Republicans to Obama’s SOTU: STFU

What’s
Wrong Today:

Like
many, the Wrongologist watched the SOTU last night. You can read the text of
Mr. Obama’s speech here.
There will be millions of words written today about the SOTU, so let’s focus a
bit on the GOP response and what it tells us about the loyal opposition. Cathy McMorris
Rogers (R-WA), gave the rebuttal. You can read the text of her speech here
and learn more about her votes in the House here.
She is now the 4th ranking person in the House Republican
leadership.

Let’s
unpack her talk:

“Republicans have plans, big
plans! But they are not gummint plans. Never any icky gummint plans.
They are Republican plans. Big Republican plans!

(Sadly she had no time to explain any detail of any Big Plans.)

She did have time to fill the air with adjectives about how you will feel, how warm and happy and yummy in your tummy you will feel.

About yourself, and about America.

And after the Republican’s Big Plans have succeeded in solving every
problem and wiping every tear from your eyes, there will be no more crying or
pain, when the old order has passed away.

Amen.”

OK,
that was snarky. Let’s look at a few actual quotes from her talk:

So tonight I’d like to share a more hopeful
Republican vision, one that empowers you, not the government. It’s one that
champions free markets and trusts people to make their own decisions, not a government
that decides for you

Republicans
want you to be empowered to make your own decisions. This is a Republican theme
that appears in every one of their proposed solutions to any problem, real or
perceived. It disregards the fact that
those below the poverty line, those who are long-term unemployed, the poor
elderly, and those with food insecurity or job insecurity HAVE FEW OR
NO OPTIONS.

Their
choice is between paying rent or buying medicine this month, between taking the
bus or walking to the store, between phone service and internet service.

Ms.
McMorris Rogers, like all Republicans, are in an idealized, out-of-touch place
where everyone is middle class, and that they have at least some savings that
gives them the choice between staying in the dead-end job they have, and going
to school to improve themselves.

Speaking
of choices, she continued:

Republicans believe health care choices
should be yours, not the government’s

Another
Republican idea that glosses over the real facts of health care. Before the ACA
most healthcare was tied to the employer’s group plan. So, if you lost your
job, you lost your healthcare, except for a small minority of insured’s who had
individual plans that were job-independent. So how much choice would Republicans
have offered to the unemployed or those who couldn’t afford health care, or
were denied insurance due to a pre-existing condition? She voted to end Medicare,
and supported and voted for the sequester, which slashed $86 million from
family planning and reproductive health care for poor women.

Where
is your “choice” in that?

It seems that
Republicans and Ms. McMorris Rogers in particular, are all about choice, except
for women’s issues. She is the mother of a special needs child who voted
against, and then voted to defund Obamacare 42 times. Apparently, she
believes Americans don’t deserve the coverage she has as a member of the US
House.

In
eight years, just one bill that she has authored has passed. And it was
the renaming of the airport control tower in Spokane, WA.

That’s
her common sense record.

Fox News said Ms.
McMorris Rogers championed personal
responsibility in her response, another Republican meme that somehow
absolves them from helping the disadvantaged in America. More from the rebuttal:

I came to Congress to help empower people,
not politicians; to grow the working middle class, not the government; and to
ensure that everyone in this country can find a job. Because a job is so much
more than a paycheck: It gives us purpose, dignity and the foundation to build
a future

Republicans
are not alone in using juxtaposition, laying out their good idea vs. the bad
idea of the opposition, but it is time
that Republicans gave us real plans that address the real problems of the
disadvantaged. We do not need more of the “then a miracle will happen”
posing by Republicans.

Their
strategy is to play to the fears of the average person in their home district, that
someone they see as undeserving could get something from the government, like health
care or food stamps or unemployment compensation. They play to the mindset of
these particular voters: That they prefer to be robbed by the rich, mocked by
their own candidates, and encouraged that their racism is secretly shared by
their leaders.

Showing
their own brand of personal responsibility, Republicans sat on their hands at
some interesting points of the SOTU speech. From Mr. Obama:

Because of this law, no American can ever
again be dropped or denied coverage for a preexisting condition like asthma,
back pain, or cancer. No woman can ever be charged more just because she’s a
woman

Democrats
cheered. Republicans sat in stony silence. House Speaker John Boehner grimaced
on the podium behind Mr. Obama. When the president spoke about voting rights:

Citizenship means standing up for
everyone’s right to vote…

No
Republican applause. What is it that Republicans don’t like? Voting, or citizenship?
Republicans rose from their seats to applaud preventing a terrorist attack on
the homeland; the military; and winning gold medals at the Olympics.

Now,
that’s backbone!

It
is a strange kamikaze mission they seem to be on, a party of discredited memes
that are unmoored from common sense, fairness, kindness and generosity.

They
came across exactly as they are.

In
the words of former Arizona Cardinals Coach Dennis Green’s rant: “They
are who we thought they were.”