Glenn Nye (and oddly enough, the NRCC) miss the point
By D.J. McGuire | Friday, August 27th, 2010 | Policy, Politics
Obama's Stimulus Swindle
Nye would have us believe that he voted against the TARP fiasco. Trouble is, TARP was approved in October 2008, before Nye was elected. The NRCC also noticed that Nye himself repeatedly refused to take any position on it during the 2008 campaign.
Now, one will notice that I did not link to either Nye or the NRCC. That’s not just laziness here. Nye is clearly attempting to portray himself as a different kind of Democrat, while the NRCC are calling him a same-old, same-old. That’s all well and good, but surprisingly NRCC missed the big one: Nye’s vote for the Obama “stimulus.”
With all due respect to Nye (stop laughing, Mr. Kirwin!), all of his talk about being a different Democrat melts away on this one vote. Economists from John Taylor on down were exposing the arguments behind the stimulus as laughable nonsense even as the near-trillion-dollar fiasco was careening through Congress. Yet Nye voted for it, and thus is on the hook for every embarrassment it has spawned: the fake Congressional Districts, the checks to the deceased, the attempt to shackle Virginia with long-term spending obligations, and just about anything Joe Biden has said over the last two years.
All of this can be laid at the feet of stimulus backers; all 246 of them in the House were Democrats; one of them was Glenn Nye.
I can understand why Nye would want to avoid this issue. Why the NRCC is helping him out is a larger mystery. It should be mentioned in every single statement the Committee sends out between now and November, period.
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Former candidate for Board of Supervisors in Spotsylvania, current blogger, economics teacher, and long-rumored windbag. There are two causes closest to the heart: steering the country away from the social democratic nonsense that is sinking Europe, and convincing the rest of the "rightosphere" that the NBA really is a joy to watch.
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42 Responses to "Glenn Nye (and oddly enough, the NRCC) miss the point"
[...] Cross-posted to BD Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)Nye: time to man upNye endorses Wagner [...]
Of course, it is a shame that Scott Rigell and the leadership of the party, both of whom have benefitted from the stimulus program in their businesses and their districts, now condemn the program as wasteful spending. It is absolutely amazing how these guys can talk one way at home, and another way in Wsshington. For Rigell, it must be particularly galling that the cash for clunkers program essentially saved an industry, benefitted his business, but now must be condemned in order for him to be accepted by his party. The actions of Bush, Congress, and President Obama saved this nation from economic disaster, and replaced it with a period of slow recovery; now is the time for moderates in the republican and democratic parties to stop the hysteria and get to work.
Hyp·o·crite pronounced [hip-uh-krit]- noun
1. a person who pretends to have virtues, moral or religious beliefs, principles, etc., that he or she does not actually possess, esp. a person whose actions belie stated beliefs.
2. a person who feigns some desirable or publicly approved attitude, esp. one whose private life, opinions, or statements belie his or her public statements.
What is really galling, if you look on that graph above out another few years, you will find that the projections of with and with-out stimulus end up at the same point. So if we had spent 0 dollars on stimulus we would be at the same point in 2014 or 2015 as we will with the outrageous spending we did do.
Are we really surprised that the government tried to fix something that they broke (both the legislative and executive branches had a big part in it) and made it worse?
“The actions of Bush, Congress, and President Obama saved this nation from economic disaster”
Thanks a lot, Mike. I haven’t had a laugh that good in a long, long time.
Well, of course you laughed; you are too young to have any idea what the effects of the Great Depression were on the nation and its people. Besides, the list of those effects is too long to be tweeted or texted. Fact is, however imperfect was the TARP and the Stimulus, the combined effects prevented fiscal chaos whether that fact fits your election tactics for your chosen candidate or not. It is fair game to debate what we should do now, and my point is that failure to initiate advances in technology, public infrastructure, and education would be a disastrous course for this nation just as other nations are following our past course to gain on us when we seem to be stuck in a consumer culture that cares more about the latest app than pure science or research.
I predict the Republican Party will pick up 82 Congressional seats on 11/2/2010.
The stupid little people are MAD with the LIES of Obama and the government.
Remember Bush Sr and his “read my lips, no new taxes”.
Mike, the DNC and GOP do not sleep in the same bed but they are prostitutes for many of the same groups of special interests and turn tricks in the same house of ill repute, the US Congress. Tarp and Stimulus are the gift of the both establishment parties to their monied constituents, not we the people. Follow the money and find the crooks. Like theives in the broad daylight, your party and mine have robbed us and now our kids will pay.
Until people think for a moment about credit and the way campaign financiers have failed to demand their candidate uphold regulatory mechanisms that could have prevented congress from failing to stop the abuse of credit, we will continue to trash our creditworthiness as a people and nation. Same is true for oil spills and other disasters of late.
Just like a $0.50 o-ring can bring down a jetliner without redundant engineered safety systems, the nations periodic economic failures are inevitable but being unprepared to enforce safety regs lays at the core of why periodic failures become epic disasters.
Tarp and Stimulus were the tools that both parties in Congress used to over ride the constitution. MANY companies should have filed ch 11 or 14 or 7 and either rebirth or die and allow new companies to form. AIG should have been allowed to fail but the gop was waiting for this opportunity. GM should have been allowed to fail.. should have filed years ago but the dems/unions were waiting for this opportunity.
I pray for the next generation that due to bipartisan arrogance and greed in the halls of congress will be forced to inherit flawed business models of the past at their expense.
What I am most concerned about is this policy of total obstructionism by Cantor and the republican leadership in the House, and Rigell’s total acquiescence to past policies which created a false sense of prosperity fueled by essentially free credit and as you say, the suspension of common rules that should have prevented the fiscal chaos that ensued. I agree that both parties have a share of the blame, but more rests with Bush and the republican Congress. To want to go back to the hot air that created the bubble is the height of stupidity, and regretfully, that is what Cantor and his minions want to happen, fueled now by big corporate money that wants to protect their profits. How any member of the tea party could vote for Rigell and thereby acquiesce to these policies which benefit international conglomerates instead of main street is astounding to me.
Mike,
That’s such a cliche argument. Just because talking points sound good, doesn’t mean you should repeat it over and over. You’re much smarter than resorting to “It’s Bush’s fault!” or “Corporate money” – espeically when coporations donate a huge chunk of coin to the Democratic Party and cheap housing loans began under Clinton.
Mike, what are you talking about “total obstructionism by Cantor”? Cantor voted with the Democrats for TARP and his wife works at one of the bailed out banks.
Blaming Bush worked in the beginning, but we know who you and the rest of your posse are dressed up in your “Chicken Little” suits as a mascots and cheerleaders for other lazy and weak-minded liberals who don’t know any better.
Well J.R., you ought to know by now that I create and spout my own talking points. But I think I concurred that both parties own part of the blame for the acquiescence to international corporate power; that said, the President seems to want to move beyond that, while Cantor and his caucus are embracing it over again. And Tim J, I was referring to the last year or so in which the republican policy seems to have been to make the country fail so Obama will look bad. Had they agreed to participate and negotiate, better legislation would have been the result, but since that may have made the President look good, they refused. I am incensed by that obstructionism.
I am becoming much more concerned that the actions of Bush, Congress, Obama, and Tarp did not save this nation from economic disaster, it merely delayed it.
Since most of my “wealth” is in real estate, the thought of crashing home prices thrills me to no end.
This member of the Tea Party trusts Marine Sergeant Rigell and also Commodore Kenny Golden..
I might even trust Glenn Nye if I could meet him. Perhaps at his next town hall meeting. When is that??
Incensed Mike? Then why aren’t you running of office yourself? Put your money where your mouth is.
Well James, that’s an interesting observation, but it depends upon your starting point. If you have owned a piece of real estate for ten years, and you graph it with the uptick of the early to mid 2000′s and then the down tick of the late 2000′s to the present, you will find an interesting phenomenon; real estate over that period has increased in value an average of 7-8%, just like it should. But if you bought during the time of irrational exhuberance, you lost big. My point is, the real estate run up during the Bush years was irrational and based upon the excesses caused by government policy and lack of oversight. Frankly, I never want to go back to that time.
Mike,
You want to know what caused the Great Depression? The massive tax increases of 1932. They were so unpopular that FDR and the Dems ran on an anti-tax platform that promised to cut spending by 25% (soon-to-be VP John Garner actually called Hoover a socialist).
Unlike you, clearly, I have some training in Economics, enough to tell me TARP was the wrong solution for the wrong problem, and that the stimulus was a textbook example of the crowding-out effect.
They stunk, period.
Frankly D.J., that’s not on the top of my list. But if I did want a thorough and accurate description of the forces that caused the depression, I think I would ask Bernanke, or at least read his book. You, my friend, would not be among the first I would ask.
Mike, I am a partner of a comercial developer, family has been in this arena for well over half a century. We were forced to reckon with the indefensible reality of what the dems soapy boys Frank and Schumer forced lenders to do.. figuratively telling lenders to open their drawers and fork over capital to high risk borrowers who should have been redlined or required to put more $$ down. All this high risk mandated money business to buy votes.. If one is to make an honest assesment of the credit issue that killed the goose, look no further than the hope of Jimmy Carter that came to fruition under the hype of clinton in 1997. The dubious honor for opening the floodgate of low or no doc loans to people who had been given undue RIGHTS to a low interest or interest only loan without ever having to prove they were a worthy risk does not belong to the dems though, it belongs to every member of congress who failed to sound the alarm bells and to his credit Bush spoke up during wartime but failed to come down hard on known dangerous domestic credit abuses. To his credit, John McCain rang it the loudest and he was among the few who rang it first. Fault him all you want but he brought a bipartisan warning out to the press while clinton was entertaining some girl crawling around on the whitehose floor putting things in her mouth. Those were some of the first signs to the comman man/woman on the street that the leadership of the dems and Rino republicans would bring us down. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMnSp4qEXNM
And after all of that.. John voted FOR Tarp along with many other republicans and you people still have blind faith in the GOP?
Until and unless we have a congressman who answers only to we the people, not the banks, wall street, nefarious special interests and their aspirations for reelection, we will see dems and gop flipflop over and over.. Is it any wonder why we get swindled again & again?
You Rinos and dems are doin it to the people and this time the hrtp pledge is your guarantee that it won’t happen this time? Wake up people.
Sometimes the end point will matter more then the starting point.
Since my mother wanted a new home, I spent all my capital on her. Now I need to sell something to raise more funds.
Was thinking about selling some property in the Outer Banks, NC to do that. My lawyer tells me that real estate is selling there now for about 35 cents on the dollar. What you can sell for now is important.
All evidence points to the fact that the stimulus was a huge waste of our money – every job “created” cost an average $286,000, and the unemployment rate is stagnant between 9% and 10%. Glenn Nye played a role in getting that immensely ineffective bill passed, and we should all remember that in November. The stimulus, which he supported, was foolish, bad economics. We need to elect a leader with business sense and experience, who believe in the free market and who won’t be voting for Pelosi as speaker of the house again. That leader is Scott Rigell
Actually Charlie, that is simply not true; the non partisan Congressional Budget Office has opined that if TARP and the Stimulus had not been done, we would now be facing unemployment in the high teens; that is, close to double the rate right now. In addition, many more firms would have been liquidated. Now, it is easy to say that Congress should not have acted, but to say so is reckless and ignores reality. It is ironic that Mr. Rigell’s industry certainly benefitted from the Stimulus, and I am told his firm participated in the “Cash for Clunkers” program, so it is disingenuous to have participated and now criiticize, although politicians like Governor McDonnell and Eric Cantor have led the way on that score. I refer you back to the earlier post by Mr. Cohen in this forum for an apt description.
It was a “non partisan Congressional Budget Office” until Obama dragged the director of CBO into the White House and spanked him into fixing their health care budget and debt estimates. Any numbers coming from the Government these days should be viewed with a caveat that it may be or has been politicized to manipulate Congress or to keep the unwashed masses from revolting.
While I would normally love to rip Obama’s politicization of everything, he wasn’t the problem with the CBO. They’re using an Old Keynesian model that is woefully out of date. Even most Keynesians are accepting that the “multiplier” effect of government spending on the economy is less than 1, but the CBO model has it well above 1.
That’s the difference between a stimulus that is not worth the money spent and the stuff of Mike’s dreams.
Oh, and James, I live in the 1st District, my GOP Congressman voted against TARP. I’m just sayin’.
Yes D.J., when the republicans are in power, the CBO is the bastion of knowledge; when it is the democrats, they have no clue. Fact is, their analysis is the best we have, and the republicans helped create the deficit with two wars they would wage but not pay for, earmarks beyond belief, the repeal of regulations that let Wall Street engage in scandalous behavior, and then, when punished by the american polity for their incompetence, they decided to obstruct any initiative by the Obama administration to bring us back from the brink of financial chaos. Frankly, this record of incompetence followed by obstructionism is a deplorable commentary on what has become of a Party.
I look around and see inconsistent label huggers in all directions. From the Right and the Left, you can see people struggling to support their party’s candidate, but can’t quite get a grip on the candidate’s actions or past support that just doesn’t coincide with party branding.
Glenn Nye did two things that really upset me. He was on board for one of the “stimulus bills” and his initial vote to retain Charlie Rangel in his leadership position. Other than that? Well, you saw all the articles here on BD around key votes.
Glenn Nye voted as a conservative on every other big time issue. Obama care? He voted against it. Cap and Trade? He voted against it. Does having Nye in office mess things up for procedural items and electing the Speaker? Definitely, but if you want Nye out of office, how about putting up a candidate that can be put up as being convincingly more conservative than Glenn Nye? Granted, Nye would be a more attractive choice, where we not saddled with a Obama,Pelosi, and Reid bent on an economic trainwreck here in America. Actual votes should count for something when you can compare it to less than conservatives tendencies in his Republican opponent and you have to just “hope” Rigell won’t end up like another Olympia Snowe and vote against us.
The Democrats can talk smack all they want about how dangerous Republican economic policy is. “Fact is”, they’re running Glenn Nye, against Scott Rigell. Both candidates are frequently assailed by their own party members for being inconsistent with party views and voting agendas. You have also seen postings all over BD from people complaining about such.
Kinda makes you wonder. Are the voters having the question framed for them? Are we purposely given less than a real choice?
I am a big supporter of the Tea Party, but I just don’t get the luke warm support of Rigell in order to help defeat Nye. What did the Tea Party have to say about Cap & Trade? What did the Tea Party say about Obamacare? How did Glenn Nye vote again? Why hasn’t the Tea Party been happy with Rigell in the past? But they’re acting to help defeat Nye by preventing a vote split? Well, that will certainlly teach Nye to break from party ranks on key issues, now won’t it?
The Tea Party is non-partisan right?
Then there’s Kenny Golden……the guy that dropped out from the GOP because there was too much Top-Down control and discipline. I distinctly remember Beach GOP Chair Golden putting the VBTA on the poo list because VBTA lent support to Democrat campaigns against alleged Republicans with less than conservative voting records. And now adding to the confusion, some key VBTA members support Golden.
At least Golden can claim to have “seen the light”. At least he does appear to be more conservative given his past record of performance, but is he the best choice? Are we even given a real choice or are these choices simply differing flavors of defeat?
Prayer might be be an option on election day, but I’m not sure that is allowed anymore. When I look at the choices we have in the 2nd district, I realize that Obama truly has brought “hope” to Hampton Roads. It appears that “hope” is all we are left with. All I know is, things really need to “change”.
The plot thickens with the tea party pledge..
http://vbdems.org/2010/08/heres-the-alternative/#comments
see comment #8
Wow, I could just feel the “love” with VB Dems.
Had rough night at work so I am still “winding down”.
I love how DJ gives advice to the NRCC about what they should do. DJ, please tell us about all of those winning campaigns you’ve managed. Oh – you’re not a campaign manager? and you have no access to any legitimate polling? and you fail to remember that there are 9 weeks until election day. Dude, chill out. The voters will know about Nye’s votes. Frankly it doesn’t really matter a whole lot…The registered voters that will actually show up for this race already know how they are going to vote…Nye’s toast. I just wish we could vote Mike Barrett off this blog as well. What a blowhard that guy is.
Ron, not so fast… Mike has become the Democratic, tax raising, big Government mascot on BD and he provides us with an insight to the hearts and minds of the enemy. I have had lots of fun with him, and he continues to be a great source of entertainment for Kirwin whose “one-liners” drive Mike into the ditch.
Besides, he is always using big words like “Draconian”, “scandalous behavior”, “incompetence”, “obstructionism”, “disingenuous”, “deplorable commentary”, “financial chaos”, “xenophobia” and others which thanks to Mike, I have added to my vocabulary and use when I am speaking with Democrats.
I vote that we leave Mike on here to educate us on “Democratic Elite” speak, his wacky “Bush Blaming” and statistics which he parrots from the Daily Kos, his hate and contempt for our Virginia legislature and Governor and their aversion to taxing the crap out of everything they can dream up, and his sheer entertainment value to BD.
Cheers to you Mike!
Curse you Tim J, now you have me reading Daily Kos instead of getting some sleep.
No,wait, its Bush’s fault that I am reading Kos instead of sleeping; I am starting to see that the financial chaos caused by the disingenuous obstructionism of Fox News and Rasmussen Reports abetted by Mulla Nasrudin’s refusal to feed his donkey and the FACT that the bad universe is trying to kill us all is the true culprit here.
What an astounding revelation!!!!!!!
you MUST read
Greenwald Nails It: Obama’s Squandered Opportunity (Idiocracy) w/UPDATE
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/8/29/897238/-Greenwald-Nails-It:-Obamas-Squandered-Opportunity-%28Idiocracy%29-w-UPDATE
Badabing is telling it like it really is.
Who needs sleep when I now have the knowledge of the universe open to me.
I will feed Mulla Nasrudin’s donkey since Fatima refuses to help the poor helpless beast. It must be Glenn Beck’s fault that the poor animal is hungry.
Ron and Tim J have neatly placed my comments into a category of their own making. Problem is, my moderate and centrist thoughts are indicative of many republicans and democrats as well as independents. However, the leadership of the right would never allow consideration of the very tactics and strategies that would help this nation recover faster and more equally.
Actions to actually work together in Congress with members of the opposite party are anathema to republican election strategy; obstructionism and the creation of fear and anger have replaced legislating. Ron and Tim J think I am an extremist; I think they misread the underlying sentiment in the electorate about the need for negotiation and compromise.
Frankly, I turn to an unlikely face for evidence; that is, Glen Beck, who walked to the precipice, and turned back. Even he may be seeing the damage he has created through hate and fear.
Moderate and centrist? Mike, have you seen any polling data about how few people agree with you about raising taxes?
You’re the only person who could hear an echo and think it’s an audience.
Yes Brian; most rational citizens in the middle want taxes as low as possible consistent with good schools, safe highways, public safety, and programs for those who need help. Your party’s move to embrace the extremism of Grover Norquist, and to use obstructionism as a tactic to govern a nation, is not what most citizens want either.
“Ron and Tim J think I am an extremist”… Good one Mike! And thanks for the lib talking points about Beck, although they are now getting a little threadbare after being repeated over and over again by your favorite mainstream sources… “Even he may be seeing the damage he has created through hate and fear.”
You are living up to our expectations… keep it up!
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” – Albert Einstein
Mike, in all fairness, you are no centrist. The leadership from both sides of the aisle has provoked hostility from the center. I would expect Hamas to agree to live side by side with Israel before our two establishment parties agree to work together.
As for Beck, he is an imperfect human on a mission but I do not see the goal as being anything that can be interpreted as damage created through fear hate or bigotry. So Mike, do you think you could take off your blue glasses for a moment and offer a humble assesment of what both parties are doing that has led us to where we are now?
Mike, your obsession with “Grover Norquist” and “dismemberment” is getting creepy. Halloween is just around the corner, so why not save it until then?
Maybe we will get you a “Grover Norquist” mask this year so you can scare the crap out of your friends?
JR, you get it right again as always, the problem with the melt-down began in the Clinton administration and unfortunately was not corrected during Bush II. Britt, I took the VBTA to task because they endorsed two candidates that were much less conservative than the Republican offerings and this was out of alignment with their charter. Some say it was an endorsement bent on revenge. I left the Republican Party because they decided the Primary race long before I resigned as Chair. Money was the primary consideration not performance, integrity, or service. r Kenny
Yes, Grover Norquist is creepy, but prescient. His philosophy has become the dominant force in the republican party. No matter that our transportation infrastructure is crumbling, our educational system is being challenged by developing countries around the world, cynics in the Party actually advocate that Social Security, MediCaid, and MediCare be abolished, and locally candidates spar to see who can cut more taxes. Now, these factors put most herein in a state of euphoria, not me. As a business person, I need an educated work force, good transportation, and financial regulation that ensures even competition. Now, especially in Virginia, even those basics are under attack.
I am a bit confused on why no road work is happening in Virginia Beach. When I left work at midnight on Sunday, I saw roads being repaired almost everywhere on my drive home. That has been going on for quite sometime.
Yes James, you are correct. City repair work continues, but of course, with no help from the Commonwealth of Virginia. Because of their ongoing fiscal stress, they have cut the $40,000,000 or so that the City of Virginia Beach used to receive in state allocation for maintenance and repair of local roads, to zero, zilch, nada, so if the City is to continue with emergancy repair, it must pay for it with local money. That’s why McDonnell’s boast about cutting the state budget is so comical; he cuts funds to local government, and the cities/counties need to do the best they can to make up for these cuts.
I very rarely visit Va Beach. I roam Hampton, Newport News, Suffolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Norfolk and Isle of Wight.
I am talking about interstates like I-664 and I-64 between Battlefield and Bowers Hill. And route 17 in Suffolk.
Since I work a lot of nights, I see them out working at night. There really has been a huge amount of road work in the last few months where I roam.
Since I rarely visit Va Beach, I have no idea what is going on in that area.
Yes James, thank goodness for those shovel ready projects funded by the stimulus bill. But give no credit to the McDonnell administration for those repairs.
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