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To those of us observing, this comes as no surprise. A year ago I wrote about it here , and expanded on it here , here and here . And now, Senator Schumer has hammered that home in this speech at EPI . And we need to start asking ourselves an uncomfortable question – are Republicans slowing down the recovery on purpose for political gain in 2012? It’s one thing for them to block programs they have always opposed. But when they start to contradict themselves by opposing programs they have supported—such as pro-business tax cuts—we are left to wonder. Let’s not forget – Senator McConnell made it clear last October that his number one priority, above everything else, is to defeat President Obama. And now it is becoming clear that insisting on a slash-and-burn approach may be part of this plan – it has a double-benefit for Republicans: it is ideologically tidy and it undermines the economic recovery, which they think only helps them in 2012. The result is that Republicans aren‘t just opposing the President any more. They are opposing the economic recovery itself – and all that means for America’s working and middle class families. It’s about damn time someone called the naked emperor out. I am so tired of hearing the press memes about Obama this, Obama that, and how it’s all going to land on the head of Obama. No. These crazy lunatics on the right are colluding with their corporate brothers to bring down this economy with the assistance of the media. During the Bush administration the debt ceiling had to be raised several times. Note the difference in how it was covered from 2001-2008. The Beltway media was certainly willing to report an increase as a ‘painful vote’, but not one in question. There was never any question that the debt ceiling would be increased then. The only question then was whether the debt ceiling would be raised while the Bush tax cuts were cemented in at the same time. They were. If we could possibly get the media to actually report what Republicans are doing — bankrupting the country, stalling any economic growth for short-term Republican gains, keeping unemployment rates high by decimating the ranks of government employees, and more — maybe there would be an opportunity to move past the stupid finger-pointing into some thoughtful debate about how wrong it is to keep tax rates low while the entire country suffers as a result.