Bi-partisanism is not just an ideal... it needs to be the result as well. You can't say you are being bi-paritsan (or non-partisan as Nancy Pelosi says) when the result is dramatic division. You can't strut around saying "we won" and that is is my way or the highway and ever expect to get anything constuctive done. Obama has not offered one olive branch to Republicans, he does not seem to want to work in a united front on this, quite the opposite really.
As of yesterday only 42% of Americans think this is a good idea and the bill in the House didn't even get 100% Democratic support.
"This isn't about playing the game, this is about doing something good for the American people," Republican Jon Kyl said at a briefing with several of his Senate colleagues, accusing the Democrats of ignoring their objections.
"It doesn't seem they were interested in the same kind of bipartisan outreach that the president was," Kyl said. "We are too often met with this response: 'we won.'"
Senator Roger Wicker echoed his colleagues in calling for more time for debate, highlighting a full-page ad by more than 300 free-market economists in the Washington Post against the stimulus package.
"Ladies and gentlemen, a trillion dollars is a terrible thing to waste," he said. "Let's be careful we're not making the situation worse in an attempt to make it better."
"We've reached out to Republicans all along the way and they know it," she told reporters, citing the inclusion of Republican tax-cutting proposals and the party's participation in an open House debate.
"They just didn't have the ideas that had the support of the majority of the people in the Congress," Pelosi said.
"We need to act and we need to act now," she said, highlighting the latest news of job losses, adding she looked forward to marrying the House bill with the version eventually passed by the Senate.
But Republican Senator Jeff Sessions said the US public was only just realizing the enormity of the stimulus bill.
"I don't think the American people like this. I think after the ground shifts with public opinion, hopefully we'll be able to make some changes," he said.
Obama is supposed to be ending this deep division that has plagued Congress for the past 2 years. He is making it worse and more divisive.
ReplyDeletePolitics of the past are supposed to have been left behind, but Obama (and his party)is ratcheting up the division.
The previous $700bill was a bad idea, I said it then and I'll say it now. This $800+ billion is an even worse idea and is going to be even less effective.
"To the victor belongs the spoils" - Nice to see the new Obama administration so eager to teach us all a lesson.
Politicians always use a crisis (magnified by fear in the media) to advance their agenda.
ReplyDeleteThe economy is in turmoil! Therefore let's get all the money we can for unrelated things because the American people are too stupid to know any better!
This is a SPENDING bill, not a stimulus bill. If it was for stimulus it would be more FOCUSED on accomplishing things like unfreezing credit and creating jobs.
I can't stand the spending that is designated for poor people. 1) It's not the poor peoples' money, it's our money 2) You shouldn't exclude people from help just because they work hard. Many middle class families are having a tough time right now. And they also have more to lose, like homes.
And what is this digital TV bullshit!? WTF does that got to do with stimulus. In a recession you're supposed to cut out the things that are "nice to have" and just stick to necessities. This spending bill includes everything.
Part of the problem with worshiping a politician is that the people trust every decision he makes, and he can tread all over them.
ReplyDeleteNo politician deserves that much trust and idolizing.
Public Enemy's new single came out yesterday. It's called Power To The Feds.
And in support of Obama's anti-2nd amendment agenda, they've also released a song called "911 Is Super Reliable" to explain to the people that they should rely on the police to protect them at all times.
ReplyDeleteGet Up Get Get Get Down
Fire arms aren't needed in Yo Town!
"Politicians always use a crisis (magnified by fear in the media) to advance their agenda."
ReplyDeleteWell said! Can the liberals say "I R A Q"?
This is no different except this may actually cost more and do less. (i don't want to debate that statement, we've already had that debate)
This is a spending bill. Its a hodgepodge of increased funding to existing and failing government programs.
This bill should really be stripped down to very specific infrastructure projects, tax cuts, foreclosure support, lending support and stimulus checks. Nothing more... Obama should have the guts to eliminate the pork.
The reason I know this is not a bi-partisan effort is because the Democrats almost universally support this (save for 7 people).
If this was bi-partisan there would be Democrats upset with Obama for cutting their pet-projects, but we don't have that do we? How can one party be so overwhelmingly happy? Because Obama gave them everything they wanted, why? because "they won".. weak Barack, weak.
Great quote about the stimulus: This is a horse designed by a committee and it looks like a camel.
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