No Is The Answer

There's a lot of negativity going on in Washington these days. . . .

House Republican leader John Boehner was home in Ohio addressing the City Club of Cleveland (well, he represents a district in the Cincinnati area, but never mind), calling on President Obama to fire his economic advisers, keep the Bush tax cuts in place, and repeal the health care law passed in March. Just as Mitch McConnell intimated that he will tell Obama what to do by demanding that he adopt a center-right agenda if the Republicans win control of the Senate in November, Boehner pretty much said he'll tell Obama what not to do if the Republicans win the House in November. He's already telling Obama that now, in fact. So, no to Obama's economic plans, no to tax increases on the wealthiest Americans, and no to health care reform, even if it doesn't go as far as the Canadian system. Vice President Joe Biden says that he still doesn't know what the Republicans are for. Does Boehner have a positive agenda for a Republican House - or even a set of policy proposals like Newt Gingrich's Contract With America from 1994?

Boehner can't give an honest answer, because the answer would be no.

Meanwhile, Shirley Sherrod said no to a new job at the Agriculture Department involving civil rights-related "outreach" work after Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack forced her to resign from the agency for statements about race taken out of context. She may do some consulting work for the department. I admire her stand on principle - telling the government agency who forced her out to give the precious outreach job offered to her out of guilt to someone else - but I hope she has something to fall back in the middle of a severe recession.

A lot of people are looking for work. But prospective employers keep telling them no.