Friday, January 30, 2009
Stimulus Recovery Pork Bill
The juggernaut that is the "stimulus" bill is apparently blasting through Congress on its way to the President's desk, notwithstanding the united stand by House Repubs, along with 11 Dems who haven't (apparently) drunk the Kool-Aid.
The Senate being what it is, some Repub Senators will probably sign on--perhaps even Pres. O's erstwhile opponent, John McCain. But I suspect that there won't be enough Republican votes for Pres. O to claim it's a "bipartisan" effort without causing someone in the room to laugh out loud.
As said (many times) in the Star Wars series, I've got a baaad feeling about this.
I have no idea what Pres. O wants to really accomplish with this piece of dreck, but if I had to bet, I'd go with the "change the United States to a socialist society like pre-Thatcher UK" theory. If I'm wrong and he really wants to just get us out of the economic pickle we're in, then Pres. O is about to get rolled by the Pelosi/Reid axis. In that case, I have a suggestion for the Prez.
What he should do, when the bill lands on his desk, is veto it. Yep, I said veto it. He should use the occasion to make the point that the bill spends way too much money that we don't have, doesn't do much to create jobs, won't "jump start" the economy because the vast majority of the money won't hit the streets until halfway through next year, hasn't been debated thoroughly enough and is larded up with every Democratic Congressman's and Senator's pet projects that have been sitting in desk drawers since the beginning of the third year of Clinton's first term. He should tell the Dem Congressional leaders that the bill isn't what he wanted, and as written will harm the economy a lot more than it helps, and that they should try again, focusing on the immediate economic issues and nothing more, irrespective of whether he agrees with any particular provision that doesn't do that. And by the way, he should remind Pelosi and Reid that he made promises to be "post partisan" and they are screwing up his program by freezing out Republican ideas.
Such a veto would make it clear to Pelosi and Reid, not to mention the general population, that he is looking out for the Nation as a whole, and not just the "red" voters. It would also let them know that he cannot be rolled by them, and might just instill a little discipline in the legislative branch. It would also provide political cover for those Dems who might be uncomfortable with the bill, but are unwilling, for whatever reason, to part with the leadership. It wouldn't matter if the veto were overridden, because Obama's stature among the voters, who are now apparently beginning to realize what the bill would do to them, would skyrocket.
Do I think anything like this will happen? Not in a million years. But a guy can dream, can't he?
The Senate being what it is, some Repub Senators will probably sign on--perhaps even Pres. O's erstwhile opponent, John McCain. But I suspect that there won't be enough Republican votes for Pres. O to claim it's a "bipartisan" effort without causing someone in the room to laugh out loud.
As said (many times) in the Star Wars series, I've got a baaad feeling about this.
I have no idea what Pres. O wants to really accomplish with this piece of dreck, but if I had to bet, I'd go with the "change the United States to a socialist society like pre-Thatcher UK" theory. If I'm wrong and he really wants to just get us out of the economic pickle we're in, then Pres. O is about to get rolled by the Pelosi/Reid axis. In that case, I have a suggestion for the Prez.
What he should do, when the bill lands on his desk, is veto it. Yep, I said veto it. He should use the occasion to make the point that the bill spends way too much money that we don't have, doesn't do much to create jobs, won't "jump start" the economy because the vast majority of the money won't hit the streets until halfway through next year, hasn't been debated thoroughly enough and is larded up with every Democratic Congressman's and Senator's pet projects that have been sitting in desk drawers since the beginning of the third year of Clinton's first term. He should tell the Dem Congressional leaders that the bill isn't what he wanted, and as written will harm the economy a lot more than it helps, and that they should try again, focusing on the immediate economic issues and nothing more, irrespective of whether he agrees with any particular provision that doesn't do that. And by the way, he should remind Pelosi and Reid that he made promises to be "post partisan" and they are screwing up his program by freezing out Republican ideas.
Such a veto would make it clear to Pelosi and Reid, not to mention the general population, that he is looking out for the Nation as a whole, and not just the "red" voters. It would also let them know that he cannot be rolled by them, and might just instill a little discipline in the legislative branch. It would also provide political cover for those Dems who might be uncomfortable with the bill, but are unwilling, for whatever reason, to part with the leadership. It wouldn't matter if the veto were overridden, because Obama's stature among the voters, who are now apparently beginning to realize what the bill would do to them, would skyrocket.
Do I think anything like this will happen? Not in a million years. But a guy can dream, can't he?
Labels: Democrats, Economy, Financial crisis, Obama, politics, Stimulus
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