"Past Four Years" of Betrayal

  As far as the "past four years" go, this really is all you need to know.

  The night of newly-elected president Barack Obama’s inauguration on January 20, 2009, amidst a devastating recession at the hands of Wall Street recklessness, a group of 15 key Republican Party players were summoned to urgent business at a pricey restaurant in Washington D.C.

  The mission? Betrayal.

  The cozy cluster, made up of Republican lawmakers like the eventual vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan and old time connivers like Newt Gingrich, needed to map out a plan for the next four years.

  And man, did this country need a plan. Some 750,000 Americans were losing their jobs each month. Millions had lost their homes, millions more would follow suit. Personal savings vanished into thin air.

  But, turns out, this group of conservatives wasn’t so concerned with all that. They long ago had conveniently tuned out the desperate cries of Main Street to heed the demands of Wall Street.

 After three hours of strategizing at that secret meeting, Republicans had resolved a simple goal: Make President Barack Obama a one term president.

  And the rest is – almost history. At every turn, the Republicans (mostly House Republicans) agreed they would conspire to obstruct President Obama at every turn – even as it meant further penalizing the people at a time their constituents needed them most.

 Then, with the economy still struggling to recover from the devastation – largely endorsed, even orchestrated, by the corporate-controlled right – Athe Republican leadership would corruptly and childishly point a finger at the president, laying all the blame for any failures on him.

 The seedy details of that private dinner convened at the Caucus Room in Washington the same day President Obama was sworn in, were revealed in Robert Draper’s book, “Do Not Ask What Good We Do: Inside the U.S. House of Representatives” released this past April.

  Amidst all the partisan vitriol and blatant fabrications, some of us may have missed that pertinent news. Many of us need to be reminded of that dastardly scheme borne out of sheer, power-hungry partisanship while our country teetered at cliff’s edge.

  So here’s your reminder. It’s the height of hypocrisy for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney to stand before the American people and blame any lack of bi-partisanship on the President over the “past four years.”

 For the "past four years" House Republicans haven't seen their main duty as serving the people. Stemming the rise of foreclosures or passing job creating legislation or giving folks a helping hand took a back seat to tripping up the President whenever they got the chance.

 Take the President's American Jobs Act -- meant to create infrastructure jobs, offer tax credits for working Americans and employers and provide aid to state and local governments so they can avoid further layoffs of teachers, firefighters, police officers, and other public safety officials.

The American Jobs Act still awaits approval along with the American Veterans Corps Act, Farm Act, Violence Against Women Act among other bills, while House Republicans are taking a rare two month vacation that won't end until after the election. Surprised?

 For more than a year, House Republicans have consistently blocked President Obama's job legislation. Hey, partisanship is nothing new. But the extent the Right has pushed its agenda in these dire times encroaches on the side of criminal.

 It should be crystal clear to anyone paying attention that the unprecedented obstructionist House Republicans played an intricate role in any stagnation in Washington over the “past four years.”

 President Obama time and time gain over the “past four years” tried to reach across the aisle, only to get his hand smacked away by Speaker of The House John Boehner and his pals. Even the strongest of swimmers can get only so far with a ball and chain clasped around his ankle. 

  

 Americans are on the verge of being grifted again. The same crooks that robbed tens of millions of Americans of their homes, jobs and savings are now promising us the moon and the stars.

 

 Just because the Massachusetts Governor has made millions for himself and a privileged few as a big time investor, doesn’t make him fit to be president of the United States. Quite to the contrary. He’s got “Wall Street” written all over him.

 So, as you vote, keep in mind that privileged private meeting among Republicans “four years” ago and realize that for the “past four years” they’ve been working against progress just so they can insert a Big Money man in the White House.

 Realize that the Republicans not only have betrayed the President. They’ve betrayed the American people.