Obama should have written his own Stimulus...Instead of allowing Dems and Repubs to pork it up!

[KoKo]

Surely this isn't what Obama meant when he vowed change:

At the same time, the man who wanted to lead the way to a new, less partisan politics finds himself caught in a partisan donnybrook between congressional Democrats and Republicans over a landmark proposal to stimulate the economy. The partisan fight is feeding dissent over the proposal and eroding public support.

Obama got the proposal through the House of Representatives without a single Republican vote. A new Gallup Poll on Tuesday found that just 38 percent of those polled want the proposal passed as written, while 37 percent want "major changes" and another 17 percent want it defeated.

Some of the opposition in Congress is ideological; conservatives oppose added federal spending. Some is economic; many economists think it won't work. Some is political, fed by criticisms of proposals to add pet projects to the bill such as $50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts.

"They are, in some ways, political cheap shots," said Bruce Buchanan, a scholar of the presidency at the University of Texas.

However, Obama left the door open for opponents to define the proposal, Buchanan said, by not making his own detailed plan and then following it up with a strong pitch. Instead the president backed a plan drafted largely by Democrats in Congress. In doing that, Obama surrendered some of his ability to "deflect" stories about the small controversial parts of the bill that dominate talk shows and Web sites, Buchanan said.

"Obama made the decision not to put his own detailed plan on the table. He decided to let the Democrats in Congress do it, then signaled his willingness to deal. His own story peg would have deflected some of the things they think are nitpicking. They have a bit of a communication problem there."

White House spokesman Gibbs said Tuesday that Obama remained confident that he'd set a high standard for his young administration — and that it was being met.

"We've put (in) a standard of ethics and accountability that's unseen and unmatched by any previous administration in our country's history," Gibbs said.

He added, however, that Obama never thought he could change the culture of Washington — ethically or politically — in his first weeks.

"The president understands that changing the way Washington works is not a one-, a two- or even a 15-day project," Gibbs said, "that it's something that encompasses work that he does and has to do each and every day."
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/61424.html

[sinkingfeeling]

1. Obama better send out a tour group to do 'town hall meetings' like Bush did to promote his crap.

Apparently the number of TVs tuned to Faux and other RW news media outnumber the number of American citizens who can understand the concept of this plan and what really might help the economy. We need our own propaganda machine!

[KoKo]

2. I thought this professor made a good point. It's maybe too late in the game

for the Town Hall Meetings and Fax & Phone. Obama should have presented his own first Stimulus Bill ...gotten that passed with emergency measures. He went for the whole enchilada that Nancy and many Dems wanted passed which was too much. Obama thought the Rupugs and Dems would work together to hash out what should be in the bill...and all would eventually work out in a great Bi-Partisan Tidal Wave. He miscalculated the viciousness of the Repug Majority and the special interests of some Dems. Now, he might not get anything.

I hope he will learn his lesson about "Bi-Partisanship" from this. The whole thing looks messy because he believed it would go through without him having to do much.

[KoKo]

3. Apparently Paul Krugman agrees....

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=8167526&mesg_id=8167526

[leftofthedial]

4. isn't "pork" a euphemism for

well, "fucking"?