Stimulus Porkulus: What the Hell HaveWe Got Ourselves Intous?
PT 13: STIMULUS PASSUS
Over the couple of weeks leading to Tax Day (April 15), I'm going to be dissecting the economy and the stimulus, budget and the various other issues that have unfolded between banks to AIG to tea parties all over the country! I had bookmarked a lot of articles since the end of January and it's interesting to read them with perspective and "read between the lines."
At first, I think Republicans for political expediency were not too quick to criticize the new president--he's pretty popular in case anyone missed it. A real celebrity in fact! And he gives great speeches too! And spreads the message of hope and change! So how could Republicans compete with that? They just needed for a little bit of change to come our way--but not the right kind of change--for the public to start getting a little antsy. That's one thing you have to be careful with--we love our celebrities but we also love to hate them and when they fall, they fall hard. So Republicans set their sights on Democratic leadership instead apparently...Can't hurt The Big O's feelings and definitely not the TOTUS's!
Did Republicans actually start to show signs of growing some cajones when it comes to dealing with The Big O's administration and the 4 Mighty Lame Musketeers: Dodd, Pelosi, Reid, and Frank!? Well, at least most of them didn't vote for it...
Leading up to the passage of the stimulus porkulus being passed, they were shut out of most meetings on the bill. Oh what do we need those guys for anyhow, right?!
In this Politico piece by Jonathan Martin and Patrick O'Connor, they write "Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) started the week swinging, declaring Sunday that he would oppose Obama’s stimulus package as written. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has kept up a daily din of opposition to specifics of the package, mocking the inclusion of a mob museum and a water park. Senate Republicans also are rallying against the Democratic version of a children’s health care bill being debated this week. And most Senate Republicans opposed the confirmation of Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner Monday."
And the "nitpicking" as it were, apparently took its toll--the Democrats conceded to remove the contraceptives portion of the stimulus. Gee thanks, that made it all 100% better!
But as for working together, it was apparently no honeymoon between the Dems and the Repubs and was only made worse by "Cold Shower" Pelosi. And you can bet she was keeping tabs for her "disfavor list." Wink Wink!
Republican Senator Kit Bond noted that committees “were run without Republican participation, the Appropriations bill had things in my subcommittee part that we never saw or had anything to say about. We have been shut out.”
Republican Senator Tom Coburn from Oklahoma said it best "This is about spending money we don't have for things we don't need."
And Harry Reid demonstrates why he's such a useless "leader:"
"I am confident that we are going to get Republicans to vote (for) our bill. If we don't, it's not our fault." Whaaa!
Rep. Mike Pence stated that “The American people have a right to know what’s in this bill. Every member of Congress -- Republicans and Democrats -- voted to post this bill on the internet for 48 hours, 48 hours ago. We’ll see if the Democrats keep their word.”
The Democrats broke a promise. Shocker I know...We were supposed to see the bill 48 hours before it was voted on and it never happened...
Rep. Eric Cantor, who twitters, noted that “Those in favor of speed over commonsense may just be afraid of letting the People know what they are ramming through.”
BUT, IT PASSED...
Words That Will Come Back To Haunt:
"We just passed this bill to help our struggling economy." --Senate Majority "Leader" Harry Reid.
"Millions and millions and millions of people will be helped, as they have lost their jobs and can't put food on the table of their families." --House Majority "Leader" Steny Hoyer
Some Factoids About Its Passage:
The House approved the measure by a vote of 246-183, with no Republican "yes" votes and one member voting present.
The bill passed the Senate with a vote of 60-38.
House Rep. Leader John Boehner showed his dissent by dumping a copy of the bill on the floor--all 1,071 pages that nobody got to read.
Quite a bit of the spending in the bill won't be delivered this year or the next. So much for needing it for the CURRENT "crisis."
2/3 spending, 1/3 tax cuts
Senator John McCain noted "This measure is not bipartisan. It contains much that is not stimulative. And is nothing short -- nothing short -- of generational theft."
4 DAYS TO SIGN THE STIMULUS...
It was a crisis. We must act now! There's no time to READ it! But the past is past, we promise to read them in the future. Yes we can read them in the future!
But don't worry, even though we didn't read it, there's a website where there will be rigorous oversight related to the stimulus. Let's hope it's not the same kind of rigorous oversight that went into producing this lame duck plan!
Just ask Biden for the "numbers" a.k.a. Recovery.gov.
The Big O believes that "The size and scale of this plan demand unprecedented efforts to root out waste, inefficiency and unnecessary spending. Recovery.gov will be the online portal for these efforts, publishing information about how the funding secured by the legislation will be spent in a timely, targeted and transparent manner."
Of course, there was no time to root out the waste and inefficieny that went into the the bill...
And get this. The stimulus spending is going to be monitored by an 'oversight board" chaired by a newly created post: Chief Performance Officer. Even better! The first choice of Obama had to withdraw. Gee, wonder why? TAX PROBLEMS. It just gets better. And better. And better.
Peggy Noonan's thoughts on this?
"President Obama could have made big history here. Instead he just got a win. It's a missed opportunity."
"But do you know anyone, Democrat or Republican, dancing in the street over this? You don't. Because most everyone knows it isn't a good bill, and knows that its failure to receive a single Republican vote, not one, suggests the old battle lines are hardening. Back to the Crips versus the Bloods. Not very inspiring."
"When you create a bill like that, it doesn't mean you're a pro, it doesn't mean you're a tough, no-nonsense pol. It means you're a slob."
"That's how the Democratic establishment in the House looks, not like people who are responding to a crisis, or even like people who are ignoring a crisis, but people who are using a crisis."
Amen to that sister!
Politico Chick
Did Republicans actually start to show signs of growing some cajones when it comes to dealing with The Big O's administration and the 4 Mighty Lame Musketeers: Dodd, Pelosi, Reid, and Frank!? Well, at least most of them didn't vote for it...
Leading up to the passage of the stimulus porkulus being passed, they were shut out of most meetings on the bill. Oh what do we need those guys for anyhow, right?!
In this Politico piece by Jonathan Martin and Patrick O'Connor, they write "Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) started the week swinging, declaring Sunday that he would oppose Obama’s stimulus package as written. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has kept up a daily din of opposition to specifics of the package, mocking the inclusion of a mob museum and a water park. Senate Republicans also are rallying against the Democratic version of a children’s health care bill being debated this week. And most Senate Republicans opposed the confirmation of Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner Monday."
And the "nitpicking" as it were, apparently took its toll--the Democrats conceded to remove the contraceptives portion of the stimulus. Gee thanks, that made it all 100% better!
But as for working together, it was apparently no honeymoon between the Dems and the Repubs and was only made worse by "Cold Shower" Pelosi. And you can bet she was keeping tabs for her "disfavor list." Wink Wink!
Republican Senator Kit Bond noted that committees “were run without Republican participation, the Appropriations bill had things in my subcommittee part that we never saw or had anything to say about. We have been shut out.”
Republican Senator Tom Coburn from Oklahoma said it best "This is about spending money we don't have for things we don't need."
And Harry Reid demonstrates why he's such a useless "leader:"
"I am confident that we are going to get Republicans to vote (for) our bill. If we don't, it's not our fault." Whaaa!
Rep. Mike Pence stated that “The American people have a right to know what’s in this bill. Every member of Congress -- Republicans and Democrats -- voted to post this bill on the internet for 48 hours, 48 hours ago. We’ll see if the Democrats keep their word.”
The Democrats broke a promise. Shocker I know...We were supposed to see the bill 48 hours before it was voted on and it never happened...
Rep. Eric Cantor, who twitters, noted that “Those in favor of speed over commonsense may just be afraid of letting the People know what they are ramming through.”
BUT, IT PASSED...
Words That Will Come Back To Haunt:
"We just passed this bill to help our struggling economy." --Senate Majority "Leader" Harry Reid.
"Millions and millions and millions of people will be helped, as they have lost their jobs and can't put food on the table of their families." --House Majority "Leader" Steny Hoyer
Some Factoids About Its Passage:
The House approved the measure by a vote of 246-183, with no Republican "yes" votes and one member voting present.
The bill passed the Senate with a vote of 60-38.
House Rep. Leader John Boehner showed his dissent by dumping a copy of the bill on the floor--all 1,071 pages that nobody got to read.
Quite a bit of the spending in the bill won't be delivered this year or the next. So much for needing it for the CURRENT "crisis."
2/3 spending, 1/3 tax cuts
Senator John McCain noted "This measure is not bipartisan. It contains much that is not stimulative. And is nothing short -- nothing short -- of generational theft."
4 DAYS TO SIGN THE STIMULUS...
It was a crisis. We must act now! There's no time to READ it! But the past is past, we promise to read them in the future. Yes we can read them in the future!
But don't worry, even though we didn't read it, there's a website where there will be rigorous oversight related to the stimulus. Let's hope it's not the same kind of rigorous oversight that went into producing this lame duck plan!
Just ask Biden for the "numbers" a.k.a. Recovery.gov.
The Big O believes that "The size and scale of this plan demand unprecedented efforts to root out waste, inefficiency and unnecessary spending. Recovery.gov will be the online portal for these efforts, publishing information about how the funding secured by the legislation will be spent in a timely, targeted and transparent manner."
Of course, there was no time to root out the waste and inefficieny that went into the the bill...
And get this. The stimulus spending is going to be monitored by an 'oversight board" chaired by a newly created post: Chief Performance Officer. Even better! The first choice of Obama had to withdraw. Gee, wonder why? TAX PROBLEMS. It just gets better. And better. And better.
Peggy Noonan's thoughts on this?
"President Obama could have made big history here. Instead he just got a win. It's a missed opportunity."
"But do you know anyone, Democrat or Republican, dancing in the street over this? You don't. Because most everyone knows it isn't a good bill, and knows that its failure to receive a single Republican vote, not one, suggests the old battle lines are hardening. Back to the Crips versus the Bloods. Not very inspiring."
"When you create a bill like that, it doesn't mean you're a pro, it doesn't mean you're a tough, no-nonsense pol. It means you're a slob."
"That's how the Democratic establishment in the House looks, not like people who are responding to a crisis, or even like people who are ignoring a crisis, but people who are using a crisis."
Amen to that sister!
Politico Chick
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