Even GOP diehards who live around me would have resented the tone of Jindal's rebuttal, but still, they accept his rhetoric. Here's how to address their claims.
Some one just asked me what I thought of the president's speech last night. I think he knocked it out of the park, as usual. He named the three highest national economic priorities that I would have picked: education, energy and health care. So I give him very high marks for getting that right (and hope the first two also address environment).
On behalf of those who lean right or are subjected to right-wing ideology, did you all see Bobby Jindal's rebuttal on behalf of the GOP? If you didn't, you should. It will help you understand today's GOP.
For starters, Jindal's tone was so forced and condescending it was really hard to listen to him. It reminded me of how Mr. Rogers talked - remember him? The children's TV show host whose tone, while simplistic and dripping with nurturing to the point of nausea, was at least completely genuine.
But on to substance. Although Jindal started off saying Republicans & Dems have to work together, and that he is so very supportive of the president, he went on to harp about water under the bridge: how that darn stimulus package was just no good. One of his statements was an outright lie: there is no high-speed rail from Los Angeles to Las Vegas in the stimulus bill! I expect hate-spewing blow hard malinformed dolts like R.Limbaugh to continue this fantasy, but not Mr. Rising Star of the Republican Party. It is disappointing to see them continue the practice of repeating a lie until people believe it.
Finally, I hope everyone notices that while Jindal gets a lot of press for turning down the stimulus money, the fact is that of the $8 billion it provides for his state, he has said he plans to accept something around 7.4 billion. In other words, he is only objecting to a relatively small part of the money. So his rants are an attention grab, no more.
It also should be noted that the framers of the Stim anticipated gubernatorial objections and put in provisions that put the spending decisions in the hands of the state legislatures, who can override the governors' wishes. So it is likely that every state gov making noise about not accepting stimulus money is merely grandstanding. Thank you, GOP governors, for wasting our time! Now please, get back to real work.
As one commentator remarked about the Jindal rebuttal last night, "A rising GOP star was not born tonight. Somewhere Sarah Palin is celebrating."
For those who like their reality fact-based, there is an easy to read White House document that lists the number of jobs that will be created or saved by the stimulus package. To bring the matter right into your own back yard, it is organized by congressional district. It is a good source of information about what our GOP congressional representation sought to deny us.
rAMERICAN RECOVERY AND REINVESTMENT PLAN: JOB IMPACT BY CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
For example, of the five elected federal public servants in my home state of Nebraska, only one voted for the stimulus package. My own congressional district stands to retain or gain 6900 jobs, and 23,000 jobs in my state as a whole will be positively affected. That is no small potatoes in a low population state that is nonetheless full of people who whine about the economy out of one side of their mouths, and the cost of economic stimulus out of the other. (Those who politely decline to talk politics make coded "small talk" about personal economic worries and job loss fears, then go vote against their own best interests.)
And that's not all. Jobs created or saved outside your state have a positive economic ripple effect inside your state as well.
For those who say the retention of jobs is a joke, or that only temporary jobs in the public sector will result, try making that argument to some who is out of work or about to be out of work. Just yesterday I talked to a local stay-at-home mother of four whose husband has been told he will be laid off. She likes the idea of job retention and creation!
But those who say there are no provisions for those jobs to be held by legal American citizens are correct. This provision was removed at the behest of the REPUBLICANS, who claim not to have been consulted on the bill.
Write that letter to the editor!