Do you hope that the stimulus plan fails to lift us out of this recession? I am not asking if you think it will, but do you hope that it will? I have heard that Republicans in the House and most Republicans in the Senate are pinning their hopes on it failing to do any good. I read that Rush Limbaugh said he hopes that Obama’s policies fails.
I’m not a big Rush Limbaugh fan, but I’m amazed at how people keep taking his remarks out of proportion. Rush said that he hopes Obama’s socialist policies fail – in other words, he doesn’t want us to head down the path of socialism. This is not the same as wishing economic doom on the country, or for the stimulus package to fail, or even for the Obama presidency to fail. Let’s set things in perspective here.
Although the OP is based on fale premises, let me make a statement anyhow.
I do not hope the stimulus works. I consider that, frankly, an impossibility.*
I also do not hope it fails.
*It also neatly punctures the idea that (human) thought precedes reality. Believe me, if wishful thinking could make things so, life would be a lot easier.
This is what I initially thought was all he said, but on listening to an expanded recording, I thought it was on another day, it seemed to me that he also hoped Obama would fail in every way possible, not the policies which Rush found socialist.
Any way, the question remains, are you as a conservative hoping the stimulus fails, and if so, why is that what you want?
Why do you think they insisted on tax breaks ,which have proven not to work, be put in the bill, and then refused to vote for it. They will sabotage everything they can. Rush is a spokesman for them. He did not suddenly drop to the earth . He has been a jerk and a sycophant for the powerful for a long time. The richies really screwed up, but that does not mean they want to cede power.
Do you honestly think that Rush is hoping that Obama will fail to defend the country against terrorists? Or fail to promote law and order? Or fail to help the economy recover?
As I said, I’m not a fan of Rush Limbaugh. Still, I think it’s clear that people are allowing their hatred for Rush to color their perceptions. Their distaste for the man causes them to interpret his words in the most extreme, most heinous manner possible.
Even if we grant that to be true, it’s irrelevant to the question at hand – namely, what Rush meant when he said that he wanted Obama’s policies to fail. You might not agree that Obama has any socialist policies, but Rush obviously does, so your disagreement with him on this matter is simply irrelevant.
That’s a good question, and it’s one that liberals should ask before they jump down Limbaugh’s throat.
I do know there are some out there who hope that the fail is spectacular enough that the enemies, the dems, never can get in office again. Some people are crazy. I know of some out there who hope that there is a balance between the two parties and they can never get another piece of legislation through ever. In the same vein, I know some who on hearing an acquaintance was raped say that it was about time she was taught a lesson. I don’t think any of these responses is admirable but I have heard them expressed, seemingly sincerely.
Yes, yes, and yes, along with a lot of the right. They’d love a major terrorist attack they could blame on Obama. They’d love a rise in general chaos they could blame on “socialism” or “liberalism”. And they’d love it if the economy collapsed so far that the government had to be gutted, and people became so desperate for work they would put up with hellish conditions for low pay.
Paul Broun would seem a whole lot crazier if I had not heard about so much idiocy in the choices of what to cover under current government programs. I think we would do well to listen to these concerns and make sure they are not realized, just as I wish we had listened to those who said that the Patriot act would just be an excuse for massive surveillance without oversight, or when people protested that government databases to be used by DHS would be subject to abuse and just put information in an easy package for criminals to poach via hacking or bribes. Or those like me who asked what happens when real estate prices fall?
Or in the current plan, how we are risking that digitized standardized medical records become one big invasion of privacy or worse. I am not opposed to digitizing medical records in a standardized way, I think is is inevitable, I hope that we can temper the risks.
I think if we do better at listening to those who look like Chicken Little today, the sky would fall less often.
Is that quote supposed to show that Paul Broun hopes the stimulus plan fails? Or is just opposing the stimulus plan proof that you’re a traitor who hates America?
On the contrary, it is Limbaugh’s words that cause my distaste for the man.
If he only wishes for Obama’s “socialist policies” to fail, has he singled out precisely which policies those are, and which he would like to see succeed? If he hasn’t, then that amounts to a blanket condemnation, and all the rationalizing and parsing of his words falls flat.
I do not believe that Limbaugh wishes to see any ills befall the country. I do believe that when anything bad does happen, he will use whatever means necessary to blame democrats, and that he is attempting to lay the groundwork for that blame in advance. To decide on an agenda and to disregard facts (indeed, before facts are even known), and to use his influence to push that agenda as the dominant form of government, is arguably as reckless as wishing harm on the nation.
Nope. My mind is always open on ideas of unsettled economic theory; a lot of economists support this stimulus package but as a discipline economists still seem rather wary of stimulus packages. If it does in fact work out then it will give us a better understanding of an important tool of economic policy.
I expect the economy to get better with or without the stimulus; if the timing is right Obama will be able to claim a lion’s share of the credit. Not dissimilar from what FDR did with the Great Depression.
And where does Broun’s statement say that he doesn’t want the package to stimulate the economy? It does not. He says that the stimulus package is a collosally bad idea. He is saying that the package will NOT succeed. This is not logically equivalent to saying that he wants the package to fail.
Again, Broun’s statement is not the same as wanting the stimulus to fail. Interpreting his words in this manner is yet another example of allowing personal distate to color one’s perceptions.
As an aside, I have no opinion on whether Broun’s evaluation is correct or not. That’s simply not relevant. The point is that his words give no indication of hoping that the economy will not be stimulated.