Republicans Always on the Defense

It thoroughly mystifies me how it is that republicans can have the upper hand and yet always come out looking like they're the bad guy.

They offered a bill that would both extend the tax cut and also provide more jobs through the pipeline. The democrats in the Senate take that bill, gut it, and shorten it to a ridiculous 2 months, and then leave so they don't have to deal with whatever the senate sends back to them.

This is as much as to say that he house better just pass what they send back to them. It also implies that the house has no right to make any changes, but this is just the reason the founders determined this process. Sure they must have known that the house would make changes and send it back to them, but they decide to leave town so the bill is left hanging with republicans and then blame the lack of passage on the republicans when in fact the lack of passage is because the senate left town thinking this would force the republicans to just vote on whatever was sent them.

Now my question is, "Why don't the republicans explain the facts to the American people?" We're not idiots. We are certainly smart enough to get it and be mad at the right people about the lack of an extension to the bill. Clearly the democrats wanted the bill rejected and hanging with the house. All the house had to do was just make their changes back to what they wanted and send it back to the Senate. Then it is no longer their fault that the democrat controlled Senate isn't voting on their bill because they're too interested in getting home for Christmas.

It is almost as though republicans want to make themselves irrelevant so that they can later blame the democrats, but the problem is the only time they seem able to do that is when they are out of power. When they are in power they seem unable to mount any decent defense.

Maybe it is time for the republican party to go away and be replaced by some independent party that is willing to vote, stand and defend their consciences.