BloggeRhythms

Two items today, both from Chris Stirewalt’s column on Fox News on-line, present significant opportunity for Republicans, if they use the situations properly.

 

The first concerns the incumbent’s strong desire for passage of a $6.4 billion unemployment benefits extension. And since the extension’s so important to him, he seems willing to negotiate which permits several  Republicans to sense an opportunity to trade for progress on the Keystone Pipeline XL.

 

While there’s little doubt that reducing the cost of oil would quickly and significantly boost the economy all by itself, a meaningful uptick in employment would also result, making the situation win/win on all counts. However, what’s critical to Republicans in the matter is getting full credit for their persistence and ingenuity.

 

Along the same lines, Washington Examiner’s David Drucker points out why House Republicans are reluctant to support an extension of jobless benefits, as follows:

 

“If Republicans can successfully reframe the debate over unemployment benefits for voters, a crucial component of the Democrats’ election-year strategy could be upended…Republicans argue that Obama's strategy won't box them into a political corner. Instead, they said, the president's insistence on the dire need for additional jobless aid sends the message to voters that five years of his Democratic stewardship has failed to revive the economy.”

 

So here we have another case where the incumbent’s policies haven’t ever worked, and much like everything else he’s touched, require a bailout. But, while the problems he’s created are crystal clear to anyone having an iota of economic sense or business knowledge, the vast majority of the electorate are just as uneducated economy-wise as he is.

 

Consequently, there are huge opportunities here for the opposition to help substantially in solving the problems. However, since unfortunately it’s the way the political game is played, it’s paramount that Republicans also devise a way to profit for themselves at the polls.

 

That’s it for today folks.

 

Adios