I don't care if you're driving a hybrid or SUV. If you're driving toward a cliff, you have to change direction

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Barack Obama delivered a another stemwinder to House Democrats last night:

"I welcome this debate, but, come on, we are not going to get relief by turning back to the same policies that, for the last eight years, doubled our national debt, and threw our economy into a tail spin '' Obama said, with a passion unseen in public since the campaign trail. "We can't embrace the same old formula that says only tax cuts will address the problems we face.''

Opponents say the plan is not a stimulus bill, it's a spending bill, he said. "What do you think stimulus is?'' Obama said, with visible frustration. "That's the point.''

The president's appeal marks a sharply accelerated drive for an economic stimulus that Republicans are criticizing and some members of his own party are starting to question as the Senate debates a plan that cleared the House with unanimous opposition from the GOP. Obama plans a prime-time news conference Monday night to take the same case to the American public, but they are unlikely to see the campaign-styled passion that Obama rolled out for his party at its retreat tonight.

"I don't care if you're driving a hybrid or SUV. If you're driving toward a cliff, you have to change direction,'' Obama told his party, applauding the words of their new president at the start of a weekend retreat. "That's what the American people called for."

Politico has more, including this quip:

“When you start hearing arguments, on the cable chatter, just understand a couple of things,” he said. “No. 1, when they say, ‘Well, why are we spending $800 billion [when] we’ve got this huge deficit?’ – first of all, I found this deficit when I showed up, No. 1.

“I found this national debt, doubled, wrapped in a big bow waiting for me as I stepped into the Oval Office.”

How long before the wingnuts and their Village enablers all simultaneously fall to their fainting couches? Ah, poor sweet Bipartisanship, foully struck low in the bloom of youth!

I think John Cole has it about right:

I really don’t understand how bipartisanship is ever going to work when one of the parties is insane. Imagine trying to negotiate an agreement on dinner plans with your date, and you suggest Italian and she states her preference would be a meal of tire rims and anthrax. If you can figure out a way to split the difference there and find a meal you will both enjoy, you can probably figure out how bipartisanship is going to work the next few years.

http://crooksandliars.com/david-neiwert/ob...g-toward-cliff-

[one...two...tree 2,762]

On The Chopping Block

Senate negotiations are still ongoing, so proposals and offers are not necessarily going to end up in the final stimulus package. But Greg Sargent obtained a memo from the Senate today that details "the latest cuts being eyed by the gang of Senators being led by Dem Ben Nelson and GOPer Susan Collins." The total for cuts in the package is between $80 billion and $100 billion. According to the document, funding for public transit and school construction would be reduced, funding for "Defense operations and procurement, STAG Grants, Brownfields, Additional transportation funding" would be increased; and funding for these programs would be eliminated altogether:

Head Start, Education for the Disadvantaged, School improvement, Child Nutrition, Firefighters, Transportation Security Administration, Coast Guard, Prisons, COPS Hiring, Violence Against Women, NASA, NSF, Western Area Power Administration, CDC, Food Stamps

The goal, according to Nelson, Collins, and their cohorts, is to limit the spending package to the most stimulative expenditures.

Now, there are good arguments for all of the various areas Nelson and Collins want to cut, but I'd like to single out food stamps, in part because I care about low-income families eating during a deep recession, and in part because they're an excellent stimulus. You may have seen this chart before, but it's worth looking at again:

Food stamps aren't just an effective stimulus, they're among the best when considering the proverbial bang for the buck. In fact, they're right up there with infrastructure (Democrats wanted to add additional infrastructure spending, but Republicans blocked it) and aid to state governments (which Nelson and Collins also want to cut).

I understand the drive to trim the overall package. I think it's misguided, but I understand it. But if you're looking to limit spending to areas with meaningful stimulative effects, why cut food stamps?

Post Script: I'd just add, by the way, that it's frustrating to see how arbitrary the decisions are in these negotiations. The Senate bill, before Nelson/Collins cuts, stands at $920 billion. The "centrists" want to cut $100 billion. Why? Apparently because it seems like a good number.

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Cut transit? Cut school construction?

Obama should veto this thing if it comes to his desk without enough infrastructure.

Of course, he's an idiot and has boxed himself into a corner with his asinine statements... so he can no longer veto it without looking like a fool.

Edited February 6, 2009 by A.J.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Cut transit? Cut school construction?

Obama should veto this thing if it comes to his desk without enough infrastructure.

Of course, he's an idiot and has boxed himself into a corner with his asinine statements... so he can no longer veto it without looking like a fool.

Although senators broke off a late-night session without a deal Thursday night, both Obama aides and congressional Democrats express confidence that a final version of the bill will, as planned, reach the president’s desk before the Congress leaves town for its Presidents’ Day recess.

But they acknowledge, some publicly and others privately, that for all of Obama’s popularity and the wide public support for taking steps to boost the economy, getting to final passage has not been easy, clearing a bill with broad bipartisan support is out of the question and the process has not been a pretty one for the new president.

“There’s no question that there’s been a distracting debate over particular elements of the package,” said Rep. Artur Davis (D-Ala.), an Obama ally who joined the president and other lawmakers to watch the Super Bowl on Sunday.

Davis wouldn’t point fingers, but there is a view among those close to Obama that the House version included too many unneeded provisions, including such public relations embarrassments as funding to refurbish the National Mall and for contraceptives, and that veteran Democratic appropriators did them no favors.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0209/18484.html

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Was that supposed to be a response to my post?

Because, you know... it wasn't.

[Waldo 0]

Cut transit? Cut school construction?

Obama should veto this thing if it comes to his desk without enough infrastructure.

Of course, he's an idiot and has boxed himself into a corner with his asinine statements... so he can no longer veto it without looking like a fool.

I graduated, I've got a great job, I've got no kids. I say we cut ALL school funds.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Was that supposed to be a response to my post?

Because, you know... it wasn't.

Which asinine statements were you referring to?

[Rocky_nBullwinkle 6]

Was that supposed to be a response to my post?

Because, you know... it wasn't.

Which asinine statements were you referring to?

Tsk, tsk...Can't you kids get along?

Senate schedules votes for 5 pm EST. Bipartisan working group still working...Reid wants to vote on final passage today...another late night expected for the Senate...Still raining in Forestville

--Bullwinkle

[NickD 203]

Just take that 750 billion bucks back from Wall Street and use that for the stimulus.

Course, with posts like this, nobody of importance reads them anyway.

[mawilson 2,133]

Why not just give people American Express gift cards with an expiration date instead of cash rebates?

Should be as good as food stamps - spend it or lose it.

[HAL 9000 96]

Why not just give people American Express gift cards with an expiration date instead of cash rebates?

Should be as good as food stamps - spend it or lose it.

Interesting idea there.