This past week, Arlen Specter decided that being a Republican in Pennsylvania is like having the plague (or swine flu) and he switched sides. Now he is Arlen Specter (D-Pennsylvania). To my fellow Democrats who think now we’ll have that magical filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, I wouldn’t hold my breath. He’s already said he would oppose legislation like the Employee Free Choice Act and health care reform; and even voted against the President’s budget the day after his announcement. This move was purely self-preservation on Arlen Specters part, and nobody should be duped to think otherwise-Democrats or Republicans.

But this does signal something more troubling for Republicans: they will continue to lose elections in 2010. Instead of moving towards the center of the Republican ideology, they are moving further right. And whether you believe this country is center-right or center-left, we’d all agree the collective ideology of the country is somewhere in the center. In Specter’s case, his Senate colleagues were disenchanted with his support of the President’s stimulus package, and vowed to rally around his 2010 primary challenger, Pat Toomey. While Specter was considered a moderate republican or “center-right”, Toomey is as far to the right as they come. While Toomey would have probably won the Republican primary in Pennsylvania, the election would not have fared as well for him in a state that overwhelmingly voted for President Obama. His democratic challenger would have won.

The Republican Party has become a party of absolutes. To be a part of the club, you have to be anti-abortion, anti-gay rights, anti-union, pro-business, a card-toting NRA member, and a devout Christian. If there is any slight variance in the ideology, you are out of the club. Some in the party are even requesting for John McCain to switch sides, because he doesn’t believe enough in those core principles.

If that is what the Republicans want to be, then they will only enjoy the company of 27% or so of the electorate. That won’t win elections.

To make matters worse, their arguments have become nonsensical. What is their answer to the economic crisis? To just say no on the stimulus bill, and more tax cuts for the wealthy. What is their answer to the health care crisis? To do nothing, cause then the illegal Mexicans will get free healthcare and then we’ll have a fascist socialist state. What is their reason for opposing legislation to extend hate crimes to include violent crimes against gays? To deny that violent crimes against gays exist. The majority of people can’t identify with the nonsense. They need leaders that offer solutions, or at least opposing viewpoints that make sense and quick, before the public totally quits listening to them.

As a progressive Democrat, I am somewhat reveling in their self-destruction. Yet, I also understand for the health of our Democratic Republic, we need a viable second party. Perhaps, a new party will emerge that will represent more of the people. For now, Republicans are only pushing themselves further into irrelevancy, which will only result in higher Democrat majorities.

The economy is sinking. Jobs lost in 2008: 2.5 million. Unemployment rose in 2008 to 7.2% . In January, 17,000 jobs were lost. Poof. Gone.

So last week, the House of Representatives passed an $812 billion dollar economic stimulus bill. The Democrats added some tax cuts to appease the Republicans who still think tax cuts stimulate the economy, and to appease the President who wants it to be a bipartisan effort. So now it’s a mix of tax cuts and government spending to spur the economy.

Wahoo! It Passed.

But it got ZERO Republican votes. Boo!

It seems to the republicans, there weren’t enough tax cuts. Hello? Didn’t we try this already? Remember Bushie’s tax cuts? The voo-doo economics was that if you let the tax payers keep their money; they will be the best ones to decide how to spend their money and thus boost the economy. Too bad they spent their money at Wal-Mart which buys their goods from China. So the tax cuts helped China. Yay!

Also, they cut capital gains taxes which did encourage more play in the stock market, which backfired, apparently. Look where the market is now. To put some historical data into it: the Dow Jones Industrial Average on September 11, 2001 was 8235.21. On January 30th 2008, the index closed at 8000.86. Between those times, the index peaked at 14,000 in October 2007. Guess what they were trading on during that time? No good mortgage securities. So between 2001 and now our economy was based on imaginary wealth.

So here is my advice to Republicans: YOU LOST. Get over it, and put on your big girl/boy pants.

And to democrats, remember YOU WON. So quit trying to appease the republicans by putting worthless tax cuts in the legislation, and be a little more inventive. Be tough. It’s okay to put provisions in it that are a little protectionist. Like demand that our new high speed rail system is made from steel made in America. Lincoln did that with the first Transcontinental railroad was built, even though Europe was better at smelting steel at the time. It was tough, but America grew and prospered.

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want a tax cut. But really, I’d just spend it on products made in China and India and Pakistan, because nothing is made in America anymore. It is time for us to make things in America, again. It is obvious that we can’t depend on the private sector to make that happen. We tried giving them tax cuts, but they used that to hire China.

So let’s try it again, the right way. Let’s rebuild America.