Let’s start with the politics.John Cole responds:
One might have expected Republicans to act at least slightly chastened in these early days of the Obama administration, given both their drubbing in the last two elections and the economic debacle of the past eight years.
But it’s now clear that the party’s commitment to deep voodoo...is as strong as ever. In both the House and the Senate, the vast majority of Republicans rallied behind the idea that the appropriate response to the abject failure of the Bush administration’s tax cuts is more Bush-style tax cuts.
And the rhetorical response of conservatives to the stimulus plan — which will, it’s worth bearing in mind, cost substantially less than either the Bush administration’s $2 trillion in tax cuts or the $1 trillion and counting spent in Iraq — has bordered on the deranged.
It’s “generational theft,” said [2008 presidential loser] John McCain, just a few days after voting for tax cuts that would, over the next decade, have cost about four times as much.
And the ugliness of the political debate matters because it raises doubts about the Obama administration’s ability to come back for more if, as seems likely, the stimulus bill proves inadequate.
For while Mr. Obama got more or less what he asked for, he almost certainly didn’t ask for enough. We’re probably facing the worst slump since the Great Depression. The Congressional Budget Office, not usually given to hyperbole, predicts that over the next three years there will be a $2.9 trillion gap between what the economy could produce and what it will actually produce. And $800 billion, while it sounds like a lot of money, isn’t nearly enough to bridge that chasm.
Officially, the administration insists that the plan is adequate to the economy’s need...And it’s widely believed that political considerations led to a plan that was weaker and contains more tax cuts than it should have...
...for all I know, he may be right- that may be what the economy needs, the current bill may be inadequate, and so on.This is the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, and the Republicans in congress have offered no credible reason for opposing the stimulus bill (they can't argue against budget deficits after spending the last eight years backing the Bush budgets on the premise that "deficits don't matter"); nor can the minority party offer any real alternative that hasn't already been tried and found wanting.
But the point remains that a larger bill was not political feasible. At all. The current bill just barely [got] the support from the three Republicans it [needed to prevent a filibuster in the Senate]. A bigger bill simply could not happen in this climate.
The way I see it, the Republican fascists must think Americans are extremely stupid; that after eight years of driving our financial house over a cliff, we'll all instantly forget that it was their party who had control of the government until recently.
Time is of the essence here, and if the Republican Party can't find it in themselves to pitch in and help, then fuck them. Going forward, if the White House or the congressional majorities feel additional stimulus is needed, then let the Republicans have their temper-tantrums. If they continue to block such measures it will more than likely backfire, and they'll find themselves on the losing end of yet another election in 2010.
