How long have the House Republicans been back in power?

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Even Politico sees right through them -- well, sort of, to a point:

Just hours after taking control of the House, Republicans passed a sweeping set of rules promising transparency and reform.

But the new majority is already showing these promises aren't exactly set in stone.

After calling for bills to go through a regular committee process, the bill that would repeal the health care law will not go through a single committee. Despite promising a more open amendment process for bills, amendments for the health care repeal will be all but shut down. After calling for a strict committee attendance list to be posted online, Republicans backpedaled and ditched that from the rules. They promised constitutional citations for every bill but have yet to add that language to early bills.

Republicans say there are subtle reasons for these moves and that they certainly will follow their own rules throughout the 112th Congress. But the hedging on some promises shows just how hard it will be to always match the sharp rhetoric of the campaign with the ugly and complex work of running the House.

Oh, please. This isn't about Republicans "hedging" or having to deal with the realities of legislating, it's about hypocrisy, about combining right-wing ideology with being full of shit.

They demand that the Constitution be read in full, but it's just a PR stunt. They demand that government be made smaller but want nothing to do with military spending cuts and want to maintain or expand the national security state. They talk up freedom but promote theocratic social conservatism and civil rights abuses. They promote transparency but are closed and partisan. They call for the budget to be balanced but refuse to put tax cuts on the table, including the Bush tax cuts that are such a huge chunk of the deficit, refuse to specify what programs they want to cut, mainly because government programs are generally popular, and push for health-care reform to be repealed, even though the Affordable Care Act would provide enormous savings over the next decade.

This has nothing to do with the ugliness or complexity of being in power in the House and everything to do with Republicans being Republicans, getting elected by deceiving voters and then defecating all over their supposed principles. (Of course, their real principles involve doing whatever it takes to make the rich richer and to establish the infrastructure to protect their beloved oligarchy.)

Am I being too harsh? Please. If you really think the Republicans are sincere in their rhetoric and will really do what they profess to want to do, you deserve the havoc they would unleash upon the country.