Republicans Vote Against America

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So Obama altered the stimulus package, removed much of the money for infrastructure and replacing it with tax cuts, in an attempt to get the bipartisan-ish result he's after. Unfortunately, Congressional Republicans would rather see America crumble and sink into a full out Depression than do anything that might make Democrats look good.

Fortunately our Congressman, Rick Larsen, gets IT. "... by passing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, we can create or save 94,290 jobs in Washington state ..."

America has wised up to the snake-oil that Republican/conservative hucksters have been selling. The American people have voted for a progressive future. They've voted for Democrats with the expectation that they will turn the Nation away from the failed ideology of conservatism/cronyism and back to focusing on the original intent of our Federal government; "establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity".

Gallup: "State of the States: Political Party Affiliation"

All told, 29 states and the District of Columbia had Democratic party affiliation advantages of 10 points or greater last year. This includes all of the states in the Northeast, and all but Indiana in the Great Lakes region. There are even several Southern states in this grouping, including Arkansas, North Carolina, and Kentucky.

An additional six states had Democratic advantages ranging between 5 and 9 points.

In contrast, only five states had solid or leaning Republican orientations in 2008, with Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, and Alaska in the former group, and Nebraska in the latter.

The most balanced political states in 2008 were Texas (+2 Democratic), South Dakota (+1), Mississippi (+1), North Dakota (+1), South Carolina (even), Arizona (even), Alabama (+1 Republican), and Kansas (+2 Republican).

And Americans understand that infrastructure is an essential way to "promote the general Welfare".

Infrastructure: It's Job 1 to Americans
A poll finds near unanimous support for rebuilding.
By Frank Luntz
January 23, 2009

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Consider this: A near unanimous 94% of Americans are concerned about our nation's infrastructure. And this concern cuts across all regions of the country and across urban, suburban and rural communities.

Fully 84% of the public wants more money spent by the federal government -- and 83% wants more spent by state governments -- to improve America's infrastructure. And here's the kicker: 81% of Americans are personally prepared to pay 1% more in taxes for the cause. It's not uncommon for people to say they'd pay more to get more, but when you ask them to respond to a specific amount, support evaporates. (That 74% of normally stingy Republicans are on board for the tax increase is, to me, the most significant finding in the survey.)

This isn't "soft" support for infrastructure either. It stretches from Maine to Montana, from California to Connecticut. Democrats (87%) and Republicans (74%) are prepared to, in Barack Obama's words, put skin in the game, which tells you just how wide and deep the support is.
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