You have to hand it to Senate Republicans. While their fellow travelers in the Tea Party House are brazenly and idiotically rightwing, at least they believe the stuff coming out of their own mouths.
The Senate Republicans, on the other hand, oscillate between lying about their reasons for stiffing the base (no more votes on HCR repeal) or stiffing the American people (the contraception wars). Or both, in the case of Lisa Murkowski.
And then there's lying just, well, maybe for the purpose of lying. A game of then and now below the fold.
Warning: The second quote is not The Onion, it's a real news story.
Then: January 2011
McConnell was gloating. As maybe he had a right to. His strategy had helped grind DC to a halt, and shift all the blame for anything that went wrong to the Democrats.
The same tactics were deployed against most other initiatives, and expanded into new realms. Traditionally, only votes on the most controversial judicial nominees had been delayed or filibustered, although the number crept upward during Bill Clinton’s and George W. Bush’s presidencies. Under McConnell, Republicans have also filibustered noncontroversial nominees, many later confirmed unanimously. They have filibustered even nominees put forward by Republican senators, and required separate votes for district-court judges, who used to be confirmed in groups as a matter of routine. The resulting increase in vacancies has exacerbated a shortage of judges across the country, leading many districts to declare “judicial emergencies”—vacancy levels so high that they threaten the courts’ ability to function. McConnell bet (correctly) that he would pay no political price for this type of obstruction, because the White House and the media would be preoccupied with other things—things even harder to accomplish as the Senate calendar filled up.
“Reporters underestimate how powerful the calendar is,” says Jim Manley, the former communications director for Harry Reid, the Democratic Senate leader. “Say you want to break a filibuster. On Monday, you file cloture on a motion to proceed for a vote on Wednesday. Assuming you get it, your opponents are allowed 30 hours of debate post-cloture on the motion to proceed. That takes you to Friday, and doesn’t cover amendments. The following Monday you file cloture on the bill itself, vote Wednesday, then 30 more hours of debate, and suddenly two weeks have gone by, for something that’s not even controversial.” All of this has slowed Senate business to a crawl.
“We worked very hard to keep our fingerprints off of these proposals,” McConnell says. “Because we thought—correctly, I think—that the only way the American people would know that a great debate was going on was if the measures were not bipartisan. When you hang the ‘bipartisan’ tag on something, the perception is that differences have been worked out, and there’s a broad agreement that that’s the way forward.”
Okay, okay. Despicable and cynical, but effective,
But, that was then and this is . . . now?
Obama Drops Ceremonial Pen, Angering GOP
I warned you. That's not an Onion headline.
Senate Republicans are bristling that the president has cut down on one of his ceremonial duties: signing bills in public.
Most Republicans suspect the dearth of signing ceremonies is an election-year strategy in the mold of President Harry Truman's method of running against a "do-nothing" Congress. To trumpet legislative successes would run counter to the narrative of a hamstrung president, Senate Republicans say.
"I think that's his strategy," Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) said, adding that Senate Democratic leaders are helping President Barack Obama by focusing on partisan legislation that they know Republicans won't support.
Coburn called it a "shame" that the White House would take the approach that "'the only way I can win is to make someone else look bad, rather than win on my accomplishments and my leadership.' That is a tragedy."
OMG. Really?
He said that?
For real?
Rather than be outraged by the phoniness, let us rejoice in the fact that the lies people tell also reveal truth. And the truth revealed by this remarkable Romneyism is the fact that Republicans are now desperate to be seen in public signing bills with Barack Obama by their side. To be deprived of that opportunity is a "tragedy."
Similar language has been applied to their primary field, but for different reasons.