Stimulus bill heads for Obama's desk
Historic win for Obama. Lest we forget - the bill passed with zero Republican votes in the House and just three Republican votes in the Senate. The three were Senators Specter, Snowe and Collins.
Specter said many Republican senators supported the bill, but they didn't want their fingerprints on it. Yep, cover your political behind first, the needs of the country second.
There's been plenty to complain about as we look back over the events surrounding the stimulus bill - it wasn't ambitious enough, Democrats made too many concessions and President Obama got too caught up with bipartisanship and lost control of the message.
You get the picture.
But the Washington Post had an interesting article that adds a little perspective to what's happened during the past two weeks...a little reminder that while certain trees were ugly, the forest looks pretty good.
"Twenty-four days into his presidency, Barack Obama recorded last night a legislative achievement of the sort that few of his predecessors achieved at any point in their tenure.
In size and scope, there is almost nothing in history to rival the economic stimulus legislation that Obama shepherded through Congress in just over three weeks. And the result -- produced largely without Republican participation -- was remarkably similar to the terms Obama's team outlined even before he was inaugurated: a package of tax cuts and spending totaling about $775 billion. [...]
[E]ven before the plan passed the Senate last night, the president's top advisers were crowing. "We've been in office, what, 2 1/2 , three weeks? We've passed the most major sweeping comprehensive legislation as relates to economic activity ever in a three-week period of time," White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel said Thursday evening in the West Wing.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) credited Obama's leadership on the legislation yesterday, saying, "The American people know, and historians are judging, that this is one remarkable president."[..]"
The Post also noted that we haven't seen a legislative win this big for a president since FDR overhauled the bankers in 1933, "which cleared Congress within days of his inauguration."
Right after the election we heard a lot of talk from Obama and his team about hitting the ground running...looks like they meant it.
You have to wonder if Hillary Clinton could have gotten something similar through. McCain would have said "tax cuts" and that wouldn't have worked even if it did pass. On the other hand, Obama used his huge popularity, went to the people, to pass something that while it may be imperfect, actually has substance.
Then too, we can't forget the other things this brand new administration has done - the Lily Ledbetter law, S-CHIP, stopping off shore drilling and lifting Bush Error health policy restrictions. Okay, he had a couple of cabinet posts vetting bumps (which president hasn't?) and one Republican treachery...but for the most part, he's abiding by his high ethical standards and getting rid of people who don't measure up.
So for 3 weeks, it's a monumental success. So bravo!
The Republicans, who chose to continue their failed policies are now paddling their boat straight toward the huge waterfall. Their new-found fiscal concerns are so laughable...they probably lost all the independent voters.
Now if only Obama *would* overhaul the banking system...
I saw an interesting conversation on Bill Moyers Journal with Simon Johnson (former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund) about that very thing, he had some good ideas:
