Black & White and Cardinal Red All Over

Hit The Re-Set Button? No Way!

The latest obstructionist tactic in the long line of republican bullshit tactics is the usage of the phrase “Hit the re-set button.” Both Eric Cantor and John Boehner have been hitting this point during interviews repeatedly in the past week in trying to tell the public that they want to be a part of a “bipartisan effort” to reform health care. WTF? Where have these two clowns been the last eight months? Haven’t they been paying attention to what’s going on?

You see, the problem is simple: when you pay attention to and parrot the GOP talking points that Frank Luntz laid out for you at the start of this whole process and those points get shot down point by point until you are left with swiss cheese for an argument, “pushing the re-set button” is just about all you have left. All the distractions with “death panels,” and “killing off grandma,” and “government takeover of health care” fed the republican base but did nothing to solve any of the pressing issues within the health care debate and Americans wised up to the disingenuous tactics pretty soon. Plan A failed and so did Plan B and pretty soon republicans were down to Plan X with no relief in sight. Plan Y is going for the old “bipartisanship” angle in hopes that someone will be provoked by an appeal to a sense of fair play and ignore the obstructionist bullshit they have laid out over the past eight months. Hit the re-set button now after all this time and effort? I don’t think so.

Republicans did not bother to propose their own health care reform plan because they like the status quo. (Well, actually they did put out a 4 page plan with no numbers or dollar estimates that they called a ‘plan’ but everyone with more than a double digit IQ saw that plan for what it was: a joke.) They really do not want reform. Their interests lie with the insurance industry and big Phrama and not with the health of the American people. Neither of these two special interests are even remotely interested in changing how they currently do business because life is good for them right now. They are making money hand over fist and republicans are the beneficiaries of this business plan because campaign donations roll in to make sure that the party and all its members remain bought-and-paid-for.

I think republicans were caught off guard by the determination of the Democrats when it came to reforming health care. Democrats whipped out a proposed bill with all the bells and whistles as soon as the Congressional session opened and the republicans were still sitting on their hands lamenting their reduced status and powerlessness in the House, looking at 60 votes in the Senate, as well as losing the White House. The had no plan then and they have no plan now. All they want to do is tear down what the Democrats want to do and leave nothing in its place. The status quo, in other words. That’s not going to cut it anymore. The American public wants more action and less talk. The GOP hasn’t gotten the message yet. Maybe they need to hit the re-set button.