From time to time, it's worth remembering that marginal Democrats -- from President Obama to House members from swing districts -- were elected instead of Republicans precisely because Republicans refused to address many of the country's most pressing priorities.
The good news for Democrats is that Republicans are still doing it. David Weigel:
The office of Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.) has sent around a document preemptively attacking a new stimulus bill. This objection is perfectly in line with Republican thinking, but I’m still surprised to see it:
The bill includes $79 Billion for safety net programs (more than is actually supposedly dedicated to job creation), including:
* Extension of unemployment benefits through June of 2010;
* Extension of COBRA subsidies through June of 2010;
* Extension of Increased Medicaid Matching Rates (FMAP) from December 31, 2010 to June 30, 2011; and
* Extension of the refundable child tax credit to those with income less than $3,000 (under the original stimulus, families must have at least $3,000 in income to qualify).
As Weigel points out, these are all popular programs, and if Republicans ran the show, there's no way they could actually pull off cutting them. The GOP is actually the Democratic Party's biggest asset. If Democrats stop caving into Republican demands and start delivering the change they promised in 2008, they could end up doing better than expected in 2010. Their opposition is the definition of weak.