NRSC FLUBS THE DETAILS…. Fundraising appeals are, by their nature, expected to be hyperbolic. But I’m consistently impressed by the ways in which the Republican campaign committees are willing to mislead their donors.
Yesterday, for example, the National Republican Senatorial Committee sent around one last, end-of-the-year appeal. This little bit of spin was striking:
“During the lame duck session we saw the power of your vote from November 2. No longer could the Democrats choose to ignore Republicans and keep them from the negotiating table. Instead Democrats were forced to listen to what the American people wanted by extending tax cuts for all Americans and scrapping a last-minute, pork-laden spending bill.”
(thanks to reader C.R. for passing this along)
First, Democrats hadn’t ignored Republicans or kept from the negotiating table; Democrats practically begged Republicans to work with them for nearly two years. The GOP refused to compromise or negotiate in good faith.
Second, and more important, though, is the notion that “the American people wanted” Congress to extend tax cuts “for all Americans,” and those rascally Democrats were finally “forced to listen.”
But that’s nonsense. Poll after poll for months showed that the Republicans’ top priority — breaks for the wealthy — wasn’t popular at all. On the contrary, “the American people wanted” the highest-income Americans to go back to paying Clinton-era top rates. Republicans didn’t push a popular idea; they held middle-class tax breaks hostage until they won concessions for their unpopular demands.
As for the NRSC boasting about the splendor of the lame-duck session, one wonders if the campaign committee realizes it’s the same lame-duck session in which Democrats repealed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” ratified New START, and passed the most sweeping food-safety bill in 70 years, the Zadroga 9/11 health bill, and the defense authorization bill.
This is evidence of “the power” of Republican votes?
