There's been many reports on how the GOP strategy of being against anything Obama proposed came about. The Book "The New New Deal: The Hidden Story of Change in the Obama Era" by Michael Grunwald is one of a few sources that have outlined how the strategy was conceived and exectued. Here's a snippet Grunwald wrote which is one of the more well known stories about their "NO!" policy:
[The book] reveals some of my reporting on the Republican plot to obstruct President Obama before he even took office, including secret meetings led by House GOP whip Eric Cantor (in December 2008) and Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell (in early January 2009) in which they laid out their daring (though cynical and political) no-honeymoon strategy of all-out resistance to a popular President-elect during an economic emergency. “If he [Obama] was for it,” former Ohio Senator George Voinovich explained, “we had to be against it.”
Some classic examples over the years:
- After supporting 3 stimulus plants under Bush II, they say stimulus plans do not work when one was proposed by Obama. In reality, the GOP actually proposed one too. It was for about $100 less than Obama's. But they never talk about that now.
- Repeatedly filibustering nominess for different government posts who had been easily approved under previous administrations.
- Screaming about prosecuting terrorists in U.S. Courts under Obama after being silent when the Bush administration did it hundreds of times.
- Until Obama proposed the healthcare overhaul, many GOP'ers, including presidential contenders Gingrich and Romney, strongly supported the individual mandate. The mandate was a key part of the GOP's healthcare proposal in 1994 and Romney's Massachusetts plan.
- One of my favorites is the infamous light bulb standards. Originally passed in 2007 as a GOP created bill, once Obama used that as an example of energy efficiency, the very GOP congressman who created the bill, started the process to strike down the law. That's hilarious!
Here's the best summary of the GOP's policy that I have seen yet. In the movie "Horse Feathers" Grouch Marx plays the new Dean of a college who wants to run things his own way. He has this song "Whatever It Is I'm Against It!" to show how he stands against other people in the school's administration.