GOP Games Won't Stop Stimulus

Remember the friendly words of cooperation and bipartisanship offered by Republican lawmakers on the Hill in the wake of President Obama's inauguration?

Well, you can forget them. It seems the Republicans have.

How else can you explain the fact that not one House Republican -- ZERO -- managed to vote in support of the president's $819 billion plan to pull this country out of fiscal ruin? ...

Leaving A Family Legacy

Will & Jada Smith have no problems with their children following in their footsteps in Hollywood.

Charley Gallay, WireImage

Willow & Jaden have both been cast into their father's movies.

Getty Images

Phillippi Sparks' son might not have carried on the family football tradition of the NFL cornerback. But his daughter found success in another field.

Stan Honda, Getty Images

Jordin Sparks, the winner of the sixth season of American Idol and sang the "National Anthem" for the Super Bowl XLII, which made he dad very proud.

Mark Mainz, FOX / AP

Actor Alan Thicke passed on his good looks to his son, but not the acting gene.

Michael Buckner, Getty Images

While Grammy Award winning singer Robin Thicke does acting on occasion, he actually carries on the legacy of his singer mother Gloria Loring, who co-wrote the theme songs to "Diff'rent Strokes" and "The Facts of Life" with his father.

Retna

A name as cool asCuba Gooding has to be passed down through generations. The elder Cuba Gooding, the lead singer of the soul group The Main Ingredient, has passed on his legacy of entertaining to his two sons.

Michael Ochs Archives, Getty Images

In Cuba Gooding, Jr. movie "Radio," there is a scene where he is listening to The Main Ingredient. He's pictured here with his brother Omar.

Gregg DeGuire, WireImage

Basil Patterson a labor lawyer and longtime political leader in New York and Harlem passed the torch to his son, the 55th Governor of New York.

Chris Hondros, Getty Images

Before becoming Governor, David Patterson represented the same Harlem district in the State Senate that his father did.

Spencer Platt, Getty Images

Obama hasn't had a chance to get his chair in the Oval Office warm yet, and Republicans are already playing silly games. I can understand how many, if not a huge majority of, Republicans would vote against the package. Its recipe for spending runs opposite of the GOP mantra of smaller government.

But is it possible that none of them was bright enough to look past political ideology and see that the country is crumbling financially? Growing unemployment, shrinking real estate values and tight credit are just the start of our problems. As the great philosopher Fred Sanford once said, we aren't over the hill, we are down in the valley.

Only time will tell if the stimulus package will ultimately work. And valid questions can be asked of it. Will the tax cuts portion help middle-income Americans? Is $819 billion enough to reverse the tide?

One thing is certain. We can't afford to sit on our hands. Exactly what comprehensive program have Republicans offered in contrast? Don't let the silence scare you.

It is this silly retreat to partisan politics that is likely the reason Republicans are in the position they currently enjoy -- a minority party in both the House and Senate and locked out of the White House for at least four more years.

Nice going GOP. Keep it up.
_________________
Paul Shepard blogs the Democrat side of politics for Black Voices. He has been a journalist for 16 years: on the national urban/minority affairs beat for The Cleveland Plain Dealer and for AP in Washington, D.C. He now runs his own public affairs firm, Shepard Strategic Communications.