Reports are that they held firm and managed to get the size of the "stimulus" reduced from $900 billion to around $800 billion. So they are saving $100 billion in pork spending. Well done.
That still means that this spending bill is enormous and will ultimately be ineffectual. This is the sort of behavior that got the GOP booted in the first place. Wringing a minor concession out of what is still bad legislation and horrible public policy is not a victory. In fact, rather than being principled and standing against this farce in unison, now they have given President Obama a club. When this stimulus fails, even I could write the press conference talking points: "Unfortunately the Republican party gutted the stimulus bill and that is why it failed. It is their fault!" Be sure the complicit media allies of our new President will jump right on board with that line of reasoning.
This is not a victory. Agreeing to a spending bill of $800 billion is not a conservative victory because we didn't agree to $900 billion. It is a capitulation and a bunch of politicians patting themselves on the back for not being totally corrupt. Worse yet, it weakens the GOP position and gives Obama a club which you can be sure he will smack them with in the future.
Oh well, at least the Republicans in Congress exhibited some spine and courage of convictions for almost one whole week after a devastating loss in the 2008 elections.
2 comments:
I read several Christian blogs and thought I would try reading yours after a post caught my attention. I'm sorry to say, though, that the negativity of many of your posts has changed my mind. It's your blog, of course, and you can do what you want. I just thought I would share my thoughts before I dis-enroll from your blog.
Um, OK I guess. Thanks for stopping by.
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