When Bill Clinton’s deficit reduction package came up for a vote in 1993, it did not receive a single Republican vote in either the House or the Senate. Last week, David Waldman took the time to compile a broad sampling of Republican quotes in opposition to the package. They predicted a “Democrat-machine recession” and called it a “deadly virus” that would “put the economy in the gutter”. Predictably, they were dead wrong. As we all know, this package succeeded in balancing the budget, and ushered in perhaps the greatest decade of prosperity in American history.

Another Democratic President, another round of hilarious GOP theater. Once again, a new Democratic President has to clean up the mess of his irresponsible Republican predecessors. Once again, Republicans oppose the President’s plan en masse. As Think Progress and others have noted, dozens of Congressional Republicans who voted against the package are trying to take credit for it in their districts now that it has passed.

I’m not surprised Congressional Republicans are playing the same silly games they were playing 16 years ago. Playing silly games while Democrats do the work of Governing is what Republicans do. But it seems like some of these folks would learn from their past mistakes. No such luck. All 50 Republican Senators voted against the Clinton plan in 1993. Of these 50, 11 are still United States Senators. 10 of these 11 voted against Obama’s economic recovery package. Here are the 10 big winners:

Bennett (R-UT)
Bond (R-MO)
Cochran (R-MS)
Grassley (R-IA)
Gregg (R-NH)
Hatch (R-UT)
Hutchison (R-TX)
McCain (R-AZ)
McConnell (R-KY)
Shelby (D-AL, note: Shelby was supposedly a Democrat at the time. He switched parties shortly thereafter.)

These people have literally been fighting for the same failed economic theories for more than 16 years. The ability to ignore all evidence indicating that tax cuts alone can solve of our economic problems was an impressive feat, but these 10 brave foot soldiers of conservatism were up to the task. Notably, the list includes both the most powerful Republican Senator, Mitch McConnell, and the most recent GOP Presidential candidate, John McCain.

Voters in Utah, Missouri, Mississippi, New Mexico, Iowa, New Hampshire, Utah, Texas, Arizona, Kentucky and Alabama have sent each of these Senators back to Washington at least twice since they voted the wrong way on the crucially important Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993. Fortunately, many of these voters will have the opportunity to make up for past mistakes in 2010. Of the 10 dead-enders listed above, two are retiring (Gregg and Bond) and four are up for re-election (Shelby, McCain, Grassley and Bennett). All eyes on you: Alabama, Arizona, Iowa and Utah. Will you give someone who might actually have a clue what they are talking about a chance to represent your state in the United States Senate or will you send the same fool who has been repeatedly wrong on the biggest economic votes they are faced with?

I met Dave at Netroots Nation last July in Austin, Texas. Here is the first I saw of him:

Immediately after this episode, I ran outside to try to follow up on Mr. Ford’s absurd remarks. Dave Weintraub aka Dave From Queens beat me there. He was already peppering Mr. Ford with questions, and clearly making him uncomfortable. He even challenged Mr. Ford to debate him — an offer that was quickly refused. With camera in hand, Dave and I chased Harold Ford to the side of the convention center outside, where he waved and ducked into an SUV. Dave and I chatted for a bit, and exchanged contact information, promising to stay in touch.

About three months later I heard from Dave again. He had tickets to a Sarah Palin speech in Virginia Beach. He wanted me to go with him to record Palin supporters saying outrageous and offensive things. The plan was to pretend we were from a bible college and ask people provocative questions, catching everything with my flip cam. We would then distribute the video footage online, in an effort to discredit Palin supporters and convince moderates that they didn’t fit into the modern GOP mold. Since it was a last minute trip Dave was planning, I decided not to go. I wish I had. I didn’t end up having the chance to speak or work with Dave again.

Dave from Queens unexpectedly passed away on Saturday. The cause of death is still unclear. His funeral was yesterday, and information is available on this Daily Kos diary. I couldn’t attend, but my thoughts were there.

We need more people with the kind of raw unadulterated courage Dave displayed. In my minimal interactions with the man it was obvious to me that he possessed a special energy - some sort of laser-like determination to get to the bottom of things. His persistence was uncanny, and inspirational. In a world far too often characterized by apathy, timidity and inaction, Dave’s courage will be sorely missed.

This thing has 3,000 comments on Youtube in about 20 hours. Beware the recovery backlash.

Via Christy:

ROMANO: Can I get a reaction on Dick Cheney’s comments that there will be a high probability of a terrorist…that terrorists will attempt a catastrophic nuclear attack in the next ten years?

AXELROD: Well, those…there’s no doubt, I think we all live with the reality that there’s a threat and it’s a grave threat. It existed during the years of the Bush Administration. We’re living with it now — it’s something that the President is completely focused on and meets every day on these threats.

I was disappointed with the Vice President’s comments, not because he said…stated the obvious which is that there are threats that are grave, but that he suggested that somehow the president’s decisions on torture and Guantanimo would increase the likelihood of that.

You know, one of the things that I’ve been impressed by is the graciousness that President Bush has shown during this transition period and the first weeks of this administration. When he left, he wished us the best — and I believe that he meant that.

Apparently the memo didn’t circulate around the White House, because I’ve seen…you know…what I consider tasteless comments by the Vice President.

Amazing comments by Karl Rove. You know, the last thing that I think we’re looking for at this juncture is advice on fiscal integrity or ethics from Karl Rove. I mean, anyone who’s read the newspapers for the last eight years would laugh at that.

Here is Gregg’s statement (via email):

I want to thank the President for nominating me to serve in his Cabinet as Secretary of Commerce. This was a great honor, and I had felt that I could bring some views and ideas that would assist him in governing during this difficult time. I especially admire his willingness to reach across the aisle.

However, it has become apparent during this process that this will not work for me as I have found that on issues such as the stimulus package and the Census there are irresolvable conflicts for me. Prior to accepting this post, we had discussed these and other potential differences, but unfortunately we did not adequately focus on these concerns. We are functioning from a different set of views on many critical items of policy.

Obviously the President requires a team that is fully supportive of all his initiatives.

I greatly admire President Obama and know our country will benefit from his leadership, but at this time I must withdraw my name from consideration for this position.

As we move forward, I expect there will be many issues and initiatives where I can and will work to assure the success of the President’s proposals. This will certainly be a goal of mine.

Kathy and I also want to specifically thank Governor Lynch and Bonnie Newman for their friendship and assistance during this period. In addition we wish to thank all the people, especially in New Hampshire, who have been so kind and generous in their supportive comments.

As a further matter of clarification, nothing about the vetting process played any role in this decision. I will continue to represent the people of New Hampshire in the United States Senate.

And the Obama statement (actually Gibbs, via email):

“Senator Gregg reached out to the President and offered his name for Secretary of Commerce. He was very clear throughout the interviewing process that despite past disagreements about policies, he would support, embrace, and move forward with the President’s agenda. Once it became clear after his nomination that Senator Gregg was not going to be supporting some of President Obama’s key economic priorities, it became necessary for Senator Gregg and the Obama administration to part ways. We regret that he has had a change of heart”.

Feel the burn. Apparently Gregg will not be running for re-election.

You can help ensure that a Democrat wins the seat in 2010 by donating to Rep. Paul Hodes now.

Assuming General Motors doesn’t go out of business first, Vice Chairman Bob Lutz will retire at the end of the year.

General Motors Corp. says Vice Chairman for Global Product Development Bob Lutz will retire at the end of this year.

The 76-year-old Lutz is credited with revamping GM’s product line and shepherding its efforts to roll out the Chevrolet Volt electric car.

GM said Monday that Lutz will be replaced by Thomas Stephens, who now is executive vice president of global powertrain and quality.

In September, I called for Lutz to be fired, for repeatedly sending the wrong messages about the company’s commitment to manufacturing environmentally sustainable vehicles. Over the next few weeks, General Motors continued to make themselves look bad by defending Lutz at all costs:

• General Motors Responds, Defends Global Warming Denier Bob Lutz
• General Motors Continues to Send Mixed Messages on Global Warming
• Global Warming Denier Bob Lutz Continues Making General Motors Look Ridiculous

Hopefully General Motors is able to use this as an opportunity to start a new chapter in the company’s history, one in which counterproductive flat-earth statements are punished rather than encouraged.

Here is his full speech from TED 2009:

Here is a list of what the recovery package had to lose to pick up the support of three Republicans. Draw your own conclusions:

$40 billion State Fiscal Stabilization
$16 billion School Construction
$1.25 billion project based rental
$2.25 Neighborhood Stabilization (Eliminate)
$1.2 billion in Retrofiting Project 8 Housing
$7.5 billion of State Incentive Grants
$3.5 billion Higher Ed Construction (Eliminated)
$100 million FSA modernization
$50 million CSERES Research
$65 million Watershed Rehab
$30 million SD Salaries
$100 million Distance Learning
$98 million School Nutrition
$50 million aquaculture
$2 billion broadband
$1 billion Head Start/Early Start
$5.8 billion Health Prevention Activity.
$2 billion HIT Grants
$1 billion Energy Loan Guarantees
$4.5 billion GSA
$3.5 billion Federal Bldgs Greening
$100 million NIST
$100 million NOAA
$100 million Law Enforcement Wireless
$50 million Detention Trustee
$25 million Marshalls Construction
$100 million FBI Construction
$300 million Federal Prisons
$300 million BYRNE Formula
$140 million BYRNE Competitive
$10 million State and Local Law Enforcement
$50 million NASA
$50 million Aeronautics
$50 million Exploration
$50 million Cross Agency Support
$200 million NSF
$100 million Science
$89 million GSA Operations
$300 million Fed Hybrid Vehicles
$50 million from DHS
$200 million TSA
$122 million for Coast Guard Cutters, modifies use
$25 million Fish and Wildlife
$55 million Historic Preservation
$20 million working capital fund
$200 million Superfund
$165 million Forest Svc Capital Improvement
$90 million State & Private Wildlife Fire Management
$75 million Smithsonian
$600 million Title I (NCLB)

Josh Marshall takes stock of the situation:

So Senate Republicans invoked the threat of a filibuster. And the ‘centrist’ group has leveraged that threat to add more tax cuts that won’t accomplish anything and cut out a lot of spending that would.

Once again, Think Progress has the goods:

In a new analysis, ThinkProgress has found that Republican lawmakers outnumbered Democratic lawmakers 75 to 41 on cable news interviews by members of Congress (from 6am on Monday 2/2 through 11pm on Thursday 2/5).

Sadly, that trend looks likely to continue through the weekend. Hotline on Call has the scheduled guests for this weekend (I have the excluded shows which don’t have Members as guests this weekend):

SUNDAY SHOWS

Meet the Press hosts Sen. John Ensign (R-NV), Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) and Washington Post’s Tom Ricks.

Face the Nation hosts Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND), Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) and WH Council of Economic Advisers chair Christina Romer.

Fox News Sunday hosts Summers and Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX).

State of the Union hosts Transportation Sec. Ray LaHood, Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL), Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY), SC Gov. Mark Sanford (R) and Jack Welch (see below for guests on SOTU’s Reliable Sources segment).

OTHER WEEKEND SHOWS:

Situation Room features Sen. Bernard Sanders (I-VT), RNC Chair Michael Steele, ex-U.S. Amb. to Israel Martin Indyk, L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Vanity Fair’s Maureen Orth (CNN, SAT, 6pm).

Newsmakers hosts Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX). He will be questioned by Cook Political Report’s Jennifer Duffy and Politico’s Josh Kraushaar (C-SPAN, SUN, 10am/6pm).

So for the major weekend cable news shows, we’ll have six Republican appearances (Cornyn twice!), four Democrats and one Independent. And while two of the four Democrats are working against their party’s leadership, all of the Republicans are on the obstructionist bandwagon. For perspective, in the 111th Congress there are currently 311 Democrats and 219 Republicans.

Seriously, what are you waiting for?

So what should Mr. Obama do? Count me among those who think that the president made a big mistake in his initial approach, that his attempts to transcend partisanship ended up empowering politicians who take their marching orders from Rush Limbaugh. What matters now, however, is what he does next.

It’s time for Mr. Obama to go on the offensive. Above all, he must not shy away from pointing out that those who stand in the way of his plan, in the name of a discredited economic philosophy, are putting the nation’s future at risk. The American economy is on the edge of catastrophe, and much of the Republican Party is trying to push it over that edge.