Who was that and what has he done with Tweety?

I'm surprised he didn't mention tax cuts, since they're supposed to be the solution to every conceivable problem.

I have always maintained that, in his way, GWB did keep us safe. Why should any outside force bother to attack us when our own president was destroying our economy, constitution and reputation?

well, i have never voted for a republican in my life but what have the democrats done in the past twenty years of note?

I wonder if he was afraid to mention Medicare D or NCLB. The CW still says those are accomplishments even if the base doesn't.

@mark - here's three: the Family and Medical Leave Act, the 1993 budget deal, and the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.

well, i have never voted for a republican in my life but what have the democrats done in the past twenty years of note? Posted by: mark on January 7, 2010

They may not be of note to you, but there are a great many for whom the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Family and Medical Leave Act are very noteworthy. Democrats have also more than doubled the minimum wage over that time period, and improved protections against wage discrimination (Ledbetter Act). These may not be sexy, hot-buttom items, but for non-wealthy working Americans, and in particular those with families, these are very real improvements in everyday life.

ok, since PVT types faster than I do most of mine ended up being repetitive, so let me add SCHIP - a tremndous expansion of health coverage for children.

YouTube is TV worth watching! Give the Rethugs some rope and watch them on the YouTube. American Idle.
Being a couch potato has never been so rewarding.

More rope please.

In other words, in the years since Movement Conservatism has taken over the the Republican Party, they have not made a single significant contribution to public life. Sounds like small government conservatism in action to me. These fools can't govern because they do not believe in governing, other than to line their own pockets with my money.

The stimulus, which saved our economy from a depression. We also saved Social Security from Bush. Soon, we'll have a health care bill (no matter how imperfect it is).

I would add that sending U.S. forces to Bosnia to stop the Serbian genocide there was an accomplishment, even though it wasn't handled adroitly and it was hamstrung by Republicans (who apparently don't like it when the U.S. attacks white foreigners).

The Republicans have conveniently forgotten they passed the single largest unfunded liability in the modern history of the Republic -- the Medicare Prescription Drug Act.

Harris said, "The Bush administration kept the country safe."

I just want to know why Richard Reid is not an example of security failure, but the crotchfire kid is.

What have the Democrats done? How about most of the regulatory laws that keep some sanity in the market? e.g., SEC of 1933/1935, Anti-trust regulations, how about 1964 Civil Rights Act, how about Medicare/medicaid, how about unemployment protections, workmen's compensation, how about the creation of OSHA and the EPA, neither of which would have happened without democratic support. The democratic party single-handedly created the modern federal state. In addition to state building, the party has expanded individual freedoms, such as choice, and pushed anti-discrimination laws too numerous to count, (ADA, ADEA),and provided additional protections from labor in this Counry that have forced the markets to provide a living wage. Our policy failures, repeal of Glass-Steagle for example, are far fewer than our accomplishments. Some of these initiative were supported by Republicans, but most were not. I am pretty damn proud to be part of that legacy.

I loved it when Harris spouted the usual Repug talking point, "The Bush administration kept us safe" and the Democratic Party strategist said, "Well, there was that one day....."

If I was grading the parties over the past 20 years, I would give the Democrats a C- and the GOP an F with extreme prejudice.

Another Democratic accomplishment was balancing the budget, all that failed to survive beyond the first few weeks of a Republican adminstration. Having fixed the Reagan/Bush I mess, we now have to attempt the more difficult task of fixing the Bush II mess. One of these days, if we're not careful, the R's will break the economy and the government beyond the ability of their Democratic successors to repair.

tax cuts for the wealthy (which isn't exactly an "accomplishment")

But that is an accomplishment from their standpoint. And especially from the standpoint of the top 1% and modern-day robber-barons. All Republicans are for the haves, while at least some of the Democrats are for the have-nots.

Neat in a way, but they can still wiggle out, for "safe" is code for "safe from pinko-gay-Muslim Democrats". Their position is that if they are in power, then America is safe from the Dems, the great enemy from within.

Chris Matthews regularly says dumb and/or offensive stuff, and rightly gets called out for it. But it's exactly exchanges like this that still make him worthwhile. Credit where it's due.

Russell Aboard M/V Sunshine: "These fools can't govern because they do not believe in governing, other than to line their own pockets with my money."

They don't campaign on the lining-their-pockets part, but what has always puzzled me is that they do campaign on the first part. Now, I can understand holding the belief that government is ineffective, incompetent, or even evil - but I will never understand why you would want anyone who held that belief in charge of government. I think a lot of people woke up to this during Katrina.

Let's be fair. The republicans did finally push through the "do not call" list!

"Christ" Matthews?

I agree that "a lot of people woke up to this during Katrina." From opinion polls, however, it appears that after they did so they hit the Snooze bar and rolled back over.

The majority of Americans, and particularly those who vote, are on a historical scale or a contemporary comparative international scale fat and happy. They have the luxury of not really caring about accomplishments -- American politics has become strictly tribal, like the big interstate rivalry college football game. It doesn't matter how they govern, so long as our team wins!

All of the consequences are felt either by the sizeable minority who can't get heard through the pep rallies and big donors and television play-by-play analysts or by future generations.

Hence Harris' inability to name a single Republican accomplishment has not stopped Republicans from repeatedly winning control of the government over that same time period -- and, sadly, will not prevent them from getting additional ability to obstruct in the 2010 midterms.

Well I have it on *very* good authority that Saint Ronnie single-handedly destroyed Communism...by giving a speech that one time apparently.

So there's that I guess ;)

I can think of two accomplishments, no matter how small, that the Republicans did to help the American people in the last 20 years: first, they removed the federal speed limit, allowing the states to determine what a safe driving speed is; second, they lost in 1992 and 2008, allowing Democrats to attempt to set the country back on the right course.

Typical libs, whining about what government has done for them lately.

Here in reality, people measure government by what it hasn't done to them. Republicans get an A for that.

When will you guys figure out that no one likes government programs of any kind? The midterms are going to be a real shock to you people.

Myke K: Troll.

Normally, I find Myke to be a really amusing parody taking a grain of Republican commenter and stretching it just beyond the breaking point.

This time, however, it is hard to laugh because I'm not sure there is any satire left: I fear "Myke K's" post is uncomfortably close to what the tea-stained American Electorate Circa 2010 may really think.

(The bitter upper midwest cold has apparently left me bitter as well. I'll have more hot coffee and try to be less cynical the rest of the day.)

When will you guys figure out that no one likes government programs of any kind?

Yeah, I hate driving on the interstate, and knowing the plane I fly in won't crash into another midair, and eating food that won't kill me, and being able to breathe the air, and all that other hippie shit.

And, God, I am going to hate the $8000 I'm going to get for buying a house last year, and you can sure as hell bet I'll be burning those Social Security checks when they come in.

Yep, don't listen to all those polls that show just how popular government programs are. You Republicans should campaign on eliminating everything and you'll be sure to sweep to victory. Once you're in power, our country will be a glorious government-free paradise, like Somalia!

To be fair, I believe that Bush the elder signed the ADA into law, and has been a fairly strong defender of the law in the years since. I think he at least deserves some credit for that.

On the other hand, it's been the Democratic Party, understanding that "the government" in a representative democracy is the people, has passed virtually all of the significant legislation providing for the general welfare of our citizens throughout the past century.
Including many programs which Repubs are pretending to defend today, even though they always try to cut them when they're in power.

And in the past twenty years or so it's been turning deficits into surpluses which has been the biggest Dem accomplishment on the economic front--which Repubs promptly squandered with unfunded tax cuts for the rich and an unfunded Medicare Part D that's nothing more than welfare for big pharma. Not to mention a trillion dollar occupation of Iraq, also paid for with deficit spending and untold lives.

I'm shocked he didn't mention lowering taxes or cutting spending (the latter of which isn't actually true). I may disagree with these policy goals, but they are GOP issues and they did cut taxes.

Matthews is also on top of Global Climate Change. He had a great piece on it a week or two ago.

Modern day Republicans have no Vision (with a big V). But the what do you expect from the Party of No?

Reading disabilities may be the biggest accomplishment of contributing trolls . A certain , sanguine , pleasure at the wholesale national , and global misfortune , double plus good of the generational opportunity for predatory vultures .

mark@8:45: well, i have never voted for a republican in my life but what have the democrats done in the past twenty years of note?

Duh. They reached across/around the isle and became more Republicanesque... that's what.

Allan -

ADA was 1990, and Bush the Elder did sign it. It begs a question, though, of whether the party with the Presidency automatically gets the credit (or, presumably, the blame) regardless of the more complete story.

Absent Democratic Senators Kennedy and Harkin, the ADA never happens, no matter how willing GHWB was to sign it once it passed.

The flip-side of the credit issue is SCHIP, for which one of the original sponsors was Sen. Hatch. I'd worry more about giving him and his party credit had it not been for the way they clearly, almost spitefully opposed the 2008 expansion efforts and the 2009 passage of the expansion.

To be fair, Matthews cut the man off at the end as he was starting to answer. He probably was going to repeat the "I'm focusing on 2010" line again, but it is misleading to say he sat there silently at the very end.

I usually don't watch Matthews because I believe he is a sub-par journalist. Sometimes he does make good points, but as often as he interrupts people, fires ten questions in a row, shouts people down, etc., I'm amazed he finds republicans to go on his show.

"When will you guys figure out that no one likes government programs of any kind? The midterms are going to be a real shock to you people.

Posted by: Myke K on January 7, 2010 at 9:51 AM"

Yeah, Medicare is despised, right...uh huh. So are Pell Grants. And unemployment insurance.

It begs a question, though, of whether the party with the Presidency automatically gets the credit (or, presumably, the blame) regardless of the more complete story.

I don't think they should necessarily, but in the case of the ADA, I happen to know that the Bush I administration, or his representatives in later years, have defended against challenges to the ADA before the Supreme Court. So I give him credit for that. Justice Scalia, on the other hand, has never hidden his disdain for that law.

It's also important to note that a "moderate" Repub like Bush the elder could never even get nominated by today's GOP.

Matthews should have asked what Republicans have done to the country.

To be more clear, I believe that Bush I has filed amicus briefs in defense of the ADA since he left office--something that he probably wouldn't do if he had only signed it for short term political reasons.

To be more clear, I believe that Bush I has filed amicus briefs in defense of the ADA since he left office

yet another reason Chairman Steele called HW a "mistake" the party had made!

Interestingly, even the RNC's own website can't think of a single Republican accomplishment since 2004's DC voucher system.

Republican accomplishments in the last 30 years:

Prop 13 in California! Passed in 1978, it reduced property taxes an average of 57%. It helped propel Ronald Reagan into office. And a cap on property taxes is still strangling the state's budget.

22 states are now Right To Work states!

Gov. Gilman abolished the car tax in Virginia! (It nearly bankrupted the state)

Republicans have initiated efforts to drill off the coast of Virginia, and they're still going after oil in ANWR. Drill, baby, drill!

Republicans are still fighting the good fight in the War Against Christmas, same sex marriage, the right to carry automatic weapons in public and praying in schools!

I really hope this means Chris Matthews has decided he doesn't like the taste of boots after all. I couldn't believe the way he held this guy's feet to the fire, because it seems to be a rule in what passes for journalism these days that you don't embarrass the guests no matter how far over the top they go - do that, and the guest's organization will brand you a pariah, and they'll set to work to discredit you. Matthews' tongue remembers well the flavour of Republican shoe leather while he was banking his Conservative chops. I can't imagine why he threw it all away in one Olbermanesque blaze of glory, but it was plainly unexpected.

The RNC's list of accomplishments includes Earl Warren, Republican, writing Brown vs. Board of Education in 1954. Who knew Warren would make it onto a list of RNC Republican heros?

What about the TSA?

Their sole accomplishment has been to triple the concentration of wealth to the top 1%. Everything else has been a mean to that end.

Re the question of what have the Democrats ever done for us, has someone else mentioned that under Clinton the federal budget was balanced and in surplus?

The most impressive Republican accomplishments over the past 20 years are not ones they can boast about: 1) they have been able to weaken government at all levels and 2) enact legislation to benefit the few at the expense of the many while 3) retaining their reputation as a credible political party. Republicans--with their failed ideology, policies, and practices--should have been driven out of town ridiculed, tarred and feathered; instead they continue to have a voice in the national conversation.

The ADA passed the Senate 76 to 08, so let's not give Poppy Bush too much credit. If he had decided to veto, he would have been easily overridden and looked like a chump.

The number one most prominent thing the Republican party has done for America the past 20 years is make our civil society less civil and more divisive! Put that thought in the Keaster! Using divide and conquer tactics revolving around prejudice and fear, the modern Republican party bears much of the responsibility for governmental gridlock, failed economic policies and the current social divide that is getting uglier as the days go by! -Kevo

The RNC actually lists invading Iraq? The worst foreign policy blunder in our history?

lolololololololol

I will always thank Dubyah for the "Do Not Call List" There is #1. #2 would be -going back 30 or more years - keeping our alli, the Swiss, strong with hoarded wealth from tax cuts and loop holes with that trickle on us economics that the conservativces still laud as viable to this day. That's all I got. I guess that is better than a goose egg on the scorecard.

Keep posting stuff like this i really like it