Dear President Obama,
This isn't why we voted for you. By change, we did not think you meant more empty overtures to Republicans to give you bipartisan cover and make the media like you. By change, we did not mean appointing the same Washington hacks who got us into this mess and who, unsurprisingly, come stacked with conflicts of interest and unpaid tax liabilities. By change, we did not mean moving slowly and cautiously. By change, we did not mean making compromising between mediocre and awful economic policies in the hopes that the free-market zombie Republicans would sing kumbaya with you. Anyone with half a brain knows they're going to neuter it and still vote against it.
Let me tell you something. If the economic stimulus package doesn't pass or gets watered down so much that it doesn't help the economy, no one is going to care how "inclusive" and "bipartisan" you've been. No one is going to care how many Republicans you've put in your Cabinet. No one is going to care whether you've changed "the tone" in Washington. People want the economy to get better. Everyone who is not trying to cause the Second Great Depression for political gain (aka Republicans) know that the way to do that is massive spending on public works, not tax cuts. This is not the time to cave into the demands of those who are not arguing in good faith.
President Obama, you made a mistake by proposing an $800 billion stimulus. Only a fool starts at the low-end of a proposal and expects the opposition to consent to more. And you really expected the spineless, cowardly Congressional Democrats to pressure you? They couldn't even stand up to President Bush when he had a 25% approval rating.
You made a mistake appointing economic "experts" like Lawrence Summers and Tim Geithner who would rather risk hundreds of billions in taxpayer dollars in a giveaway to banks rather than taking them over, clearing out the current stockholders, and having to use terribly partisan words like "nationalization." Stop listening to the Washington elites and start reading somePaul Krugman.
You have a mandate for change and you are blowing it. I'm not going to pretend I'm not disappointed. It's time to stop giving you a pass.