Barack Obama Swings and Misses.... Or Did He?
Well, the $815 Billion Economic Stimulus bill was passed by the House of Representatives this week , by a vote of 244-188. That was the good news for Barack Obama. The bad news was that after numerous attempts to reach across the aisle with the Republicans, Obama was unable to get one of them to vote for the bill. Yep, he got a big, fat zero.
Now, does that mean that Obama completely failed, that the GOP will plan on trying to block everything Obama tries, and that we're in for another four years of partisan bickering? I don't think so..
I for one think Obama did a good job of trying to make the GOP feel like their input mattered in the process, even if Nancy Pelosi didn't even call to get the GOP's help. That will hurt in the end, because the bill the House passed will not make it through the Senate - and it shouldn't. But, at least Obama put out the olive branch, which is more than Pelosi did.
And what about the GOP? Is this a flat out rebuff of Obama. No again. House GOP leaders also gave a lot of credit and appreciation for Obama' efforts, and made a special point to tell Obama that they didn't reject him, just the bill. They were right to do so. For an 'economic stimulus' bill, this puppy just has way to many things on it that have nothing to do with the economy. Yeah, any program is bound to create a few jobs, but lots of them need to be included on other bills, not bobtailed as stimulus..
Now for the most important part. Whether or not Obama has any GOP support, it does not matter. The Democrtas don't need the GOP's help to pass ro block anything. Their majorities are solid, they introduce the legislation, they pass it. The veto-proof 60 Dems that they talk about in the Senate is irrelevant as well. The veto override only matters if the President is from the other party. DC is all Democrat right now.
I could talk about what the GOP needs to get back any power, but that involves America going backwards, and I don't put party politics above America succeeding. I'm pretty cool like that. It's all up to the Democrats right now. They have the power, but like the saying goes, 'careful what you wish for.'... I will quote a line from 'Charlie Wilson's War', about the Zen parable of the little boy and the horse. No, I couldn't find a YouTube clip of it.
"A young boy in the village gets a horse for his 13th birthday, and everyoen in the village says, 'what a great thing'. The local Zen Master says 'We'll See."..... A few months later, the boy falls off the horse, and breaks his legs, crippling him, and the villagers say, 'Oh my, what a terrible thing.' The local Zen Master replies, 'We'll See.' ..... A couple years later, war breaks out, and all the young men are drafted into the army, except him, and all the villagers think, 'What a lucky boy'..... the Zen Master's reply? 'We'll See.'
We'll see indeed....
.
10 comments:
I think the GOP is throwing all their eggs in the he's gonna fail basket. I'm not sure I'd want to make that bet.
Ahh...the philosophy of Gust Avrakotos
That's about all you can do. It's cyclical - we screw up, you take over. Then you screw up, and we take over. It just depends on whether it's 4 years, 8 years , or 40 years..
I have no doubts the effect will be positive, but how effective is the question, and will these programs be cut back once the economy recovers?
Gust is The Man. Never doubt the judgement of the son of a soda pop maker in Aliquippa, Pa.
I always meant to pick up the Charlie Wilson book, but never got around to it. Then the movie came out and I didn't want to be a Johnny Come Lately.
You know, you really have to wonder what would have happened if we had stayed over there after the Soviets left and tried to build something. For folks who don't believe in blowback, I'm pretty sure we're reaping the rewards for that sowing.
Absolutely. As good as you might feel about the movie up to that point, the end smacks you right in the face - and it should.
No doubt that the lack of action at the right moment will leave a gap for other events to take it's place. Then again, the wrong action at the wrong moment will screw stuff up too. it's a tricky high wire act..
I would not had voted for it either. Just because no GOP member voted for it does not mean a thing other than the difference between the two parties.
Yeah, I don't see this as an Obama rebuff. Nnacy Pelosi got her liberal hands on this bill, and it ended up being soemthing more than he wanted. Will it change in the Senate? Maybe , but the GOP doesn't have the votes to stop it..
The Democratic majority doesn't guarantee anything at this point.
Keep in mind there are a lot of Senate freshmen Democrats who just won their seats from Republicans, and in the House, a lot of Democrats who are in their first or second terms in swing districts that used to be in GOP hands. Unlike the Democrats who held swing districts in the 70s and 80s, who often had a good bit of seniority in those seats, these guys know they're not too deeply-invested with rather fickle voters, and could be swept out pretty quickly.
If you look at the Dems who voted against it, all of them came from newly-won seats in swing districts who are mindful of how quickly a seat can flip. You can bet there will be 25 or so Dem house members who will regularly bail on Pelosi. That means 190 to 210 votes against anything no matter what, and bills that rile conservative voters may clear the 218 vote hurdle by just a dozen or so votes.
If this happens, it will make life hard for the Democrats and show the party is far from united. Not a good place to be if Obama's numbers start to head south.
Frank made a good point yesterday on This Week concerning Iraq and how that was a much bigger "spending bill." The majority of folks will always remember it was W and his congress that was at the helm when this stuff started.
If the GOP was smart, they would acknowledge that fact more in their opposition. Come on, they're the born again party. They should be good at that...we've seen the error of our ways, etc, etc. But of course, they dare not mention that, just just point the finger at the Dems and say, "no good, lousy liberals..."
Somthing like, "these guys are making the same mistakes we did...why don't we, Congress as a whole, learn from OUR (GOP's) mistakes."
That would sell a lot better with the average joe. But they won't do that. It makes too much sense.
Pelosi is responsible, in her intransigence, for the only bipartisan part of the bill being the nay votes.
Obama hasn't struck out, yet, but hanging responisbility for this fiasco of a "stimulus" package on the GOP, in the house at least, failed on the first pitch. If we're sticking to baseball terms, it's reached first base on a hit by pitcher, though it could be stranded while the inning is reviewed in the booth.
Post a Comment