Word: gop
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...selling it to Republicans. Not everyone was as willing to take it on trust; one Republican senator even dismissed the bill as a “stinking, bloated, quivering pile of liberal pork.” The Dems finally managed to slam it through the House with nary a GOP vote, and through the Senate with only three: hardly a bipartisan victory...
...opposition gone? Ever since its early division between Federalists and anti-Federalists, the United States has prided itself on possessing a two-party system. Lately, however, this model has begun to seem outdated—while the Democrats enjoy their new place in office, a serious challenge from the GOP is nowhere to be found. A piece in The Economist captured the current vacuum best, reporting that the Republican party is “about as popular as celibacy among 18-30-year-olds...
...stands, the Republican party appears philosophically impotent, hoping that a sufficient number of voters is trained to cheer for the same old issues like opposition to taxes and gay rights. Clinging to them so stubbornly has led the GOP to shoot itself in the foot Cheney-style on a number of occasions, doing a major disservice not only to its own voters, but to the country as a whole. But rather than bolster its image with fresh policy proposals, the party’s current strategy seems to be to take a time-out and keep its fingers crossed...
...While Republicans today could learn an enormous deal from Reagan’s style of thinking and communicating, they would err tragically by emulating all his positions. Much has happened in the 20 years since he vacated the White House. The GOP urgently needs to recruit experts who understand how and why global economic and political trends have shifted. With most politicians spouting prepackaged boilerplate, such thoughtful analysis by Republicans is hard to find these days...
...Procedures The GOP has been successful in gumming up the works of the Senate in recent years, forcing Reid to file for cloture a record 97 times last session - well over the previous record of 76 - and another 18 times since the beginning of this year. Even the most basic pieces of legislation - like the U.S. Tourism Promotion Act, which enjoyed 47 bipartisan co-sponsors and broad support - have failed to pass cloture votes, which require 60 votes. At the very least, the Democrats' theoretical 60-vote majority could help de-gum some of the Senate's cogs so legislation...