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| Hoyer: Voters upset about GOP obstructionism, not Dem agenda |
| 2010-01-20 |
| House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) on Tuesday said that angst voters have expressed early this election year is the result of GOP obstructionism, not the Democrats agenda. "McGinty!" "Yessir!" "You speak Gobbledegook! What's he saying?" Hoyer's remarks come as Republican state Sen. Scott Brown has surged in the Massachusetts special Senate election in part due to his pledge to be the GOP's 41st vote to filibuster healthcare reform legislation. "I think what the public is angry about is they see, first of all, an opposition for opposition's sake," Hoyer told reporters. Meanwhile, Brown has taken the lead over state Attorney General Martha Coakley (D) in some polls tracking the election to replace the late Sen. Ted Kennedy (D). Coakley has campaigned on her support of the Democrats' healthcare bill, appealing to Kennedy's role in trumpeting the issue through Congress for years. But the issue seems to have fallen out of favor with Massachusetts voters who will go to the polls Tuesday night. A recent Suffolk University poll showed that 51 percent of voters oppose the "national near-universal health-care package" and 61 percent say it is too costly. Other national polls have shown declining or stable support for the healthcare bill and the Democrats in Congress. Republicans say that the fact that the race in deep blue Massachusetts is close shows the unpopularity of the healthcare bill and Democrats in Washington. Hoyer, however, implied that the Republicans' strategy could backfire. He said that Republicans see the failure of the Democratic agenda as politically advantageous for them this year, an attitude that voters dislike. "People are angry, people are fearful, people are very concerned about where the economy is...Very frankly they knew that in November of '08 and they voted accordingly," he said. "They did not know, and frankly probably none of us in the room knew, how deep the recession was. But they knew the policies of the past administration were not working to bring about change." He also deflected suggestions that the contest is a referendum on the Democrats and President Barack Obama. "I don't need the Masachusetts race to tell me the struggles of the American people. I just need to go to the grocery store," he said. The Maryland lawmaker did acknowledge that Democrats have been hit because they are the party in power and the economy continues to struggle. "We're all pretty unpopular..Why? Because people don't feel good and we're the leaders and we're in office and they expected us to do something," he said. Overall, though, Hoyer defended the Democrats' ability to right the ship. "We've been trying to do something. I think we're making some progress," he said. |
| Posted by:Beavis |
| #14 I hope the House Democrats keep believing their own BS through November. Then the tsunami ... |
| Posted by: DMFD 2010-01-20 19:41 |
| #13 You're an idiot, Hoyer. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2010-01-20 14:44 |
| #12 I think Hoyer and Baghdad Bob are the same person. |
| Posted by: Karl Rove 2010-01-20 11:01 |
| #11 We've been hearing about how blue Mass is, but Maryland is bluer. Hoyer, Mikulski, Sarbanes/Cardin, no reasonable donk since Wm. Donald Schaeffer. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2010-01-20 09:37 |
| #10 Sorry, dude. There are four lights. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2010-01-20 09:22 |
| #9 Don't let the sound of your own wheels drive you crazy... |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2010-01-20 08:32 |
| #8 GOP obstructionism, not the Democrats agenda Someone better clue this clueless idiot that the GOP had no power to obstruct. This is insulting to the voters. They are better informed and smarter than this. See Massachusetts' outcome |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2010-01-20 08:31 |
| #7 Hoyer's quote is one of the best examples I've ever seen of postmodernism. All facts which do not support the narrative are to be ignored. And stories will be told to support the narrative regardless of their reality. Have Hoyer and Baghdad Bob ever been seen in the same room together? |
| Posted by: no mo uro 2010-01-20 07:25 |
| #6 If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle. - Sun Tzu |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2010-01-20 06:57 |
| #5 Misdirection. I think only the "kool-aide" drinkers are buying this. (and maybe some DUMB Americans/illegals). |
| Posted by: Tom--Pa 2010-01-20 06:47 |
| #4 This is just the type of comment I would expect from someone living in an alternate universe. Overall, though, Hoyer defended the Democrats' ability to right the ship. "We've been trying to do something. I think we're making some progress," he said. If you can not define the problem how can you expect to find a solution ? What have you done, on what subject, progress on what, which problem ..... ? I'm sorry Mr Hoyer, but you, your party Sir Your Ship will never come in, it has sunk. In the last year |
| Posted by: Large Ulaque3326 2010-01-20 06:47 |
| #3 So let me get this straight, Steny: The were so mad at the Rethuglicans that they elected another one? |
| Posted by: Bobby 2010-01-20 05:54 |
| #2 Yup, they are so pissed off at the GOP that the bluest state in the nation just voted in a Republican as their junior senator. Steny's not Mensa material, is he? |
| Posted by: Cornsilk Blondie 2010-01-20 00:33 |
| #1 Sounds like Steny's hitting the same bong as Madame Speaker... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2010-01-20 00:21 |