Remember how happy I was to think that the Dems had positioned the beginning of the StimuRama (TM) debate perfectly to finally get some legislation passed that would not only be economically sound but would also help a whole bunch of people who need the help? Remember? It was like watching me fall in love. Yeah, only here's the thing:
Backed solidly by the Bush administration, Senate Republicans said on Thursday that they would block a $157 billion economic stimulus package championed by Senate Democrats, who said they would have no choice but to quickly adopt a cheaper, more streamlined plan approved this week by the House.
Democratic Senate leaders said they still hoped to secure changes to the House plan when they voted on it next week. They said they remained on track to get the plan, a portfolio of tax rebates and business tax breaks intended to jolt the economy, to President Bush for his signature by Feb. 15.
The Democrats also said that the efforts over the last two days to shape the stimulus package to reflect their economic priorities had allowed them to lay out an agenda that they would pursue in the months ahead and use to bolster the case for electing a Democrat as president and widening their majorities in Congress.
Yay! They're gonna widen majorities! They set out an agenda.
Top items on that agenda include increased benefits for the elderly and veterans; subsidies for low-income families struggling with home heating bills and other energy costs; mortgage counseling for distressed homeowners; extended unemployment benefits; increased food stamps; and tax credits for alternative energy sources.
They're going to shame the Republicans come election time. It's brilliant, see, because shaming them now (not election time) would only mean possibly being able to pass a stim pack that would actually spend billions of our dollars wisely and most effectively while benefiting the people who need the help the most. But instead of that, the Dems prefer to chalk up another loss hoping that when it comes time to vote, Americans, famous for our affinity for loveable losers, will vote to send MORE loveable losers to D.C. It's addition by subtraction, winning by losing, doing something by doing nothing, strength through crybaby whining. Of course, Harry Reid started the mewling:
“I can give you their own speech on unemployment compensation, on food stamps,” the majority leader, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, said of his numerous conversations with the administration. “They don’t believe in them, O.K.? So there was no way to agree when they don’t believe that food stamps are important, when they believe that if you extend unemployment benefits it only keeps people from looking for a job, which is a little hard to comprehend. So the answer is, we tried to work something out with them and we weren’t able to do that.”
No, Harry. When it comes to spending billions of dollars of our money to boost the economy, the answer is to fight a little bit harder than not at all to SPEND IT WISELY and, I hate to sound like a broken record here, to HELP THE PEOPLE WHO NEED THE HELP THE MOST.
I was getting through all the FISA bad news by clinging to the idea that at least this budget fight would go our way - or would happen at all. Now it looks like it won't get out of the gate. If you want to know why, ask the first ten people you talk to today what they think about the stimulus package negotiations.
...ask the first ten people you talk to today what they think about the stimulus package negotiations.
First 9: "The what?"
No.10: "How's it gonna help me?"
Posted by: mick arran | February 04, 2008 at 06:51 PM
That's what kills me. In this case doing the right thing would help everyone. Glad you're back posting at your place.
Posted by: eRobin | February 04, 2008 at 08:09 PM