The loss suffered by House Republicans with respect to the extension of the Payroll Tax holiday hurts so much because ,for awhile at least, it appeared as though the GOP had pulled the proverbial Magic rabbit out of the hat by out-maneuvering Barack Obama and the Democrats.
What seemed like a spectacular upset win turned into a bitter loss when the rabbit turned out to be a venomous snake, a deft reptile that sank its deadly fangs into the collective posterior of John Boehner and the House GOP.
Still, there are minor victories to celebrate out of the sordid mess, among which is that the GOP managed to avoid, at least for now, a job-killing “millionaires’ tax,” which Democrats sought for waging class warfare.
Another positive is that the Democrats were unable to kill the notion that the XL Pipeline is on the table and is to be reckoned with in the effort to promote job growth. Environmental nut jobs would have dearly loved to take the pipeline chip off the table, but were unable to do so.
What’s more, the fact that Congress is looking for measures to counter additional spending and or loss of revenue marks a dramatic change in the language of budgets, deficits, spending, and cuts in Washington.
No longer is a foolish liberal notion accepted simply because it meets some undefined, esoteric social agenda. Now the question is “How Do You Intend To Pay for That?”
These gains, while minor, should be celebrated by conservatives as terrific reasons for not choosing to “Cry over Spilled Tea!”
John W. Lillpop is a recovering liberal. “Clean and sober” since 1992 when last he voted for a Democrat. For years, John lived in the San Francisco Bay Area, the very liberal sanctuary city which protects, rather than prosecutes, certain favored criminals. John escaped the Bay Area in May and now lives in Pine Grove California where conservative values are still in vogue.
