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Opinion: The GOP, the ‘Party of Yes, But ... ‘

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Republicans reject the label that the GOP is the ‘Party of No.’

So, I say, let’s compromise. (What’s ‘compromise’ mean, Republicans might ask? No, no, that’s a cheap shot; keep it clean.) We’ll christen today’s GOP the ‘Party of Yes, But …’

As in: Yes, President Obama, we agree to extend the payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits, but … we also want the go-ahead for an environmentally risky, global-warming-enhancing pipeline, and changes to the healthcare reform law, and freezing government workers’ pay even longer, and, and, and.

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Or this: Yes, President Obama, we agree to approve your nominee to head the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, but … first you must agree to restructure the new bureau to weaken its authority.

Or even this: Yes, President Obama, go ahead and nominate well-qualified people -- such as Caitlin Halligan or Goodwin Liu -- to federal judgeships, but … no, we aren’t going to approve any of them, so there!

(Ooops, how did that ‘no’ get in there? Well, old habits.)

So you see, the GOP really is ready to say yes to the president, but … not this president.

It’s odd, but I don’t remember the Republican lawmakers being so tightfisted when President Bush came to them every few months to pony up more billions for the war in Iraq.

And I don’t remember them worrying about making up for the lost revenue when they approved his tax cuts.

Then, it was just the ‘Party of Yes.’

Now? Well, spin it any way you want, but the common thread in the Republicans’ stances is this:

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If it’s something to help the working class, we can’t afford it.

If it’s something to help the rich, we can’t afford not to afford it.

And whether it’s Mitt Romney or Newt Gingrich running on that platform, it’s hard to see how, come November 2012, that isn’t going to make the GOP the ‘Party of Nowhere.’

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--Paul Whitefield

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