Party-Line Vote on Stimulus Poses Risks for Both Sides

[question everything]

FEBRUARY 11, 2009

Party-Line Vote on Stimulus Poses Risks for Both Sides
By NAFTALI BENDAVID
WSJ

WASHINGTON -- The largely party-line votes in Congress on President Barack Obama's stimulus package raise the political stakes for Democrats and Republicans over its success or failure. "This is the electoral version of all-in, for both the Democrats and Republicans," said Rep. Anthony Weiner (D., N.Y.), referring to a poker strategy when a player bets all his chips. "If these policies are a success, the Democrats are going to own it, and only they will own it. And the reverse is true as well."

The gamble would seem to be bigger for Republicans, since most Americans currently support Mr. Obama and his efforts to push through the stimulus, as reflected in three polls released shortly before the president's prime-time news conference Monday evening. Sixty-seven percent of Americans approve of the job Mr. Obama is doing, and 48% approve of the Democrats in Congress, while just 31% support the Republicans, according to a Gallup poll. Gallup attributed this to a "sharp divide" between the public's view of how Mr. Obama and the Republicans have handled the stimulus. The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press found that those who say the two sides are not cooperating enough on the economic plan blame the Republican leaders by a margin of 61% to 16%.

(snip)

David Axelrod, Mr. Obama's top political adviser, said the public is not overly immersed in the details of the versions of the plan, but simply wants action quickly. "The American people are desperate for us to act. They understand that we're in crisis. They're living it every single day," Mr. Axelrod told reporters aboard Air Force One this week. "They're not into the machinations that folks in Washington are. They're not sweating this detail or that detail." Republicans have made a different political calculation. Voters are worried by the $800 billion-plus size of the package, they think, as well as some dubious items in it, and will reward the GOP for trying to act as wise fiscal stewards.

"This is something that I think is going to be a very positive thing for Republicans," Sen. James Inhofe (R., Okla.) said on the Senate floor. "This does have a happy ending." By "happy ending," Mr. Inhofe meant electoral defeat for Democrats in the 2010 midterm elections. He likened the situation to 1992, the last time Democrats won unified control of Washington. Shortly after that victory, Democrats pushed through a budget bill, including tax increases, without a single Republican vote, and made an unsuccessful attempt at health-care overhaul. Democrats suffered a historic loss two years later, in part from what Mr. Inhofe portrayed as Democratic overreaching.

(snip)

In the current downturn, many experts think the economy will be improving slightly but not dramatically by November 2010, allowing both sides to claim they were right about the recovery package. Democrats can say things would have been far worse without the stimulus, while Republicans can argue that it did little to help.

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http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123429485188369455.html (subscription)

[rpannier]

1. Someone needs to send that poll to Heath Schuler and tell him to shut his face nt

[The Brethren]

2. I have gotten to a point

where I will believe something as it happens when it regards our government. Corruption and/or mismanagement of money is nothing new with our government. I hope everyone will carefully read what this bill entails and how the monies are actually being handled....in particular: state by state, then district by district. What I am interested in are the details of the bill and where that money ends up. And if the 787 billion dollars, plus the additional 75 billion dollars that Obama wants to give out as for "home owner's aid", are actually effective.

If both parties want to argue with each other over who is right and who is wrong, they can have at it. This should never have become a partisan issue. It should've been an emergency response to try, if possible, to help our economy, as is, and to hopefully turn things around. And when taxpayers have to pay for this, and all of the other government handouts over just the past few months, whether the handouts work or not, it's taxpayers who are going to foot this bill no matter how our government tries to slice it. And it will have nothing to do with what party someone belongs to, assuming they even belong to a party.




Know what you're paying for. The Stimulus Plan ("American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009"): Orig. House version -- http://appropriations.house.gov/pdf/RecoveryBill01-15-09.pdf , House spreadsheet -- http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pV-c6t5fOVmNorqMpHvnCMw ; Senate version -- http://appropriations.senate.gov/News/2009_02_02_The_American_Recovery_and_Reinvestment_Act_of_2009.pdf ; and Senate compromise -- http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h111-1 , Text and $$$ details of Senate compromise -- http://appropriations.senate.gov/News/2009_02_08_UPDATED_Appropriations_Provisions_of_American_Recovery_and_Reinvestment_Act.pdf?CFID=4043629&CFTOKEN=40573040 . In addition to -- http://readthestimulus.org/amdth1.pdf , along with -- http://www.readthestimulus.org/ . Final version, Feb. 13th, 1500 pgs. worth -- http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/arra_public_review/ , more details on the final version -- http://www.taxpayer.net/resources.php?category=&type=Project&proj_id=1913&action=Headlines%20By%20TCS , including spending -- http://cbs4denver.com/national/Web.government.accountability.2.937188.html