Wake up. It's not about the stimulus.....
C'mon, now. Somebody say it. The Republicans are opposed to the stimulus bill, not as a matter of policy, but as a political move to try and reclaim what they say is their identity.
They are in the wonderful costless position of the minority, where they get to complain with no responsibility to provide any alternatives or even any requirement to make any sense.
They are shouting to try and stake out identity.
In the end, the House Republicans will vote against, and the Senate leadership will release the one or two Senators necessary for passage. I guarantee you, the bill will go through, and the Republicans can claim a costless political opposition.
Then, in 2010, Congressional Republicans can claim they're all about reining in the deficit, trying to erase all the spending of the Bush years.
(It sure helps that the media is giving them so much airtime without asking any questions.)
I'll be very curious how it all plays when Obama makes the inevitable speech seeking support/explaining the bill. He gets the final definition on this thing. He's got the megaphone.
(Later: They're also working to kill any Obama momentum and eat up the first 100 days. Who cares if the country suffers in the process?
(Their SCHIP proposal got smashed.))
They are in the wonderful costless position of the minority, where they get to complain with no responsibility to provide any alternatives or even any requirement to make any sense.
They are shouting to try and stake out identity.
In the end, the House Republicans will vote against, and the Senate leadership will release the one or two Senators necessary for passage. I guarantee you, the bill will go through, and the Republicans can claim a costless political opposition.
Then, in 2010, Congressional Republicans can claim they're all about reining in the deficit, trying to erase all the spending of the Bush years.
(It sure helps that the media is giving them so much airtime without asking any questions.)
I'll be very curious how it all plays when Obama makes the inevitable speech seeking support/explaining the bill. He gets the final definition on this thing. He's got the megaphone.
(Later: They're also working to kill any Obama momentum and eat up the first 100 days. Who cares if the country suffers in the process?
(Their SCHIP proposal got smashed.))
posted by mikevotes at
1:49 PM
8 Comments:
Based upon your statements, you're assuming that the stimulus will work, that it will do something positive for the economy. I'll make a prediction, it won't have a positive effect. I hope I'm wrong but I don't see how more federal spending and the borrowing that comes along with that will do anything but send this country into a tailspin that we may not be able to get out of.
In regards to the economy, Republicans failed during the Bush years in that they moved away from their principles of limited government and lower spending. If you attribute that to a part of the problem we now face, how will over spending by Democrats be any different?
RKL
By
RKL, at 6:42 PM
I don't know whether or not the stimulus will work. However, the alternative of doing nothing whatsoever and hoping for the best holds little appeal for me.
Even less impressive are GOP proposals to hold down spending by withholding health care for children.
By
NYC Educator, at 7:28 PM
RKL, even if it doesn't work, the politics from the GOP side are largely the same. They want the benefit of "having been against it," but without actually stopping it so they don't have to pay the cost if it does work.
And, the problem now is different than then. In good times, you're supposed to run budget surpluses, in bad times you run deficits.
In other words, you don't spend all your nuts in the summer, and that's what Bush did. That's the difference.
....
NYC, yeah, that got just blown away. I don't know why they took that to the floor. I guess those who wanted it can claim the vote, but it's an embarrassment to the leadership.
By
mikevotes, at 9:57 PM
Well it's agreed, we don't know if this stimulus is going to work. The following is kind of a silly argument I'll admit but just give it a thought. Have you ever noticed that the more something is advertised the worse it usually is? For example, movies. The more that a movie is advertised the worse it usually seems to be. With that silly example in mind, why is that so many politicians are saying things like "we have to act quickly", "there is no time to waste", etc. In other words let's not debate the merits of what is being done. If we were talking low dollar figures perhaps it wouldn't be such a big deal. But given the incredibly high magnitudes of money that is being spent by our government, doesn't it frighten you that there is much "advertising" and little debate? Forget the Demo / Repub issues for a minute, isn't this mess we are in a failure of the entire government?
RKL
By
RKL, at 10:00 PM
Mike, we must have been replying simultaneously. Right now the GOP is forced into opposition politics. They can do nothing else but oppose. It would be the same if Democrats were in the minority.
I agree that Bush and the Republican majority failed. Well now it's the Democrat's turn. My original point remains unchanged. I do not think these stimulus packages will work.
RKL
By
RKL, at 10:05 PM
Frankly, I don't want to get too far into this argument, I just don't want to mess with it, but here's a quick "urgent and critical."
The banks have sharply limited lending. Business, particularly small/med family business is having huge trouble tapping loans and capitol in a downturn, meaning that they're having to cut jobs or close down.
More people out of work, means more people in foreclosure trouble with no ability to go to banks to refinance. More houses on the market.... banks have less value on their books, so they tighten lending even more.
So, basically, you have a three sided feedback between banks, home values, and job loss, that could continue to accelerate.
So, TARP for the banks, jobs for the unemployment, and a hope that home values stay up.
And, look, I'm broadly a balanced budget guy, but you have to do that over the arc of the business cycle. It's suicidal to try and do it quarter to quarter.
As for the movies, that's about your expectations.
By
mikevotes, at 10:10 PM
Well let's wait and watch. Perhaps the government truly will fix it all.
By
RKL, at 10:14 PM
No. The main thing they have to do is stop the fear.
By
mikevotes, at 10:19 PM
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