I really think Obama has been making a mistake in being, not just focused on "bipartisanship" and bringing the Republicans around, but somehow not fully HERE with regard to the stimulus package.
Until the last couple of days, he's seemed content to sit in the background and let the House and the Senate hash things out. I think this has been a huge mistake. It's allowed the process to be hijacked by Republicans and "moderate" Democrats who have much different agendas from his. The Senators need to KNOW where he stands, unequivocally. The Democratic leadership needs to know exactly what he wants -- not in every last detail, but in much more specific terms than he has delineated so far. They need to know, too, that he will fight for his terms in this bill -- that way, they know they have cover in fighting for it themselves.
I agree with today's NY Times editorial.
Excerpt:
Mr. Obama needs to remind Republicans that he won the election on those terms. And he is going to have to get tough with Democrats. So will House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who have been too timorous about wielding their power.
I really think a president has to be very firm about what he wants; otherwise, everybody and his brother jumps in to fill the power vacuum. This has gone on long enough. The Republicans have got to realize that they lost the election, and "elections have consequences." We don't want them to feel totally marginalized and inconsequential (the way they made US feel -- we are better than that) -- but at the same time, they should know in no uncertain terms that the Democrats are now in charge, and they are going to have to defer on many things. Period.
Alas, the lead story in today's Times is Bipartisan Push to Trim Size of Stimulus Plan.
Members of the bipartisan group, led by Senators Ben Nelson, Democrat of Nebraska, and Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, said they wanted to trim provisions that would not quickly create jobs or encourage spending by consumers and businesses. They spent much of the day scrutinizing the 736-page bill and wrangling over what to cut.
But I agree totally with the Times editorial:
Short-term stimulus — more unemployment insurance, shovel-ready projects that put Americans to work — are a top priority. But Republican claims that spending money on projects that would take a year or two to develop is not stimulus are nonsense. By all projections, this will be a long recession and a protracted recovery. Money should be in the pipeline now for 2010 and 2011.
And Krugman has spoken about this as well -- having a few things that will come on line in a couple of years may be very, very important.
Let's continue to call our Senators and let them know -- we are watching and we don't want to see this thing watered down by the so-called "moderates"!