Saturday, December 13, 2008

Political Posturing and the Auto Bailout

Demagoguery is going to be standard practice for the next two years, if Nancy Pelosi has anything to say about it.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi got the job done in the House on the bailout, and now she's pointing fingers at Senate Republicans.

Here's her statement, released around midnight:

"The House-passed bipartisan legislation protects taxpayers, preserves environmental standards and places tough accountability measures on the auto companies to help ensure their long term viability and competitiveness. The House-passed bill demanded deep concessions from all parties -- the executives, shareholders and the union.

“Senate Republicans’ refusal to support the bipartisan legislation passed by the House and negotiated in good faith with the White House, the Senate and the automakers is irresponsible, especially at a time of economic hardship. The consequences of the Senate Republicans’ failure to act could be devastating to our economy, detrimental to workers, and destructive to the American automobile industry unless the President immediately directs Secretary Paulson to explore other short-term financial assistance options, including TARP and those available to the Federal Reserve. That is the only viable option available at this time."

Except that, as John McCormack notes, 10 Senate Republicans voted for the bailout. The problem was that eight Democrats did not vote for the bailout.

Shouldn't Pelosi be ripping her Senate colleagues for being "irresponsible"? Democrats have to take responsibility for running the country now. There's no place left to hide. If they can't get legislation passed, the blame rests with them.