"They don't want this [unemployment insurance extension] to pass. What they want to do is ... a campaign issue, this sort of rich versus poor, the same old thing they can do, and avoid Obamacare," said Reince Priebus, the chairman of the Republican National Committee.
Reince. Dude.
You say the Dems don't want this UI extension to pass? You don't want them to be able to play this 'rich versus poor' card?
I've got an idea. Why doesn't your party just vote for the UI extension? If the Dems don't want it to pass, because they'd rather have the campaign issue than to pass the extension, then that'll call their bluff. They'll be pretty much forced to go along with it. Issue gone. Poof!
And if you really want to undercut them on the whole rich v. poor thing, your party could follow that up by voting to restore food stamp funding levels to what they were last summer, and maybe even pass a minimum wage hike as icing on the cake.
After that, it would be next to impossible for the Dems to frame the next election as being about rich versus poor. Nothing to it - the easiest slam dunk in the world!
Of course, the real problem is that pretty much the entire GOP would almost rather pour gasoline over themselves and light a match than to lift a finger to help people who are struggling to get by. So there's zero likelihood that they'll take advantage of this easy opportunity to deny this issue to the Dems. Which is unfortunate, because the world would be a much better place if they'd do so.
Open thread.
