Obama, Congress: Stimulus dance

Very Boring

If the 3 Republicans two from Maine and Specter of Pennsylvania vote for this stimulus, they should be tarred and feathered. Just because the Pres wants a bill passed by the 16th doesn't mean anything to me. What's good for the country is more important then what's good for Obama, Pelosi, Reid Schumer, and all the other far left radicals. Our fore fathers have to be spinning in their graves. When are we ever going back to the idea that the majority rules. Its quite clear that a majority of American do not want the stimulus as its being presented.

Yes, by all means, let's transfer our pain to our children. They can pay back the debt we incur to "stimulate" our economy by handing out inconceivable sums of money to every special interest Democrats owe. Let's have union hacks on the Council of Economic Advisors so the labor organization lobby gets a taste. Let's pay back all the construction industry contributors. Damn it, we have sacrificed and suffered for our children long enough. It is our turn now. Let them pay later. If it costs more in the long run than the "stimulus" adds, let them suffer, not us.

The Republicans have a problem with the stimulus bill mainly because it does not hand enough tax breaks to their wealthy friends. If you believe the wealthy are going to launch new companies or create new jobs in a recession, you are living in a fantasy land.

The majority of Americans would rather put the money toward small businesses and middle-class tax cuts, not to mention the comatose housing sector. This bill does all three.

Paul....How is it quite clear the majority of Americans do not want this package? It seems to me the majority of Americans do not want what the Republicans have been doing for the last 8 years by electing President Obama. You may not like the package, but YOU do not speak for the majority. Please get over yourself:)

Spend Spend Spend, that's what they do, not much stimulus in the package but a lot of PORK !!!! This package will hurt us for years and years down the road !!

Well Paul, the Democrats have the majority of both houses of Congress; that's majority rules. That's what the founding fathers (I don't know about your forefathers) set up.

Spending on education and infrastructure, as apparently the current version of the stimulus calls for, is a terrible idea.

To lift the country's economy, congress should follow the lead of Mr. McCain (without a doubt one of the sharpest minds in the country) and focus the spending on NASCAR race tracks, churches, and military bands.

Additional research funds should also be allocated to improving the sound of the Harley motorbike, which is, as McCain clearly put it, the sound of freedom.

There is no need to allocate funds to health care either. Instead, funds should be given to churches to elicit public support for prayers, which are a much more effective way to achieve perfect health, obviously.

Finally, Ms Sarah Palin, who clearly stated that she has a directly phone line with God, should be called in to advise Mr. Obama on the economy.

What a bummer! If we had McCain and his super-smart sidekick Palin in charge, we would be sailing into prosperity by now. What were the American People thinking?

Paul:

"...Obama, Pelosi, Reid, Schumer, and all the other far left radicals"?

Hyperbole, poetic license, or just plain wrong? Take your pick - they all fit your characterization of them.

Paul, unfortunately the Majority is ruling, with a couple of Republicans who have bought the complete entitlement deal.

It's not to difficult to see (IMO) is, Sen. Obama campaigned on a lot of promises that he couldn't afford. Hence the spending bill.

Now Pres. Obama, can say OK, I got elected, you got me elected, so now it's time to repay you in the form of a Stimulus package, app' $830 Billion + interest, taking it over a trillion dollars using the taxpayers money.

I'll mention 1 amendment that was defeated by the Democrats, and that was to NOT give any money to ACORN. If thats not payback for the Democrats then I don't know what is.

These Politicians, as in the past, are using their position's to legally steal from the people, us to pay back IOU's for the election. It's a sad day.

But it's NOT a done deal yet. It will be but they still haven't voted. And 2-3 Republicans in Congress does not turn this into a bipartisan bill. Pres. Obama owns this Bill along with the Democrats who wrote the bill. So good luck to them if it works, but it's all payback.

Bush increased spending and cut taxes on those who pay taxes. This bill is even more spending and tax breaks to people who don't pay taxes. Thats the change we've been looking for. My kids will face higher taxes or terrible inflation to pay for this STUPID bill. I am going to suggest they become a Democrat. Democrats don't pay taxes because they don't work or don't pay taxes because they think they are too important.

This bill will cost us over $1T. The series of "regular" appropriation bills that will be following this one will add another $1T. Then we have TARP II....at another $1-1.5T. Do you idiots see the trend? Government can't spend one dollar wisely and yet you fools want to let them spend trillions. I totally agree that the Republicans spent like fools from 2000 to 2006....they acted just like Democrats....no realizing the money was the taxpayers' and not theirs. Now that the Democrats have control of the purse strings...God help us. Barney Frank, Chris Dodd and a few other Democrats got us into this mess by allowing Fannie & Freddie to run wild....and now you want to let those very same idiots tell us how to get out of this mess. Again...God help us.

This bill is an absolute travesty. At least, with such minimal GOP support, it will be the Democrats' folly -- they will own the disaster that is going to follow, in terms of unbearable debt for decades to come. I fear the world's last superpower is starting its decline, with the passage of this ridiculous bill, being passed because President Whiner says it must be so.

Most of this bill is Demoratic wish list, not spending and stimulus.

The GOPers should be tarred and feathered for not holding firm to -- not this bill, not this fast.

You don't spend nearly a trillion dollars with as little thought and care as went into this. It's a disgrace.

If the Republicans and their banker friends hadn't run the economy into a ditch in the first place, we wouldn't need a stimulus bill.

Just like, had it not been for Republican Hoover and the absentee government at that time, we wouldn't have needed the New Deal.

The Republicans see that they are becoming irrelevant in the eyes of the American public and that is why you see them doing everything in their power to make this bill a failure.

One thing people should never forget - In GOP-land, their motto is "Party First, Country Last".

This will flop. A year from now we'll still be in the same boat, but we'll have bike trails, frisbee golf, ACORN will get a freebie and DC will have all these new buildings. The mid-west will get a few potholes filled and small businesses will fold up and main streets will die. Obama's folly will be a failure.

Republican leaders are practicing a degree of hypocrisy and guerilla obstructionism that is more about destabilizing our economy for purposes of political exploitation than it is about trying to stop the bleeding their leadership and their policies created and continue to exacerbate. They are using arguably conflicting economic theories as a smokescreen to conceal their real agenda, which is to undermine a Democratic president. The percentage of money in the stimulus package that Republicans have tried to “disproportionately sensationalize” is relatively miniscule. All of a sudden Republican leaders care about pork? I don’t buy that BS at all. No one wants money going into unnecessary programs, but I’d rather that some pork exist than block the funds to areas critical to our countries financial survival. That’s the way things have always been done in American government. It’s the normal give and take inherent to a Democratic system. It’s human nature to want more for your people. That’s why rules/laws, oversight, enforcement and accountability are so critical to effective government. But, the Republican leaders are attempting to hold those critical funds hostage right now. I don’t mind that Republicans and Democrats argue over where the monies go. But I do mind that Republican leaders are acting like the Democrats have suddenly invented pork projects after the years that Republicans were in the majority and the Democrats were forced to swallow voluminous quantities of pork because it was shoved down their throats, and in fact has helped to create today’s financial crisis. The Iraq invasion and occupation wasn’t even part of the budget for god’s sake. The money to pay for it doesn’t exist. Where the hell is that money going to come from? When Bush entered office, he had a $128 billion surplus. The federal budget deficit will reach at least $1.2 TRILLION this year thanks to Republican fiscal policies. And Republican leaders are acting like their incredibly irresponsible/suicidal/misguided leadership had nothing to do with that fact. The Republican Party is now the minority Party. The majority of voters have rejected Republican governance/policies because they believe they have failed them on multiple levels. Now Republican leaders are trying to cause Democratic governance/policies to fail, which I see as Republican leaders purposefully trying to sabotage Obama rather than doing what’s in the common good and best interests of our nation at a critically dangerous time. And they won’t even admit that they created the crisis! Republican leaders are still doing whatever they can to create vague/philosophical/subjective arguments that no one can agree on in order to disrupt and deny rather than formulate and agree. They don’t want unity, they want chaos. They want fear and hatred to divide our nation for strictly POLITICAL purposes because they do not have the power of the majority. That’s how they gained power, and that’s how they’re trying to get it back. They will fail, but they will continue to do severe damage. I don’t see that as being the loyal opposition. I see it as being an enemy within whose political biases have lowered their moral and ethical standards. It’s not about right or wrong or fact or logic or good or bad. It’s about power and control and doing whatever it takes no matter how destructive it might be to prevent Democrats from succeeding. I want our country to succeed. If Republicans would rather make the opposition fail than see our country succeed what choice do conscientious leaders and voters have but to condemn and or ignore them? It’s one thing for a political party try to win on its merits; it’s another thing entirely to try to deliberately undermine and cripple their government for partisan political purposes. At least it is in a democracy where it is assumed that our elected representatives place the good of their country ahead of the good of their political party. I wish I felt otherwise, but I don’t feel that Republican leaders give two shits about their country. Their lack of constructive actions and their deliberate destructive actions don’t support any other conclusion……in my humble opinion.

More on the TAX CHEATS is much more interesting as
the cheats are are a CHANGE from the CHANGE..

"I am going to suggest they become a Democrat. Democrats don't pay taxes because they don't work or don't pay taxes because they think they are too important."

Posted by: jeff

Just love your lying generalizations, Jeffy boy. What a stupid statement; not that you had any credibility anyway....

The Rasmussen Poll, which the Swamp has censored mention of, shows that the majority of Americans are opposed to the trillion dollar Porkulus Bill. See www.rasmussenreports.com for the poll results David Axelrod, his boss O'Bungle, and his Swamp acolytes don't want mentioned.

We'll welcome your kids with open arms Jeff, and teach them the some real civics, and economics. And maybe some manners, as well. Thank you for supporting us, Jeff, we really appreciate it. Be sure and pay for Bush's trillion dollar unnecessary war, too.

Bush increased spending and cut taxes on those who pay taxes.Posted by: jeff

And he doubled the national debt as a result. And look at the nice situation he left us. Thanks for bringing that up, Jeff.

*You don't spend nearly a trillion dollars with as little thought and care as went into this. It's a disgrace.*
Posted by: Beth

Considering the trillion dollars spent mostly overseas on the Iraq war..... not so sure about that Beth.

The Dems should just label all of the provisions in the Ameican job stimulas bill - "Plan for World Domination by brute Military Force".

The Repugs love to waste money on pretend tough guy war games and they're not very good at reading the fine print.

I find it both amusing and sad the way GOP continues to be able to con some of the blue collar Americans (mostly in the south) who always parrot their calls for more tax cuts. Apparently they don't have an internet connection or they only listen to Druggy Rush and Faux News because if they ever read the fine print they'd notice that when the GOP talks tax cuts they're talking about tax cuts for the wealthiest 1-2% of Americans, Big Corporations and Big Oil.

They've become used to blaming others. The Repuglican leadership (Rush, Faux News etc) is very, very skilled at identifying scapegoats so that almost all of their blue collar supporters have someone else to blame for their sorry state of affairs i.e.: "liberals, tax-and-spend Democrats, hippies, communists, immigrants, gays". It's an easy way to avoid facing reality. - "Gay people drove my property values up! And Mexicans took my $50.00 per hour lettuce-picking job from me! And the Demoncrats take all my tax money and use some of it for THINGS I DON'T NEED! And the hippies made us lose Vietnam! And the Communists...well...not sure what they did...and the liberals killed my cousin's baby after I got her pregnant! And the immigrants! How dare they have the chance to earn the same quality of life and hope for their childrens' future that I have for me and my family"!

Most of the average GOPer's still haven't figured out that wealth doesn't ever trickledown to them.

It's like a shell game to the Repuglican leadership, using diversionary tactics to steer the people away from seeing the real problems. Unfortunately for them, they're starting to lose that game nowdays.

President Obama knew what the GOP would do (obstructing for the purpose of obstructing). The point is that most regular americans wouldnt have believed it until they saw it in action this past week.

If President Obama had come in saying "These idiot Repugs wont work with us to fix the problems that they created so screw em", he'd be a lot less respected (see Gallup's latest) and less trusted.

As it stands when the Limbaugh House republicans unanimously voted NO DESPITE President Obama's good-faith gestures it was a real revelation to REGULAR americans (at least 64 million of whom voted for him)...and it was a real teaching moment. a moment of AH -HA for us Dems. It's EXACTLY what he needed to do and how he needed to do it.

The GOoPer's are so predictable so why not use that predictability to our advantage for a change? President Obama is doing the GOP both short term and long term damage here and really making the Democrats look like the serious people. He should be applauded.

That's the way it looks OUTSIDE the corporate media bubble. If President Obama had started out saying we can't use the same ole tired "tax cuts for the rich" and his stance against conservatism, he would have been worse off in public opinion as having a partisan attitude. He started off bipartisan and courting the Republicans. Even now they are claiming he wasn't being inclusive, but no one would believe them because everyone watched as President Obama went to the hill to meet with the Limbaugh House Repubs and Senate Repubs and still didn't get any votes from Limbaugh House Repubs, who decided that they were going to vote against him even before he had a chance to talk to them. President Obama showed that he tried and they didn't budge. Now President Obama and all Dems have something solid to point to too when the Repugs predictably started crying about something again.

Note to Obama--Please keep the funding for COBRA. (i.e. Wonk Room)

***

It's not our fault that so many jobs and health care are being cut. Why are you sending so many Americans to their sick beds or to death just to look good in the eyes of the Republicans? The Republicans in the House and Senate are not friends of Americans. They are not your friends. Take the rose colored glasses off, Barack. Get tough for us. We can't afford a pansy now. The Repubs are only friends of the wealthy. Do what you were elected to do. Why kiss the @ss of those who called you a terrorist? Push the items in the bill that will help to keep us alive. It should be a no brainer. And, are you agreeing to give those making over 250,000 a tax cut? Do they care if thousands of Americans get sick or die? Clinton taxed the wealthy much more and we had a great US economy. Graham and McCain want their wealthy friends to have tax cuts. Are you afraid they won't be your friends? It's a moot point. Here's a clue--they ARE NOT YOUR FRIENDS. They are playing you very well. Get a spine or why be the president? This is too important to be concerned with bipartisanship. The People have already given you your cue.

I think the Repuglican (il)logic goes something like this... "It's OK to spend a trillion dollars in the "war" on terror because if we didn't, there would be no America and therefore no American economy to stimulate".

The Reuglican world view is that no amount of money is too much to spend on the military and any amount at all is too much to spend on government, children, poor people that happen to live in America.

The Repuglican clowns still have no idea whatsoever about why they can't win elections anymore.

I love the smell of Wingnuts freaking out in the morning, it smells like VICTORY...for the Dems, again.

"I am going to suggest they become a Democrat. Democrats don't pay taxes because they don't work or don't pay taxes because they think they are too important."

Posted by: jeff

Just love your lying generalizations, Jeffy boy. What a stupid statement; not that you had any credibility anyway....

Posted by: Flo | February 7, 2009 3:53 PM
yOU ALSO MIGHT MERNTION,Democrats forgive TAX CHEATS, makes you wonder if quite a few of them have a guilty conscience.

No to “stimulus” bill. Here’s why:
Since Obama’s earnest drive to convince the nation to weaken its economic strength through redistribution as well as weaken its national defense, has confirmed the very threats to our Republic’s survival that the Constitution was designed to avert, it no longer is sustainable for the United States Supreme Court and Military Joint Chiefs to refrain from exercising WHAT IS THEIR ABSOLUTE CONSTITUTIONAL DUTY TO DEFEND THE NATION FROM UNLAWFUL USURPATION. The questions of Obama’s Kenyan birth and his father’s Kenyan/British citizenship (admitted on his own website) have been conflated by his sustained unwillingnes to supply his long form birth certificate now under seal, and compounded by his internet posting of a discredited ‘after-the-fact’ short form ‘certificate’. In the absence of these issues being acknowledged and addressed, IT IS MANIFEST THAT OBAMA REMAINS INELIGIBLE TO BE PRESIDENT UNDER ARTICLE 2 OF THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION. Being a 14th Amendment ‘citizen’ is not sufficient. A ‘President’ MUST BE an Article 2 ‘natural born citizen’ AS DEFINED BY THE FRAMERS’ INTENT.

The sad thing is that given whatever needed help that the stimulus bill will offer for the Bush/Cheney recession, we will be paying back with, among other things, extremely high inflation a bit down the road--and around 22% interest on bank/home loans. More problems for our young adults who will want to buy homes and build a life for themselves--if they can first pay off college loans. The Bush/Cheney republicans are the first group to directly and consciously hate my children. The Bush/Cheney needless "war" cost about what this stimulus package will cost. Very interesting. That's because it was irresponsibly financed by deficit spending. Who will go to prison for this? Sick people who have lost jobs and health benefits may die. What degree of homicide is that?

I have another take on this stimulus package - what if we don't do anything and let the market decide.

I have read some of the comments and the impact of all these on our children . What comes to mind is that previous generations have pondered about the same questions and somehow we survived.

As an accountant I have often wondered on the lessons learnt - post enron and what steps were being put into place to stop such incidences from occuring but here we are again, We have come full circle except this time om a massive scale.

Other questions that comes to mind are - Who are the Rich? Who are the poor? Who are the educated and who are the uneducated? What are the impacts of the uneducated on the countried GDP.
Who are the Liberals and Who are the Republicans? Who are the exploited? Who are the users? And who are those that allow themselves to be used?

One thing I am aware of is failing to plan is to plan to fail and that is not an optioned. As a seasoned traveller I have seen the effects of what happens to countries when they plan to fail and when politicians are divisive.

On matters that involves safety, food, housing - these fundamentals should not be left to chance. On other matters we can disagree.
We have all been invited to make suggestions to the President - I am certain that if there are alternatives that would work in the short term or long run he will incorporate it into his plans.

And I am a conservative in matters relating to morals (private) and a liberal on matters relating to the state (public)

IT IS MANIFEST THAT OBAMA REMAINS INELIGIBLE TO BE PRESIDENT UNDER ARTICLE 2 OF THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION. Being a 14th Amendment ‘citizen’ is not sufficient. A ‘President’ MUST BE an Article 2 ‘natural born citizen’ AS DEFINED BY THE FRAMERS’ INTENT.

Posted by: Ted | February 7, 2009 8:08 PM

Very stange Obam dosen't want to tell America the TRUTH, must be part of his CHANGE.

Since the Swamp doesn't want anyone to actually read the Porkulus Bill, I'll post it: Here's the text of the latest version: http://readthestimulus.org/index.php?doc=amdth1&page=1

Read it and weep.

Well let's see! McCain doesn't want the stimulus, where in the hell was he when the neo-cons took the debt from 5 Trillion dollars to 10 Trillion dollars. THE REPUBLICAN PARTY ALWAYS DOES SOMETHING TO THIS COUNTRY NEVER FOR THIS COUNTRY! GIVE DEAN THE HHS JOB AND A BULLDOZER SO HE CAN GET RID OF THE PRESENT HEALTH CARE SYSTEM. Damn the torpedo's full speed ahead!! Give the Republicans a burial at sea so they can throw a wreath on the water every year in memory. whiteagle38

Ted
Are you saying that all in the Supreme court, the House and Senate have not resolved the issue relating to his birthplace etc. Somehow if this is a big issue then surely you don't have people around you losing jobs or if you are a student you haven't noticed that people are dropping out of university due to a lack of funds.

Or is the issue the fact that he is bi-racial and because you can't seem to realise that that the world now operates on a global scale that old arguments and ways of viewing the world has changed.

I will suggest that if funding is not an issue that it would broaden your views to spend a summer vacation in Europe (for starters) study and analyse what is happening in most of the European countries. If possible visit Asia as well . You might perphaps come to view the urgency in the President's message. He is very much in tune with the fact that if Americans don't step up and increase its GDP that it might indeed lagg behind in the Glpbal World.

We are in a new season and I think the World is watching - this is not the time to be critical . I thinh for now we should all do our bit to make the United States of America the great country it is. I pray that God will continue to bless and protect the President and his family and bless the United Stares of America.