been subpoenaed in connection with the probe? It won’t say.
Full-size video at TPMtv.com.