a reliable source says the nyc hipster (my sibling) was complaining that the republicans were not being patriotic in supporting the stimulus package being pushed through congress.a truly bipartisan president would have given each party as much percent say in the bill as there are democrats and republicans in congress (60/40). instead it's 90% democratically fueled, wasteful and very, very expensive.
see the worst of it in this op-ed piece...
my support for mr. obama is colored by my projections of what he might become as president. a thoughtful, pragmatic centrist who will weigh options and do what makes most sense. while his actions in recent days (from his 'failed policies of the last eight years' statements over the weekend to his inability to reign in nancy pelosi) have been disturbing, i believe there is still hope.
his appointments to date have been centrist, and if he can avoid his tendencies as a senator to always agree with the extreme left...then his appointments may hold his ear and talk sense into the new president's policies...
but who knows, i've enjoyed watching the far left cry foul as sensible people are appointed to key posts. we'll see if the joke's been on me during the coming weeks...
25 comments:
your reliable source is incorrect. why would i do something the bush administration was so many times guilty of? please do not quote those who misquote me.
So what do you think of the bill Stevie? Are you happy with it?
disturbing indeed. I'd have liked to have seen more facts out of the first article, but the one they did mention (90% of bill goes to "social programs") worries me a little.
thanks for the links.
good WSJ article. I like money going to infrastructure, and modernizing the energy grid. I think FDR's history shows that type of spending will create jobs. A little too much pork in this bill for my liking. This goes to show that Obama's biggest problem as pres. will be Pelosi.
could you be more vague please brother?
pelosi is definitely a negative force to be reckoned with
those last two comments were from paul...commenting from dad's upstairs computer:)
i'm sorry, paul, are you talking to me?
Good to see my computer knows what it is talking about.
My real hope is that congress sees an overhaul in the next election so that Republicans (not the Arlin Spector and Susan Collins type) win back at least one of the legislative bodies. I think Obama will be more successful as a centrist, but I don't think he'll be able to really be a centrist or even a center-left president as long as Polosi and Reed are in power.
Are any of you worried about control of the Census project being moved from Commerce Department to the White House under Rham Emanuel?
yes. heaven forbid the census accurately reflect the populace...
as for as the stimulus is concerned. i'm really disappointed with the behavior of the senate republicans. some of the biggest amendments that made it into the bill were from senate republicans who still didn't vote for it. if they are honest with themselves, they should either follow the SC gov sanford (or stanford, i can't remember) and not take any of the money from the stimulus bill in their states or districts (in the case of the house GOP) if they truly believe that it "is not good for the country" or figure out a way to pay the endless money drain they create in iraq... we heard nothing about "generational theft" during those debates...
i do, however, feel sympathy for the house republicans. they truly did not have a chance to alter the bill, so if they want the whine and moan about, it least it's justified since they really couldn't actually participate.
but the behavior of the GOP senators was sanctimonious nonsense. i was really disappointed. they have got to be kidding themselves. we need more realists and solution finders like FL gov. crist in the party or we are screwed...
obama's pandering to the black caucus by pulling the census from the white republican was not good politics.
what its real consequences will be is hard to tell...probably negligible.
it is worrisome that obama is showing more and more of his senate...vote the party line...tendencies.
obama's pandering to the black caucus by pulling the census from the white republican was not good politics.
what its real consequences will be is hard to tell...probably negligible.
it is worrisome that obama is showing more and more of his senate...vote the party line...tendencies.
Vote party line tendencies?
The Republicans showed how interested they are in bipartisanship, and they will probably continue voting as a block against anything Obama submits. Thank goodness they don't have a majority.
Bushenomics and Reaganomics (trickle-down tax cuts) are not going to work in this crisis.
Preventing efforts to try to effectively stimulate the economy will be a self-fulfilling prophesy: "See-I told you Dems couldn't do it."
The stimulus package will not be perfect, but it is better than sitting back and watching the economy continue to crumble.
The Republicans seem to me to be more interested in politics than they are in getting out of this mess.
I read a Duke economist last week who compared the stimulus cure for the economy to the old practice of bleeding patients to cure their fevers (or anything else). He noted an old family story where one of the kids came down with a fever and the doctor bled the child because they believed the fever was in the blood. When there was no improvement, the doctor bled the child again. The child eventually died and the family was angry and claimed the doctor should have bled her more and earlier on.
The point he was making is that we don't really know how to fix the economy. He admitted that the stimulus might work though he is inclined to believe it won't. And if it doesn't work, will the excuse be that we didn't spend more money faster? We all form opinions - STRONG OPINIONS - around these issues, but do any of us on this blog really know the answers to fixing this economy?
As for the census, I heard the secretary of commerce from Jimmy Carter's cabinet ranting about the dangers of moving it to the White House Chief of Staff. I didn't think much of the issue at first, but when even Carter's guys are sending us warnings, that's interesting.
certainly, the democrats are as justified as the republicans were to push through their own agenda...this is politics as usual.
the republicans were not asking to do nothing...they wanted a less keynesian--more monetarist approach.
again, obama held up the possibility of a more partisan, less dogmatic and cooperative government. one who worked on both sides of the aisle to get the work done. this is what i loved about his book.
he had this great chapter detailing his vision for bipartisanship: the ruling party gives real and meaningful concessions to the minority party with a rigorous media to keep the party in power in check.
letting pelosi run roughshod with the legislation in the house and then giving only the most token of concessions in the senate was disappointing. saying that obama and the democrats are entitled to play politics because bush did it for eight years is not exactly holding him to much of a standard.
Amy. I've been reading some of your past posts and it is great to catch up through the blog-o-sphere! Your family is beautiful! I can't believe how quickly our kids grow up : ) I also enjoyed your thoughts on current events. You have a real talent for expressing your thoughts through writing. I'll be checking back often. Have you guys decided where you're going for a job? Elise
I agree with the comment about the beautiful family, which I can only lay claim to (and be happy for) an unexpressed genetic heritage. And I sure hope Michael gets that beautiful Frandsen hair. However, there are some nasty X genes running around.
Census? Don't lose too much sleep. States will still draw up their own voting districts.
Bleeding us dry? That has been going on for a long time. The middle class aren't the ones with the private jets. The stimulus package concentrates on creating a greater demand, which means we are going to have to spread the wealth around a little. Corporate stimulus can only produce a greater supply-which we have plenty of.
I think I was misunderstood. I was not suggesting that the stimulus would bleed us dry (we're already bled dry before this bill). What the Duke economist was suggesting is that we are probably prescribing the wrong treatment to the problem because we don't really understand why the problem exists in the first place. In this, he is admiting that economists do not have all the answers to explain life and social behavior.
My personal belief is that no stimulus from Washington, be it government spending or large tax cuts, will work unless we the American people become smarter and more disciplined in the way we use money. That goes for the richy rich CEO, the hard working middle class mamma, and the blue collar Bubba. And it goes for you and me too.
C'mon, Chris. You know it is easier to just blame political parties and administrations (past and present) than take personal responsibility. Get on board, man. Who want's to be introspective when you can waste all of your time talking about gimmicks and licking wounds?
By the way, I want some pictures of the new pad.
yes, pad pictures would be exciting to see!
here's a google street view of the place that should work...
Wowa Wiwa! I love the rock siding. The front looks kind of similar to our house with the garage and front room window, or maybe I'm just homesick...Either way, nice place guys! You've got your work cut out for you in the yard!
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