Civility from Democrats, Vol. 6

October 13, 2011

Desperate for Justifications, Vice President Joe Biden Suggests There Will Be More Rapes and Murders if GOP Doesn’t Pass Dems’ Second Stimulus

As Democrats are in disarray over their calls for a second stimulus after the first one failed, Vice President Joe Biden ratcheted up his rhetoric today by claiming that without passing Obama’s second stimulus, there would be more rapes and murders in the country.
It’s not the first time Democrats have jettisoned their professed commitment to civility, and it won’t be the last. Sen. Chuck Schumer today unveiled a plan to attack Republicans opposed to the second stimulus by attacking “tea party economics”—even though Democrats won’t even use the word “stimulus” because it is so tainted by failure.
This embrace of name-calling and scare tactics by national Democrats is especially noteworthy given the Democrats’ bold pronouncements on the importance of political civility at the beginning of the year.

BACKGROUND

As Democrats are in disarray over their calls for a second stimulus after the first one failed, Vice President Joe Biden ratcheted up his rhetoric today by claiming that without passing Obama’s second stimulus, there would be more rapes and murders in the country:

BIDEN: “GOD ONLY KNOWS WHAT THE [RAPE AND MURDER] NUMBERS WILL BE THIS YEAR” IF WE DON’T PASS ANOTHER STIMULUS: “ ‘In 2008, when Flint had 265 sworn officers on their police force, there were 35 murders and 91 rapes in this city,’ Biden said. ‘In 2010, when Flint had only 144 police officers, the murder rate climbed to 65 and rapes–just to pick two categories–climbed to 229. In 2011, you now only have 125 shields. God only knows what the numbers will be this year for Flint if we don’t rectify it.’”

“The vice president also seemed to suggest that the Obama administration’s first stimulus is the reason rapes and murders were not even higher in 2010 and 2011. ‘And God only knows what that number would have been had we not been able to get a little bit of help,’ Biden said.” (Daniel Halper, “Biden Warns of More Rapes and Murders If Jobs Bill Is Not Passed,” The Weekly Standard, 10/12/2011)

BUT OBAMA’S SECOND STIMULUS STILL HAS ZERO DEMOCRAT CO-SPONSORS IN THE HOUSE: (Thomas.gov, Accessed 10/12/2011)

ASSOCIATED PRESS FACT-CHECK: BUT THE TRUTH IS EVEN MANY DEMOCRATS ARE OPPOSED TO OBAMA’S SECOND STIMULUS: “When Obama accuses Republicans of standing in the way of his nearly $450 billion plan, he ignores the fact that his own party has struggled to unite behind the proposal.” (Erica Werner, “SPIN METER: ‘Obama’s Jobs Bill Sales Pitch Disconnects Rhetoric, Reality,” Associated Press, 10/10/2011)

It’s not the first time Democrats have jettisoned their professed commitment to civility, and it won’t be the last. Sen. Chuck Schumer today unveiled a plan to attack Republicans opposed to the second stimulus by attacking “tea party economics”—even though Democrats won’t even use the word “stimulus” because it is so tainted by failure:

DEMOCRATS’ ECONOMIC PLAN: ATTACK THE TEA PARTY: “Senate Democrats will brand Republican opposition to President Barack Obama’s jobs plan as ‘tea party economics,’ a top Democrat said Wednesday morning. Whether the White House will adopt the same strategy is unclear. …

Democrats will blame any Republican opposition to those measures on ‘tea party economics,’ a ‘tea party double-dip recession’ and ‘tea party gridlock’ – a nod to recent polling that shows the grassroots movement is losing favor with the American public.” (Scott Wong and Manu Raju, “Dems to Blast ‘Tea Party Economics’,” Politico, 10/12/2011)

WE’VE SEEN THIS MOVIE BEFORE: IN MARCH SCHUMER TOLD SENATE DEMS TO CALL TEA PARTY “EXTREME” WHENEVER POSSIBLE: “After thanking his colleagues — Barbara Boxer of California, Ben Cardin of Maryland, Tom Carper of Delaware and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut — for doing the budget bidding for the Senate Democrats, who are facing off against the House Republicans over how spending for the rest of the fiscal year, Mr. Schumer told them to portray John Boehner of Ohio, the Speaker of the House, as painted into a box by the Tea Party, and to decry the spending cuts that he wants as extreme. ‘I always use the word extreme,’ Mr. Schumer said, ‘That is what the caucus instructed me to use this week.’

“A minute or two into the talking-points tutorial, though, someone apparently figured out that reporters were listening, and silence fell.” (Jennifer Steinhauer, “On Senate Call, a Glimpse of Marching Orders,” The New York Times, 3/29/2011)

This embrace of name-calling and scare tactics by national Democrats is especially noteworthy given the Democrats’ bold pronouncements on the importance of political civility at the beginning of the year:

OBAMA IN TUCSON SPEECH: “… ONLY A MORE CIVIL AND HONEST PUBLIC DISCOURSE CAN HELP US FACE UP TO THE CHALLENGES OF OUR NATION …”(President Barack Obama, “Full Speech: Obama Urges Civility at Tucson Memorial,” PBS’s News Hour, 1/12/2011)

OBAMA IN 2010: “A BASIC LEVEL OF CIVILITY” THE WAY TO “KEEP OUR DEMOCRACY HEALTHY”: “Now, the second way to keep our democracy healthy is to maintain a basic level of civility in our public debate. … But we can’t expect to solve our problems if all we do is tear each other down. (Applause.) You can disagree with a certain policy without demonizing the person who espouses it. You can question somebody’s views and their judgment without questioning their motives or their patriotism.” (“Remarks by the President at University of Michigan Spring Commencement,” The White House, 5/1/2010)

DNC CHAIR DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: “It’s easy to throw bombs and to be incendiary, not so easy to sit down and to actually govern.” (Remarks from Debbie Wasserman Schultz, CBS’ “Face the Nation”, 5/29/2011)