Despite all of Barack Obama’s talk of bipartisanship, the fact is that in the House of Representatives, it was opposition to Obama’s pork extravaganza that was bipartisan. Support for the misbegotten bill came exclusively from Democrats.
It may be that the same thing will happen in the Senate. This morning, John Cornyn expressed optimism that Senate Republicans will unite in opposition to Obama’s bill, while Democrat Ben Nelson wondered how many Democrats are actually willing to vote for it:
An influential Senate Democrat said Friday that it’s unclear whether President Obama’s $819 economic stimulus bill will win enough support to pass in the Senate. …
Asked how many Republicans he can get to vote for the bill, Nelson said he didn’t even know how many Democrats would vote for it.
It sounds as though Nelson and others may be trying to assemble another “Gang of 14” to come up with a better bill. Assuming any alternative is a substantially better bill than the Democrats’–and it would be hard not to be–that could be a good thing.
JOE adds: That this “stimulus” will stimulate, principally, Democratic voting blocs, was illustrated best this morning on CNBC. Erin Burnett interviewed Max Baucus, asking at one point (at about 5:30 in) “How, exactly, will this stimulus create actual, identifiable jobs?” In response, Senator Baucus breaks down, desperately recalling the very few slivers of the bill that provide tax incentives to companies, and ignoring the majority that is nothing but federal adiposity.
He eventually stammers that “we’re in uncharted waters.” I suppose that is the best the Democrats can do when pressured, even lightly, by a CNBC anchor, on their scam-stimulus. A rather poor showing.
To comment on this post, go here.
Notice: All comments are subject to moderation. Our comments are intended to be a forum for civil discourse bearing on the subject under discussion. Commenters who stray beyond the bounds of civility or employ what we deem gratuitous vulgarity in a comment — including, but not limited to, “s***,” “f***,” “a*******,” or one of their many variants — will be banned without further notice in the sole discretion of the site moderator.