Yesterday, Senator Tom Harkin stood up strong for working people and told truth to power:
"There's only one thing we've got to do in this stimulus, and that's create jobs," Harkin told me. "I'm a little concerned by the way Mr. Summers and others are going on this ... it still looks a little more to me like trickle-down."
TPM
Damn, I love Harkin. A Dem willing to stand up for working people.
And the message was heard, loud and clear, by the Obama administration. David Axelrod:
"These folks are not potted plants. They're elected officials, and they're doing their jobs."
He added that "it's a collective process and we're willing to listen to people's ideas."
Conrad, who described the meeting as extremely positive, said Summers ended it by telling the senators, "Message received, loud and clear."
NY Times: Obama plan runs into party opposition
More, after the fold.
The Democratic Party and the progressive movement are much, much more than just Barack Obama, and it appears that the Obama administration-to-be is hearing us:
WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama's economic recovery plan ran into crossfire from his own party in Congress on Thursday, suggesting that quick passage of spending programs and tax cuts could require more time and negotiation than Democrats once hoped.
Senate Democrats complained that major components of his plan were not bold enough and urged more focus on creating jobs and rebuilding the nation's energy infrastructure rather than cutting taxes.
snip
Further complicating the picture, Democratic senators said Thursday that they would try to attach legislation to the package that would allow bankruptcy courts to modify home loans, a move that Republicans have opposed.
NY Times: Obama plan runs into party opposition
TPM reported on Sen. Harkin's reaction after a tough meeting between Senate Dems, Summers, Axelrod, and Philip Schiliro, who will be the chief White House lobbyist/liaison to Congress.
Democratic senators are still emerging from their closed-door briefing with Obama economic adviser Larry Summers ... but a senior Democratic senator, Iowa progressive Tom Harkin, just gave me a dire buzzword: trickle-down.
"There's only one thing we've got to do in this stimulus, and that's create jobs," Harkin told me. "I'm a little concerned by the way Mr. Summers and others are going on this ... it still looks a little more to me like trickle-down."
Likening Barack Obama's economic recovery plan to the failed supply-side excesses of the Reagan and Bush years is a bit of a Cassandra moment. But Harkin didn't back down. "What I'm hearing from Mr. Summers is that they've got a different approach -- tax breaks, and this and that," he said. Harkin warned that, much like the outcome of George Bush's $600 stimulus package last year, recipients of quick tax cuts "are going to be salting it away, not spending it."
TPM
Congress will have to fix Obama's plan. This is why many of us criticized Summers when so many on Daily Kos said Obama made policy. Whether it's Obama or Summers, or both, it's too much trickle down and it's the wrong way. Some of Obama's plan is good, and some needs work.
As Obama has said, no one has a monopoly on good ideas. Often he says that to show he will listen to Republicans. Now he's listening to Democrats. Good.
Meanwhile, Speaker Pelosi also stepped up yesterday. Now, I know people are disappointed with her on impeachment and other things, but she is to the left of Obama, and she is right on this:
Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters Thursday that she wants to see the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy repealed "as early as possible."
The call for repeal may place Pelosi at odds with President-elect Obama; during the campaign he called for repeal but his aides have since indicated that due to the deteriorating economy, he was leaning towards allowing them to expire.
Asked again after her press conference about the tax cuts, the Speaker said she is "urging repeal."
Pelosi noted that the Congressional Budget Office has determined that the tax cuts are the biggest contributor to the ballooning deficit. "Put me down as clearly as you possibly can as one who wants to have those tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans repealed," she said.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
Senators Kerry, Conrad and Wyden are fighting for working people, unafraid to tell truth to the new power soon to be in the White House:
WASHINGTON—President-elect Barack Obama's proposed tax cuts ran into opposition Thursday from senators in his own party who said they wouldn't do much to stimulate the economy or create jobs.
Senators from both parties agreed that Congress should do something to stimulate the economy. But Democratic senators emerging from a private meeting of the Senate Finance Committee criticized business and individual tax cuts in Obama's stimulus plan.
They were especially critical of a proposed $3,000 tax credit for companies that hire or retrain workers.
"If I'm a business person, it's unlikely if you give me a several-thousand-dollar credit that I'm going to hire people if I can't sell the products they're producing," said Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., a member of the committee.
"That to me is just misdirected," Conrad said.
Sen John Kerry, D-Mass., said, "I'd rather spend the money on the infrastructure, on direct investment, on energy conversion, on other kinds of things that much more directly, much more rapidly and much more certainly create a real job."
The cost of the economic rescue package Obama wants is expected to swell to $800 billion or more. About $300 billion of Obama's package would be for tax cuts or refunds for individuals and businesses.
snip
Rep. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said he doubted that a modest tax cut would change consumers' spending habits.
"In tough times people don't respond all that well to marginal changes, such as a small amount of money added per paycheck," Wyden said.
http://www.newstimes.com/...
Senator Conrad laid it out:
Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., chairman of the Budget Committee, said lawmakers and the incoming administration had differences over how to focus the huge federal spending in a recovery bill. "Investment, investment, investment has got to be the central focus: energy, roads, bridges, waterways, housing," he said. "Job creation is Job One."
The key to all of this is that the Obama administration-to-be is listening.
David Axelrod:
"Obviously, it's a big answer to a big problem and there are a lot of component parts to it," Axelrod said in an interview after meeting with balky Senate Democrats. "These folks are not potted plants. They're elected officials, and they're doing their jobs."
He added that "it's a collective process and we're willing to listen to people's ideas."
NY Times: Obama plan runs into party opposition
And as Larry Summers said: "Message received, loud and clear." This is good. As President, Obama will be willing to listen and consider the ideas of Democrats, and perhaps change course to incorporate better ideas. We have not had that in a generation.
(an earlier, but somewhat different, version of this diary was on MYDD and http://www.docudharma.com/... yesterday evening.)
Update I: Obama today:
My staff and I have been engaged in a constructive dialogue with members of Congress over the last few days and weeks about my American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan which will save or create at least 3 million jobs, and make long-term investments in the critical areas of energy, health care and education. We have made good progress in these consultations, and I look forward to working closely with Congress to shape legislation that will work for the American people.
But let me be clear: today's jobs report only underscores the need for us to move forward with a sense of urgency and common purpose. Behind each and every one of those millions of jobs lost there are workers and families who are counting on us as they struggle to pay the bills or stay in their homes. There are American dreams that are being deferred and that risk being denied. There is a devastating economic crisis that will become more and more difficult to contain with time. For the sake of our economy and our people, this is the moment to act, and to act without delay.
TPM: Remarks of President-Elect Barack Obama
Update II:
Obama: If The Idea Has Merit, It Will Be In The Stimulus