That's All Folks

In an homage to the old saying "don't just sit there, do something," today the Senate passed their own version of the hopelessly mislabeled stimulus package. The homily they should have considered instead is "first, do no harm." In their haste -- and that of the President -- to do something, anything, and quickly, they have put together a plan which is unlikely to stimulate anything but partisan debate during the 2010 congressional election.

What is apparent is even those most vehement supporters of the bill realize it is flawed. Really, the only argument is how deep and wide that flaw runs.

President Obama justified the package in a speech at George Mason University last Thursday, "There is no doubt that the cost of this plan will be considerable. It will certainly add to the budget deficit in the short term. But equally certain are the consequences of doing too little or nothing at all."

Senator Charles Schumer dismissed the excessive earmarks and unnecessary spending in a widely circulated interview, where he was quoted as saying "and let me say this to all of the chattering class that so much focuses on those little, tiny, yes, porky amendments. The American people really don't care." He went on to say that the American people care about tax credits more than "some small provision in the bill that souldn't be there."

Well, with his express admission that there is pork in the bill that shouldn't be there shouldn't the answer be, say, to remove it? But Schumer, along with the rest of the Democrats are following their leader's mantra -- we won. So they will push through the most spending they can get away with, even as public opinion polls indicate that the pubilc is not in favor of massive spending and the more details they learn about the package, the less they support it.

President Obama frankly doesn't seem to care if this is the right move or not. He has painted a dire picture of an America on the brink and this legislation as the only salvation. And if he's wrong and the country does not recover or, worse, plunges deeper into economic despair? “I expect to be judged by results,” said the president at a town hall meeting in Ft. Meyers, Florida, on Tuesday. “I'm not going to make any excuses. If stuff hasn't worked and people don't feel like I've led the country in the right direction, then you'll have a new president.”

Forgive me for being glib, but, easy for him to say. The worse that will happen to Obama is he'll go on the media circuit and help Jimmy Carter build houses (bashing Israel optional). But if this untested, rash approach to fixing the economy fails, the price the country will pay will be much greater.

We are not suffering from a lack of government spending and the answer to our current problem is not just more spending. But the Democrats just can't help themselves -- they spend, it's what they do. Having given the Democrats the keys to the car, as it were, with their overwhelming victory in November, the American people better hope they don't crash.

Obama's Partisan Politics

Last night in a speech to House Democrats, President Obama made light of the Republican's objections to parts of the stimulus package. In a fairly mocking tone, Obama said of the Republicans, "So then you get the argument, 'well, this is not a stimulus bill, this is a spending bill.' What do you think a stimulus is? That's the whole point." His receptive audience laughed along with him.

If Obama wanted to bring change to Washington, launching a partisan attack less than a month into his presidency isn't the way. The Republicans are not the enemy. As the minority party, they have a role as old as our country -- to provide a check on the unfettered power of the majority. The 58 million plus voters who voted for the Republican candidate should not be shut out of the discussion over the country's future. The 22 states whose voters preferred the Republican candidate -- the no longer have a voice?

This may have been a "decisive" Democrat victory, but it does not result in a dictatorship. Hugo Chavez, Kim Jong-Il and Fidel Castro don't have to listen to the opposition, but Obama does. The "we won" attitude is hubristic and short sighted. Four or eight years from now when the Republican revolution comes back around, as these cycles tend to do, will the Republicans similarly be allowed to simply shove their agenda down the Democrats' throats without discussion?

We are in a dire economic situation, but that does not mean we have to act hastily or rashly. If it takes another day, week or even a month to come up with a viable solution that does not put us even further in the hole, then we should take that time. Obama is letting his ego get in the way of good judgment. This isn't about his winning his first Congressional battle -- it should be about what's best for the US economy and the US taxpayer.

There is no disputing that the stimulus package has pork in it -- an amount conservatively estimated to be $100 billion, more than one-tenth of the entire package. That is not an insignificant amount and Obama seems to conflate spending with stimulus. Simply put, not all spending will stimulate the economy. And at a time of such great economic crisis, now is not the time to load up a bill with unnecessary spending. This should be a streamlined bill aimed precisely at the ways to get the economy moving. It shouldn't be the Democrats' opportunity to push spending programs they've had their hearts set on for the past eight years.