Something To Think About

As we hurdle into this completely unnecessary government shutdown, there is something I want to point out. Do you remember when Obama was elected? Do you remember that the Senate and Congress were both under Democratic control? For two years Obama and his congress passed reform after reform, until 2010 when Republicans won the house. Here comes the pay attention part.

The Obama/Democratic Congress from 08-10 passed the following;

-Wall Street Reform

-Credit Card Reform

-Student Loan Reform

-Health Care Reform

-Fair Pay Act

-Expanded GI Bill

-Reauthorized Childrens' Health Insurance Plan (CHIP)

-Expanded National Civilian Service Corps

-Fair Sentencing Act

-9/11 First Responders Bill

-Hate Crimes Act

-Ratified START Treaty with Russia

-Repealed Dont Ask Dont Tell

-Revived Auto Industry

-Stimulus/Middle Class Tax Cuts (largest in history)

This was accomplished in two years. Since the Republicans have taken over control of Congress however, NOT A SINGLE PIECE OF LEGISLATION HAS BEEN PASSED. That's also been two years. Two years of nothing, not one single piece of paper making it through the building and into law. There have been several unnecessary crises though, including debt ceiling threats, government shutdown penis-waving, and of course, filibusters. All of which punched the stock market right in the jaw just as it was beginning to struggle to it's feet.

You can dance around applauding each other's absence of shame in crippling the government, but 800,000 government employees just got furloughed this morning. Valley Forge, the national park down the street is closed. Republicans talk about jobs, and they talk about compromise, but even the most basic voter can understand numbers. Something to think about.

(Real quick, Obama just signed a bill yesterday that ensured our troops would still get a paycheck even in the event of a shutdown. Who said politicians aren't classy anymore?)