Winners All Always Pathetic Losers

They say everyone loves a winner, but whoever they are, they’re wrong. That’s just something people say, in spite of the obvious evidence to the contrary. Take the New York Yankees. Except for a local contingent of die-hard fans, everyone has always hated those guys, because they always won – they bought the best talent, as they always had the most money, and they won year after year after year – and the in last several decades there was also their arrogant and nasty owner, George Steinbrenner, who certainly didn’t make the Yankees any more lovable. The ragtag Brooklyn Dodgers were lovable – until they left for glitzy Los Angeles and the palm trees and beach bunnies and constant sunshine. The Chicago Cubs were lovable – lovable losers. Their fans always stuck with them, saying wait until next year. And everyone always rooted for the Boston Red Sox, who long ago traded Babe Ruth to the dreaded Yankees, creating the famous curse – until Boston finally started winning year after year. Yeah, well, who cares now? People like the underdog, and it was not for nothing all this was encapsulated in the 1955 musical Damn Yankees – a retelling of the Faust legend, where you have to sell your soul to beat these guys, which is what the guy from the Washington Senators pretty much had to do.

 

In football in the eighties it was the Dallas Cowboys, winning all the time and proudly calling themselves America’s Team. That might not have been a good marketing move. If you want to generate instant resentment and real, visceral hostility, that will do it – win big, repeatedly, and claim you and your guys are the real America, dismissing everyone else as pathetic losers. Actually, as you see, the winners are usually the pathetic losers.

 

Yes, the same holds true in politics. In 2006, the Democrats finally won back both houses of Congress from the Republicans, and in 2008 also won the White House. That made them the big winners. And that is why, as of Wednesday, February 4, 2009, this happens – the cable networks continue to tip the scales in favor of Republicans by booking twice or even three times as many Republicans as Democrats to discuss the stimulus bill. It makes things more interesting, like in the 1955 musical. And you see in the Washington Post – Senate Lacks Votes to Pass Stimulus. The Democrats won it all, and people resent winners. Rooting for the underdog is just human nature, and it looks as if there will be no stimulus bill passed – people will posture and tinker with it and amend it and revise it, and time will pass, and finally enough time will pass so that either things will have gotten better, so we don’t really need it, or worse, so it’s too late as the economy has completely collapsed.

 

But there’s a catch. Unlike with your favorite baseball or football team, in matters of economic national policy, sometimes rooting for the underdog is rather stupid. Unlike with the Chicago Cubs, there may not be a next year. In spite of what your high school coach told you, real life and sports are not one in the same thing. Think about it. Your coach was, after all, just trying to justify his own idiosyncratic career choice. Other grown men his age had real jobs and weren’t berating young boys and making them do push-ups. He said he was building character and preparing you for real life. Maybe so, but when you think about the dire straits (no, not the rock band) we are in at the moment, the whole sports thing, with arrogant winners and feisty and noble underdogs, leads to disaster, to insisting on what is not in your self-interest, or in anyone’s interest. Framing it that way is comfortable. That’s the problem.

 

Of course this puzzles many people. There’s this fellow with a vastly popular website, oddly called Balloon Juice, who used to be right of right, a super-defender of all things conservative, who ended up exasperated with George Bush and that crew, and quit the Republican side of things, and the party. Now he’s working things out on his own, and he’s puzzled. That would be John Cole:

 

The problem is who is informing us with what. Our media is simply failing us. Why have they not asked the Republicans how tax cuts are going to provide jobs? Why are they not laughing openly when the Republicans bring up capital gains tax cuts as part of a stimulus package? Why are they not asking the Republicans to explain how infrastructure spending is not stimulus? Why are they pretending this woman’s minor tax oversight is on par with outing a CIA agent or letting tens of thousands of people soak for a week in New Orleans. Why are they gleefully reporting about Joe the Plumber giving economic advice to the House republicans while their colleagues are writing about the Republicans being unified in opposition to the stimulus and putting two and two together and realizing that the opposition to the stimulus from Republicans is based on the deep thoughts of a drug addled radio host and a guy who installs toilets?

 

You can call me naive all you want, and I know I have a habit of falling for BS talking points, but I guess it is finally clear to me – it really is all just a game to these people.

 

Yes, that is the problem. The Associated Press dutifully noted President Obama’s warnings about a possible economic “catastrophe” if the stimulus bill, or recovery plan, or whatever, went nowhere or died. And he pointed out this was not a game, this was what everyone seems to have wanted –”In remarks at the White House, Obama argued that recalcitrant lawmakers need to get behind his approach, saying the American people embraced his ideas when they elected him president in November.” It was not so much that he won, which he did, it’s that folks were desperate for relief, for what he had suggested should be done.

 

He framed it this way:

 

Now, in the past few days I’ve heard criticisms of this plan that echo the very same failed theories that helped lead us into this crisis – the notion that tax cuts alone will solve all our problems; that we can ignore fundamental challenges like energy independence and the high cost of health care and still expect our economy and our country to thrive.

 

I reject that theory, and so did the American people when they went to the polls in November and voted resoundingly for change. So I urge members of Congress to act without delay. No plan is perfect, and we should work to make it stronger. But let’s not make the perfect the enemy of the essential. Let’s show people all over our country who are looking for leadership in this difficult time that we are equal to the task.

 

Steve Benen parses that:

 

It’s not “I won” rhetoric, but it is a pointed reminder. The president was effectively reminding folks – in an aggressive but non-confrontational way -, that the very same people who are blocking his recovery package had already their say. Indeed, they were given a chance to do what they’re proposing now, and it failed miserably. It’s one of the reasons Republicans were rejected in some large numbers by voters.

 

And he notes Greg Sargent saying Obama’s comments go “beyond the generic call to action we’ve heard from Obama thus far. By rejecting the ‘notion that tax cuts can solve all our problems,’ Obama is faulting conservative economic ideology, and arguing that this ideology is what landed us in our current mess.”

 

Benen adds this:

 

I can only assume that Obama’s entirely accurate remarks will be met with a new round of media complaints that the president isn’t being nearly “bipartisan” enough.

 

But he also note that “after a propaganda bombardment that’s been so intense that even those who would benefit from economic stimulus package are voicing their opposition” – the polling shows support for stimulus package falling to thirty-seven percent. People are rooting for the losers, the underdogs.

 

Of course you can turn to the congressional staffers and appropriations experts who crafted the bill in the first place. It seems they “have become nearly apoplectic” at this point:

 

The stimulus package, they say, is one of the most intricate pieces of legislation to come out of Congress in decades, one that achieves goals progressives have unsuccessfully sought for a quarter-century (yes, even through the Clinton administration).

 

In a series of interviews, these staffers, frustrated by the lack of effective push-back to the criticisms and restrained in their ability to mount an on-the-record defense, have resorted instead to an unexpected form of rebuttal — so what?

 

As in: So what if the bill includes a litany of unrelated projects? The stimulus is supposed to work across many sectors, not one. Predictive models are historically unreliable when it comes to job creation; the bill funds projects far and wide, near-term and long for a reason.

 

But everyone hates it:

 

Why didn’t a single House Republican vote for the recovery package? One high-ranking congressional aide opined to the Huffington Post, “It wasn’t because of family planning funds or preserving the National Mall or whatever Rush Limbaugh and Drudge’s talking points were. It’s because this legislation is the clearest repudiation of Bush and Congressional Republican economic policies yet.”

 

It is, in a way, a public relations coup that the stimulus has been boiled down to, as one Hill Democrat puts it, “funding for the arts, funding for the mall, and funding to fight AIDS.” Those aspects of the legislation, as the White House points out, constitute a mere 7/100th of one percent of the entire package. Moreover, the size of the legislation is not even the most pertinent topic of debate. For many economists, the issue isn’t whether the stimulus is too large, but whether it goes far enough in producing a new economic structure instead of patching up the old one.

 

Bush, out of office now, is the underdog here, and it’s time to defend him – or something. That’s fun, in spite of the data:

 

So, for example, when the bill includes $6.7 billion for renovations and repairs to federal buildings, it creates jobs for those doing the work, and it saves the government in the future because current buildings haven’t been weatherized. When the bill includes $2 billion in Head Start and Early Head Start funding, it creates educations jobs, and it pays dividends with long-term benefits to students. When the bill invests a $2.6 billion in advanced battery technology research and development, it creates engineering jobs, and it pays dividends in energy costs, U.S. manufacturing, and a competitive edge.

 

The other theme is that the Bush years have left the country’s economy in such disrepair that legislators are required to think big. This is true on a broad level, where the middle class saw its purchasing power drastically diminished as their income remained stagnant. But it is also true in a micro sense. Part of the reason the stimulus devotes so much to school renovation, an aide said, is because “there were pretty much no investments made in this area under the Bush administration… The only direct funding came in the form of emergency assistance in the gulf areas, after Katrina.”

 

And so, Democrats who crafted the stimulus found themselves in a bind: forced to patch up the bruises of the Bush years with an eye towards creating a new economic system entirely. Whether they can thread that needle is a topic of serious debate. But it is one they take more seriously than the complaints being lobbed by Republican critics.

 

“We cannot move forward without understanding what created this crisis,” said Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel. “This recovery package is the beginning of a longer-term investment in America’s middle class, our small businesses, health care, renewable energy technologies and a new infrastructure to reinvigorate our economy so that American workers and businesses can compete and win in the 21st Century.”

 

But that’s no fun. Seeing the winner brought down a peg or two is.

 

Steve Benen again:

 

When Republicans were running the show in DC, it was obviously a rather pathetic sight. The problem wasn’t just with the GOP proposals – though they were, to be sure, a complete mess – but with the Republicans’ inability to actually govern the country. It quickly became apparent, especially in 2005 and 2006, that being in the majority and holding positions of power doesn’t play to Republicans’ strengths – it requires them to exercise power effectively. That’s just not what the GOP does.

 

But it occurs to me, watching the debate over the economic stimulus package the last few weeks that Republicans are not without talents. Indeed, I’d argue GOP lawmakers are right where they need to be to play to their strengths. They’re not good at governing, but they’re exceptional at stopping others from governing. They don’t have what it takes to be a functioning majority party, but they’re a finely-tuned machine when it comes to working as an obstructionist opposition party, blocking good ideas, manipulating news outlets, and misleading the public.

 

Indeed, in the midst of a global economic calamity, Republicans are walking around with their heads held high, despite chronic unpopularity, a lack of political authority, no policy agenda, and a record of abject failure. Why? Because they’re doing exactly what they do best.

 

They play the underdog, messing up everyone’s fancy-pants plans, and people love them for it.

 

Also see Josh Marshall here:

 

Behind all the back and forth over the Stimulus Bill is a simple fact: the debate in Washington is rapidly moving away from any recognition that the US economy – and the global economy, for that matter – is in free-fall. The range of outcomes stretches from severe recession to something closer to a replay of the Great Depression, though that label is perhaps better seen as a placeholder for ‘catastrophic economic collapse’ since the underlying place of the US economy in the world economy is very different from what it was in 1929. This reality was palpable in the political debate until as recently as a few weeks ago. But Republicans are using a strategy of conscious denial to push it off the stage.

 

You change the crisis into a game, and you play the game, to win, or at least embarrass the Damn Yankees. But it’s still a crisis like we’ve never seen.

 

Benen says the Democrats just cannot seem to think that way:

 

But ask yourself: would Democrats in Congress, with the smallest minority in a generation, be able to pull that off? Would they have any chance of pitting a Republican White House against a Republican Congress? Could they block a rescue plan with a 41-seat Senate caucus? Of course not. In general, Democrats want to govern. They want responsibility. They want to consider the evidence and shape policy accordingly. But there’s simply no way in the world the Democratic Party could pull off a scheme on par with the one the Republicans are pulling now. It’s damn impressive.

 

In the midst of an economic crisis, the GOP and its allies have convinced a whole lot of people that the only sensible recovery plan is a bad idea. The minority party has not only persuaded news outlets to give them airtime to spew this obviously-ridiculous nonsense, they’ve also convinced a lot of media figures that they’re right.

 

It’s pretty extraordinary.

 

And it’s exciting. Curiously, Marshall ends with this:

 

Of course, at some level, why would Republicans be trying to drive the country off a cliff? Well, not pretty to say, but they see it in their political interests. Yes, the DeMints and Coburns just don’t believe in government at all or have genuinely held crankish economic views. But a successful Stimulus Bill would be devastating politically for the Republican Party. And they know it. If the GOP successfully bottles this up or kills it with a death of a thousand cuts, Democrats will have a good argument amongst themselves that Republicans were responsible for creating the carnage that followed. But the satisfaction will have to be amongst themselves since as a political matter it will be irrelevant. The public will be entirely within its rights to blame Democrats for any failure of government action that happened while Democrats held the White House and sizable majorities in both houses of Congress.

 

Yes, they know how to play the game. The Democrats don’t seem to be able to think of it as a game – it’s just policy and fixing things before everything comes crashing down – so they are losing the game badly. That happens when you don’t know you’re in a game. You thought you were dealing with a looming catastrophe. Ha, ha – you lose!

 

Of course that explains another thing. As you recall, Republican congressional aides gathered for a meeting of the Conservative Working Group and the topic was opposition to the economic stimulus package. The guest policy strategist was the unlicensed plumber Samuel “Joe the Plumber” Wurzelbacher. And he told the New York Daily News that “Went really well” for all concerned:

 

“It’s not politically incorrect to say you’re Republican or conservative,” Joe said. “They need to dig their heels in and fight for what needs to be done.” …

 

One thing that needs to be done, he said, is killing this stimulus package, because it’s just another example of “American government” – Republicans and Democrats – “kicking our butts left and right.” He also called it welfare.

 

Even the Republicans know this is a joke, but that’s the whole point. It shows the so-called winners of the last election that they take themselves far too seriously.

 

Oh, there are all kinds of thoughts on how the stimulus can be salvaged, like this from Michael Hirsh:

 

But now Obama needs to remind the American people that unless the Republicans get on board, they will bear political responsibility for failing to act in the face of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.

 

And there’s Theda Skocpol:

 

Obama is, sadly, much to blame for giving the Republicans so much leverage. He defined the challenge as bipartisanship not saving the U.S. economy. Right now, he has only one chance to re-set this deteriorating debate: He needs to give a major speech on the economy, explain to Americans what is happening and what must be done. People will, as of now, still listen to him – and what else is his political capital for?

 

And there’s Jonathan Zasloff:

 

The administration should use its supposed vaunted community organizing to build public pressure for its version of the stimulus, and then Obama, Pelosi, and Reid should hold a press conference where they say:

 

1) The only reason why the bill has not passed and Americans have not gotten economic relief is because of the Republican Party. And the only reason why the Republican Party has been able to obstruct is because of the filibuster (more accurately, Senate rules, but close enough.).

 

2) If the stimulus does not pass now, any future economic pain is solely the responsibility of the Republican Party. Any American who finds herself out of work, without medical care, etc. etc. can lay blame completely at the doorstep of the GOP.

 

3) Budget bills cannot be filibustered.

 

4) Thus, our intention is to pull the stimulus package now and resubmit it as part of the budget process. We will resubmit this budget with Democratic priorities and Democratic principles, and it will reinforce the goals that President Obama advocated during the campaign and for which the country gave him a mandate.

 

5) It will pass in that form.

 

6) To be sure, it will be much better to have a package now, but we will not compromise on what the American people voted for last November. And as we said, the public knows quite clearly upon whom the blame should land.

 

7) Negotiations are over. Take it or leave it.

 

Yeah, well – whatever. None of that seems likely, and see Ryan Avent here:

 

A changed tone in Washington, if costless, would be a wonderful thing. But voters put Obama and Democratic majorities into office in order to get results. If Obama chooses to embrace Republicans even as they actively work against the interests of the vast majority of Americans, then we have to question his judgment. It takes two to change the tone. Republicans aren’t interested, and they’re using his overtures to undermine the American economy and the Obama presidency. Obama’s mandate is his to deploy or squander, and the speed with which he has lost control of the storyline on stimulus suggests that he has miscalculated in figuring how much magnanimity that mandate affords him.

 

Whatever illusions the administration might have had that making nice on the stimulus bill would generate a comity that would carry over to other legislative priorities must now be shattered. This is what the process is going to look like for the next two years.

 

Understand it’s a game. That’s the thing.

 

Duncan Black gives us These Things I Know to Be True:

 

Republicans will scream until they get their way and then still not vote for it.

 

People who listen to Rush Limbaugh and then call Democratic offices to scream at them will never vote for a Democrat.

 

Without a good stimulus bill, we’re pretty fucked.

 

Unless Dems make a relatively forceful and united case, they’re pretty fucked.

 

But the mocking of the so-called winners continues. Senator Coburn, the Republican from Oklahoma, introduced an amendment to prevent any money from the Stimulus Bill being spent on “zero-gravity chairs” or on “rotating pastel lights.” Cool.

 

And from Fox News, Conservative Groups Declare Obama’s Stimulus Bill a War on Prayer – “A provision in the House-passed stimulus bill – banning money to be used to renovate schools from being spent on facilities that allow ‘religious worship’ – has ignited fury among those who claim it discriminates on the basis of…” Oh, you know the rest.

 

And all this is working – Senate Lacks Votes to Pass Stimulus.

 

See Duncan Black’s Deep Thought – “I wonder if this is how civilizations fall.”

 

Maybe so. Wellington famously said the Battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton and Harrow, as sports teaches life. Actually, it was a little more complicated than that. But we do like to think in those terms, still. It may be the death of us all.