Debbie Wasserman Schultz back in 2007, when Democrats took control of Congress: Self-described proud “minority bomb thrower” (starting : at :13 seconds in the clip below)

Now, as she and her party have been ushered back into the House minority, she is whistling a slightly different tune. She is claiming that as a minority member, she was a “relationship builder” (4:15 in this Fox News interview). Excerpt below:

So is Debbie Wasserman Schultz a relationship builder or a bomb thrower?

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Pollsters Doug Schoen and Pat Caddell, both Democrats, took on President Obama in a column in the Wall Street Journal last week, criticizing him for not being true to his campaign promise to unify the country.

“Rather than being a unifier,” they say, “Mr. Obama has divided America on the basis of race, class, and partisanship.”

They don’t see Republicans as any better. They claim that Republicans have just followed the administration in trying to exploit hot buttons of race and class.

“….the Republican leadership has failed to put forth an agenda that is more positive, unifying, and inclusive.”

Although it seems so warm and cuddly to consider the idea of national “unity”, what does this really mean? Particularly, what does it mean in a free country?

Isn’t the whole point and beauty of freedom that we recognize differences among us as natural and that we view debate, differences of viewpoint, and dissent as healthy? Doesn’t the idea of “unity” – of uniformity – conjure up images of exactly what this country is not about?

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According to Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi unemployment benefits are the best way to create jobs, so why didn’t she get with Democrat Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and press him to schedule a pre-recess vote on the Republican alternative to the Democrat’s jobs/unemployment benefits bill introduced on June 30, 2010 by Senator Scott Brown (R-MA).

Brown’s bill is deficit neutral and could easily solve the current problems in passing the unemployment benefits package:

My compromise bill uses unspent stimulus funds and cuts wasteful and unnecessary spending in other areas to pay for these important programs. Believe it or not, there is about $37 billion in stimulus money just sitting in a Washington slush fund when it should be put to good use immediately.

While my bill pays for additional FMAP assistance for one more year, this phase-down provides states an opportunity to get their fiscal houses in order — but also makes it clear that they can no longer pass the buck to the federal government, which has budgetary problems of its own.  emphasis mine

Obama, Pelosi, and Reid should be called out on why they blatantly ignored Brown’s bill and also answer why they couldn’t fast track this one like they did with the  passage  of the original stimulus and Obamacare.  Of course, the answer is obvious:  Brown is a Republican and they couldn’t possibly give a win to the GOP.  So much for bipartisanship.

For the record, Democrats own this economy; they had the supermajority.  It’s their agenda, their stimulus, their failed policies.  Americans deserve and should be demanding answers from Obama and the Democrat leadership regarding their policies–Bush has been out of office for 18 months–there is no more childish blame shifting and finger pointing.

It is time for the Republicans to go on the offensive and force the Democrats to explain themselves to the American people on where are the jobs and why they squandered $800 billion of taxpayer money.  They need to stop fearing any backlash, because I’m not sure if there would be one, or maybe just from the left-wing MSM.  Americans are starving for someone to fight back and call out Obama and Congress for what they are doing to our country (paging NJ Governor Chris Christie).

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There is very little that can bring Republicans and Democrats together these days, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing considering the natural inclination of both over the last few years has been to spend money like it’s an Olympic event and they’re going for the gold. But every once in a while the two parties experience a sort of harmonic convergence and come together to do something that is actually based upon long-term thinking, not electoral advantage or political gamesmanship. Such is the case with the F-35 Strike Force Fighter, America’s next generation of fighter plane. But this wouldn’t be Washington, DC, were there not fight to be had somewhere, and in this case how best save money – in the short-term or the long-term. Therein lies where we join our story…

Normally the idea of Republican Leader John Boehner and liberal stalwart Dennis Kucinich agreeing on something would mean it would have to be about what time it is or from which direction the sun rises, but only sometimes. To say those two, and similarly aligned Members of Congress, regularly agree would be akin to saying the Washington Nationals have some room for improvement as a baseball team. But on this issue they are simpatico. Why?

Safe to say they didn’t lose a bet.  The real reason is quite simple – long-term savings potential.

The Government Accounting Office (GAO) estimates that if what Boehner, Kucinich and ideological brethren voted for were to become law, the F-35 project could see savings of up to 12 percent in the long-term.  While 12 percent may not be enough to get you off the couch for a TV priced at $500, we’re talking about significant savings when dealing with billions of dollars.

So what is this project? It is the decision of who is going to make the next generation engine for the F-35. While this doesn’t seem like it should be an issue inspiring any sort of controversy, it wouldn’t be Washington if it didn’t.

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The Wall Street Journal’s William McGurn takes a closer look at an important bipartisan effort underway in Illinois:

Contrary to all the obituaries, hope and change and a new spirit of bipartisanship are alive and well in Barack Obama’s America. Just not in Washington.

In the state legislature of post-Obama Illinois, a largely white Republican Party is joining forces with reform-minded African-American and Latino Democrats. Together they are challenging two establishments: machine Democrats backed by teachers unions, and suburban and downstate Republicans mostly indifferent to inner-city issues.

The vehicle is an educational voucher bill that needs only the approval of the full Illinois house to land on the governor’s desk. Introduced by the Rev. James Meeks—a powerful Democratic state senator who has also been one of Mr. Obama’s spiritual advisers—the bill provides a voucher of up to $4,000 for as many as 22,000 elementary students now languishing in the worst Chicago public schools. The voucher will give them the opportunity to attend the private school of their choice. The state Senate passed the measure last month, and last week the leadership-dominated House Executive Committee approved it by a vote of 10 to 1.

The article included a quote from my colleague Collin Hitt, Illinois Policy Institute’s Director of Education Policy, who noted:

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Bipartisanship with Progressives is a myth. But don’t take our word for it. We know this is true because Progressives tell us it is so.

Digging through the internet archives can be fun. For example, you must read this Nation article printed in January of 2001, and proudly distributed by the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

The article maps out the Progressive-Democrat rejection of bi-partisanship with Republicans, and it proudly names names, quoting Socialist Democrat Bernie Sanders and Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.

Below are some enlightening excerpts, but the whole article is worth reading if you have any interest in understanding the aggressive Progressive powers that be.

The biggest concern of Sanders and other progressives is that the fantasy will be aided, not hindered, by Democrats who think they can play nice with Bush early on and then channel fury over the 2000 election into a Congressional sweep in 2002 and a reclaiming of the White House in 2004. “Either we break up this congenial, very nice, big-smile lie of bipartisanship or we will see our message corrupted by the suggestion that Democrats and Republicans really aren’t all that different,” says Democratic Representative Jesse Jackson Jr. “If that happens, we will make it look like Ralph Nader was right when he said there were no differences between the parties, and we will lose any advantage coming out of the 2000 election.’’

“Florida is over. That fight is done. We can and we should continue the struggle for voting reforms that expand our democracy, but we have to recognize that this is just one of the issues we have to focus on in what is going to be a very dangerous period of great struggle,’’ argues Jackson. He’ll work with both the Congressional Progressive Caucus and the Congressional Black Caucus–where fury at the way in which Bush was elected bubbled over in late December with threats by veteran members to boycott the Bush inaugural. Jackson can muster equal fury, and he’ll be at January demonstrations led by his father, the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., and NAACP president Kweisi Mfume, but he says the primary focus must be on the legislative battles that could begin even before Bush is sworn in.

Kinda adds perspective to their contemporary demands for bi-partisanship, no? Also in the article:

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As a surgeon, at least until ObamaCare goes into effect, I have been trained to dissect issues and results into their component parts. My current focus is on the similarities between the two biggest missed political opportunities over the past two years:

1. Senator McCain’s suspension of his campaign to fly back to D.C. to work out a “Bipartisan” solution to the TARP fiasco. By compromising his fiscal principles and NOT drawing a line in the sand….he lost the Public.  It was the beginning of the end of his Presidential bid and opened the door for the election of Barrack Obama.
2. The attendance of Republican leadership ( the same leadership that supported the TARP fiasco above) at the recent” Bipartisan” Health Summit at Blair House.  This smoke and mirrors event purported to compare Republican ideas with the dogma of Obama, Pelosi and Reid.  The event confused and misled the public.  By attending the event, Republicans snatched defeat from the jaws of victory in their opposition to the Obama’s use of our health care system to implement socialist reform.

Rather than being mesmerized by the “illusion” of Bipartisanship at Blair House, the GOP leadership should have walked past Blair House, marched to local clinics and hospitals, and listened to doctors, nurses and patients on the front line of health care.  This could have sent a powerful message to every American and delivered a death blow to ObamaCare.  The symbolism could have ended the debate once and for all.  Picture this:  the Democrats sequestered in a government building talking to themselves, versus The GOP hand in hand with The American People.

It should be noted that some Republicans opposed the Blair House meeting and were pushing for a grassroots frontal assault.  Congressman Thad McCotter and a handful of other GOP members advocated for this action.  I believe this approach would have brought victory to all who support Freedom and Liberty.

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