A Trap?
Yesterday, I took issue with Obama and the Democrats taking family planning funds for low-income families out of the stimulus bill. I thought, and still do, believe it was an unconscionable act, turning the back of the hand to families that are already facing huge obstacles.
And yet… and yet… I am wondering if Obama has led the Republicans into a trap.
We have seen the family planning funds get ejected, and still the GOP plans to vote en masse against the bill.
We’ve seen mortgage modifictaion get cut and still the GOP plans to vote en masse against the bill.
The bill is filled with tax cuts the GOP insisted on, and still the GOP plans to vote no en masse.
It’s beginning to look to me like the GOP opposes ANY STIMULUS AT ALL NO MATTER WHAT OBAMA GIVES THEM. And yet there is no denying that Obama went out of his way for the GOP, certainly farther than most Democrats like me would like.
I am no Obama fanboy. I’m not one of those people that comes up with excuses for politicians behaving badly. I’m not easily persuaded.
But I think this time, Obama may have led the GOP into a trap. The public overwhelmingly supports some kind of stimulus. Obama has very publicly tried to get the GOP on board, and just as publicly, the GOP has said no. It’s the standard “Lucy-pulled-the-football” play… but this time I think Obama pulled the football, because (despite my strong objections to pulling family plannign funding etc.) the Democrats can say “look at everything we did to get the GOP on board! We are trying to “change” our politics, and the GOP simply doesn’t want to cooperate! Blame them if the economy fails!”
I think Obama plays a decent game of chess.
January 28th, 2009 at 10:43 am
Oh, absolutely. He didn’t have lunch with them yesterday to try to persuade them to his side — he had lunch with them to make them look like assholes for not budging and not being bipartisan. He doesn’t need their support; he won a mandate in his election, and the Congress is firmly in his party’s hands. The more the GOP reacts in such an ugly way to him every time he does something that looks bipartisan, the more he wins.
January 28th, 2009 at 11:43 am
yeah so can’t the dems just add all that stuff back in and pass something we can stomach?
January 28th, 2009 at 11:46 am
I think they’re going to try to put it in another bill.
not sure how that’ll work.
politics makes me sick sometimes.
January 28th, 2009 at 12:01 pm
Right. He’s forcing them into the Gingrich Corner, where they’ll get blamed if nothing is done. Most of the stimulus is increased Medicaid funding and unemployment benefits – that is, critical aid to the poor and jobless. So all the other smller stuff in there that they complain about – like “cash for condoms” – Obama says, “Right, I’ll take that out”, because he knows what they really object to is helping poor people, but they can’t politically come out and say it. Obama is both rolling the GOP on this bill and undercutting their ability to maintain the narrative that they’re the fiscally prudent ones.
Brendan, this post proves you’re smarter than David Sirota.
January 29th, 2009 at 5:46 am
Here, maybe your readers would like to know what exactly is in the “Spending Package” stated best by Johnbrodigan.com:
1. The $825 billion package slated for a House vote later this week will exceed more than $1.1 trillion when adding in the interest ($300 plus billion) between 2009-2019 to pay for it.
2. The Capitol Hill Democrats’ plan includes funding for contraceptives; regardless of where anyone stands on taxpayer funded contraception, there is no question that it has NOTHING to do with the economy. (Removed and should have been)
3. The legislation could open billions of taxpayer dollars to left-wing groups like the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), which has been accused of voter fraud, is reportedly under federal investigation; and played a key role in the housing meltdown.
4. Here are just a few of the programs and projects that have been included in the House Democrats’ proposal:
-$650 million for digital TV coupons.
-$600 million for new cars for the federal government.
-$6 billion for colleges/universities – many which have billion dollar endowments.
-$50 million in funding for the National Endowment of the Arts.
-$44 million for repairs to U.S. Department of Agriculture headquarters.
-$200 million for the National Mall, including $21 million for sod. (Removed)
5. The plan establishes at least 32 new government programs at a cost of over $136 billion.That means more than a third of this plan’s spending provisions are dedicated to creating new government programs.
6. The plan provides spending in at least 150 different federal programs, ranging from Amtrak to the Transportation Security Administration.Is this the “targeted” plan Democratic leaders promised?
7. Even though the legislation contains at least 152 separate spending proposals, the authors of the plan can only say that 34 have any chance at keeping or growing jobs.
8. Just one in seven dollars of an $18.5 billion expenditure on “energy efficiency” and “renewable energy programs” would be spent within the next 18 months.
9. The total cost of this one piece of legislation is almost as much as the annual discretionary budget for the entire federal government.
10. The House Democrats’ bill will cost each and every household $6,700 in additional debt, paid for by our children and grandchildren.
11. The bill provides enough spending – $825 billion – to give every man, woman, and child in America $2,700.$825 billion is enough to give every person in Ohio $72,000.
12. $825 billion is enough to give every person living in poverty in the United States $22,000.
13. Although the House Democrats’ proposal has been billed as a transportation and infrastructure investment package, in actuality only $30 billion of the bill – or three percent – is for road and highway spending.A recent study from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found that only 25 percent of infrastructure dollars can be spent in the first year, making the one year total less than $7 billion.
14. Much of the funding within the House Democrats’ proposal will go to programs that already have large, unexpended balances. For example, the bill provides $1 billion for Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) – a program that already has $16 billion on hand.States also are sitting on some $9 billion in unused highway funds – funds that Congress is prepared to rescind later this year.
15. All board members of the “Accountability and Transparency Board” created by this legislation are appointees of the President; none will be appointed by Congress.
16. A scant 2.7 percent, or $22.3 billion of the overall package, is dedicated to small business tax relief.
17. The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates that the legislation increases by seven million the number of people who get a check back from the IRS that exceeds what they paid in payroll and income taxes.
18. The “Making Work Pay” tax credit at the center of the plan amounts to $1.37 a day, or about the price of a cup of coffee.
19. Almost one-third of the so-called “tax relief” in the House Democrats’ bill is spending in disguise, meaning that true tax relief makes up only 24 percent of the total package – not the 40 percent that President Obama had requested.
20. $825 billion is just the beginning – many Capitol Hill Democrats want to spend even more taxpayer dollars on their “stimulus” plan.In fact, the Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, Rep. David Obey (D-WI), told Roll Call earlier this month, “I would not be surprised to see us go further on some of these programs down the line.”
The Democrats are causing generational theft with this “Spending Bill”
January 29th, 2009 at 8:58 am
yes, I need a lesson in “generational theft” from the conservatives, the folks who borught us $800 billion dollar war and the budget they won’t allow under congressional oversight.
Yes, a model of fiscal responsibility. People to be taken seriously. And who, ya know, just lost BIG time to the democrats who not only have a presidential mandate but a congressional mandate as well.
January 29th, 2009 at 9:01 am
Well if anyone knows about “generational theft” it’s conservatives and republicans, the folks who brought you the $800 billion dollar war with no budget oversight. Yes, these are the folks to pay attention to. Such fiscal responsibility, a war that our kids and their kids and their kids will pay for. Also, it’s always best to listen to the people who just, ya know,lost the election BIG TIME. And not just the presidential election: the gop lost everything but a tiny swatch of appalachia and northern texas. Face it: you lost, and now it’s time to take a back seat for a bit.
January 29th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
Nope. We will just spend the next 4 years the way you spent the last 8. Whining and complaining. Pointing out stupid things like Obama trying to walk into the White House through a window. Or how he stated he would not have any lobbyists in his administration, yet he has already broken that promise. Or when he raises taxes to pay for his spending package on people making less than 250,000 a year. When he sends unmanned drone planes into a sovereign nation like Pakistan and kills innocent people. Or a raid in Afghanistan that killed a number of civilians. Where is your outrage? We will be there to point all that out to you. The next 4 years are ours to sit back and criticize. Enjoy!
January 29th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
[...] comments on the strategy. [...]
January 29th, 2009 at 1:29 pm
again mickey: americans don’t need fiscal advice from the gusy who crashed the economy. and people aren’t listening to conservatives anymore: that much is obvious from electoral maps.
you lost and when you accept that you’ll feel better.