If You Don't Create Change, Change Will Create You (Part II)

The American Recovery and Reinvestment plan looks like it is going to pass, despite the obstruction and consternation of many Republicans in the Senate and the House of Representatives. Over the past few weeks, we've heard a torrent of excuses from the minority party about why they will not support this piece of legislation, but the truth is that it is all about self-preservation.

Most of the Republicans who remain in office are from strict conservative districts and states who know that they need to keep the ideology of the Grand Old Party spewing from their mealy mouths in order to appease their constituents who watch Fox News and listen Rush Limbaugh. They are thinking about 2010 re-elections, not at a country on the precipice of economic collapse.

Senator John McCain and Senator Lindsay Graham have been outspoken in their accusations that President Obama and the Democrats have not been compromising and negotiating. McCain even went so far as to mock Obama, saying on Face the Nation that he thought there was going to be change in Washington with this new administration with his dirty-old-man smirk planted firmly on his face. But McCain and Graham have been rebuked by one of their own. Republican Senator Susan Collins said "I want to recognize that, regardless of how many Republicans vote for this package today, that many were involved, that several were involved, in the deliberations in which we participated."

There have been chances to work on this bill, but it's easier to heckle and instigate from the sideline, particularly when you have no intention of voting for something anyway. The Republican stance is to dismiss this work as a frivolous and grandiose spending bill by a liberal government that must be defeated. The Chairman of the Republican National Committee, Michael Steele, confirmed this when he told Republican Congressmen and -women during a conference call after the House of Representative vote on this piece of legislation that "The goose egg that you laid on the President's desk was just beautiful." By voting no, the Republicans are reserving their right to say "I told you so," while at the same time defending their ideological stature to the base of their party.

I can't blame them for these time-honored political moves, but I don't respect them either. Wild accusations and faux outrage are what is expected of the monkey in the zoo and you need to give the people what they want. It's refreshing to see elected officials stand on their own do what they think is best, like Republican Governor Charlie Crist, rather than play the tired role they've been practicing for years.