The fast-track passage of the $787 billion recovery package was a huge political achievement, but one marred by a number of headline-dominating screw-ups they’ll need to avoid in the future. The legislative lightning round also revealed successful new strategies to pursue—and the bracing reality of a unified, recalcitrant opposition.
Here are seven lessons the Democrats should take from the stimulus, culled from two dozen Politico interviews with the people who hammered out the deal:
1. House Republicans are furniture
Over and over, Nancy Pelosi and her allies privately delivered the same message to Barack Obama: Mr. President, you can have bipartisanship or you can have a stimulus bill, but you can’t have both.He seems to have gotten the message. House Republicans, badly outnumbered and shorn of lets-make-a-deal moderates by their losses in the two elections, have proven remarkably immune to crossover appeals, as have most GOP Senators.
[…]
2. Obama needs to get out more
Everyone from the White House to the leadership offices agrees on at least one take-away from the week: The stimulus regained its forward momentum only when Barack Obama used his superlative communications skills and sky high approval rating to sell it.3. Sixty is the new speed limit
It’s already Congressional cliché to say that the three most powerful people in Washington are aisle-crossers Arlen Specter (R-Penn.), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine). But that doesn’t mean it’s not true.
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I gave that concept of democrats learning anything long ago. They are all ego maniacs, well, not all, but the majority including the leader. It’s about them and what they and those other pig heads they “represent” want. They are so typical, they demand bi-partisan, then they say F*you when they are in charge. Pelosi is one who has presented this problem with hypocrisy and ego for all to see quite superbly. She’s quite the B*tch. Get ready America for a big disaster, then we will introduce the first Female President, Sarah Palin who will get in there wearing rubber gloves and clean up all this pig slop.
“What Should The Democrats Learn From The Stimulus Bill Fight? ”
Learned? Well, they have total control. They should push through HR 45 next week. That would be the best thing they could do.
I don’t expect there to be much more “bipartisanship” with the Republicans. They had a chance to join the team and instead chose to get in the way.
Everyone knows someone who has lost a job and is hurting. We can no longer stand looking silly with failed policies. Either we do something constructive or we will and you sit this out.
This time the President does have “Political Capital”. He will spend it. That Republican speed bump won’t stop him.
#1, What,
And some people are still in denial that the idiotic right wing nuts have taken this country to the edge. The Republicans have had their kick at the can and lost. Get the eff out of the way and let some real Americans fix your mess.
Give’m a break Fusion, the right wingnuts are still in the denial phase of grieving their lost power.
Fusion – when Obama and the democrats screw up, the Conservatives will have to clean their mess. When Obama takes over from Jimmy Carter as the worst President ever, we will all be laughing at you and your naive posts.
No, Pelosi and her cronies thumbed their noses at the President and said “we’re going to run the house our way, not yours…”
The one thing you can’t teach democrats is that one party in charge of government is always bad for the american people.
If you exclude the Republicans from the process, then the “speed bump” will become a “road block”.
@#6 Thermo. So what are we supposed to do when the republicans screw up? Or are you going from the perspective they didn’t (and all is going great), therefore the democrats will therefore ‘screw up’ all the great things the republicans did?
The democrats may well screw up. Time will tell.
But seems like a bizarre post, after all its the republicans that have _largely_ (not entirely for sure) brought us here. Didn’t you get the memo? We are already the freakin’ mess… Jeez…
When a politician says “bipartisanship” they mean one of two things:
Agree with me (or else I’ll ignore you.)
or
Lets share the blame (for this mess I’ve made.)
Oh well. Business as usual.
Stimulous? Invented a new adjective, have we?
It is amazing how little things change. The arguments made in the past by Republicans to Bush to ignore the Democrats and simply push through the legislation were greeted with howls of protest from the left. Bush was lambasted for being partisan. Now that they are in power and doing they same, suddenly it is acceptable.
#3
> Either we do something
> constructive or we will
> and you sit this out.
There is not one person in America that does not believe that “something” constructive should be done. Not one. Where everyone disagrees is **what** exactly should be done. Just throwing legislation on the wall and hoping it will stick is not the right answer.
#6: G. W. Bush got the title of worst president when he stole the Presidency in 2000.
#11, tolly,
Sure. It’s a slow day.
#12, Thomas,
Where everyone disagrees is **what** exactly should be done.
And what should be done? The Republicans don’t have any plan. All they can suggest is to lower taxes on Corporations that don’t pay taxes now. They want us to wait, well many people can’t wait.
There is no other plan. Even John Beoner said last week that the Republicans will be bringing out their own plan in a few weeks.
#17, alfie,
What Democrats are forgetting, is they controlled both houses, including oversight of fannie & freddie, and it was their greed which caused foolish loans to people who couldn’t pay them, for kickbacks, that crashed the economy…
So what is your point? The Democrats didn’t control both houses from 1994 until 2006. All that time oversight of the FMs as done OCC. What oversight Bush allowed. As seen with the other fiascoes, his political cronies allowed their departments to sit on their hands.
Yet none of that is a problem. You want to blame Congress for the President not doing his job. HEY, you must have been one of those people that supported Bush right up to the end.
What a tool. You obviously don’t understand what caused the collapse.
Democrats vs Republicans,
Democracy vs Communism,
rich vs less-rich,
ethnic group vs other slightly different ethnic group,
religious group vs other slightly different religious but equally ridiculous group.
What is it about this primitive tribal instinct that makes us form groups that have some arcane common interest that are then are constantly at odds with some other other group that has its own equally arcane common interest.
I swear it is going to take a freaking invasion by aliens to make mankind realize that they have far more in common than they realize.
How much time, money, energy and lives have been wasted continuing this silly instinct!
Stupid Stupid Humans!
A conservative is someone who still has a JOB.
#21, and a democrat is someone who thinks Obama is going to get them a job instead of them having to go out and get one themselves.
#14
really? are we still uttering that tired old message? Back up your assertion with facts my friend!
#18
You seem to think government can fix all the city/state/nation’s woes. Here’s a plan the Republican’s have proposed: don’t bailout the automakers. Let them go into bankruptcy, restructure and hopefully come out with the ability to be competitive. We have bankruptcy court for a reason.
History has shown that government stimulus packages do not work. It is taking money from the people and giving it back to the people. It did not work during the depression and it will not work now but it will run up the debt to staggering proportions. Where are the Democrats that lauded Clinton for reducing the deficit and working towards eliminating the national debt?
If the government is able to drum up 800 billion dollars to give back to people, why don’t they simply do it directly? Why not simply write a check to each individual rather than this ridiculous piece of pork? The simple answer is of course that the right beaks wouldn’t get wet.
#18 Fusion:
“And what should be done? The Republicans don’t have any plan.”
No plan? It’s called a shakeout – we let the chips fall. It’s a purge, and it’s not comfortable.
The “don’t have a plan” argument sounds a lot like the ones used against the Dems post-9/11 when everyone was kvetching over the Patriot Act.
Look at what that need-to-ram-it-thru-right-now attitude got us. Sometimes the best act is to slowly, cautiously, let things unwind.
“The Plan” is more tax cuts, nothing but tax cuts, tax cuts all the time. That and probably bailouts for banks too if there was a clean bill to show it.
I do think a tragic mistake is being made here. The shake out should be allowed==let the majority of big banks fail. There expertise in leveraged fraud is not needed. Local banks making and keeping local loans is all that the economy needs. The Feds should have, and should now, simply set up a funding/guarantee for those types of relationships and let the “interconnected world economy” float like a butterfly as it may==as in like a lead balloon.
Unregulated capitalism brings booms and busts that net wealth to the corrupt while fleecing the ignorant.
Just open your eyes and “look!!!!”
they learned that crime still pays, -handsomely.
there should have been NO stimulus.
only mass arrests of all those in the 3
houses who allowed rules to be changed that have allowed the wholesale theft of this country’s wealth and Liberty.
so the answer to bushes insane spending
is to raise the federal deficit limit to
$12tn and turn us all into government
stooges and snitches?
does not anybody see the continuation of wholesale corruption going on before our very eyes? nothing has changed.
why dont we just cover the whitehouse with
one giant government nipple and get it over with.
somehow i feel the mass obmazombie brainwashing was facilitated via
US Patent #5,159,703
“Silent Sound Spread Spectrum”
-look it up..and then combine it with the hdtv push..
how else could one get half the f’n planet to fall in love with an unknown **politician** -of all people..?
sheer madness.
-s
This bill is a 100% Democratic Bill. They wrote it and they passed it.
If you approve, good, give them the credit.
If you think it bleeps, tough bleep, you know who to blame.
#27, alfie,
NOTE: Try using the less than ()than for tags.
Also not I screwed the pooch on the third line, it should read All that time oversight of the FMs Was done BY THEOCC. Sorry is I confused anyone.
Just before complete collapse, Barney Frank tried to hide is complicity by suddenly proposing various accounting rules…he should be in jail.
Perhaps you could post an example of that claim. My understanding is that the OCC and Treasury weren’t being totally upfront with Congress until right before the collapse.
The scandal in Washington is not in illegal kickbacks…few politicians collect those, they are illegal, it’s the LEGAL kickbacks
I disagree. It is the lack of oversight by Bush and his cronies that had this idea that self regulation was better than government regulation.
Rains and successors would have enriched Barney Frank beyond his wildest dreams…if what they did hadn’t blown up the entire system.
Are you claiming Frank was bribed? Would have is a strong insinuation. Maybe you can provide some proof for that too. Although, that could just be your bias showing.
The rest of your post is just blah blah blah. The Democrats are stealing the treasury blind blah blah blah.
If you have any proof any Congressman or Senator is stealing money or inappropriately taking money then please report that person to the FBI
A good read all about how the economic collapse happened was in the New York Times. An excellent read.
Oopps, I screwed that one too. The Note had the less than/greater than signs inside the brackets. Gee, I hadn’t thought of how they would effect what was between them.
Greater than = >
Less than = <
#25, brm
No plan? It’s called a shakeout – we let the chips fall. It’s a purge, and it’s not comfortable.
That is easy for those with wealth to say. And it is easier for those who caused the problem to acknowledge. Only, it isn’t working that way.
Those that caused the problem are still running the banks hauling in huge salaries and bonuses. Those that didn’t cause the problems are the ones being hurt.
The “don’t have a plan” argument sounds a lot like the ones used against the Dems post-9/11 when everyone was kvetching over the Patriot Act.
Only that was a fear mongering tactic to get everyone on board to declare war on Iraq. The Democrats plan would have been to continue using the criminal courts to prosecute terrorists. The same as the first WTC bombers, the Oklahoma City bombers, a shoe bomber (or two), and someone trying to blow up LAX.
Look at what that need-to-ram-it-thru-right-now attitude got us. Sometimes the best act is to slowly, cautiously, let things unwind.
Many people lost their jobs back in January, 2008. They are hurting really bad. They are overdue for help.
But the right wing nuts still want to blame Barney Frank and claim they are responsible.
#33, Alfie,
Simply put, Bush is (was) the President. He is in charge of the Administration. It is the Administration the does the day to day management of government. That includes the oversight functions of the SEC, FCC, FTC, OCC, FBI, CIA, and just about any other three letter functionary out there. If you bother to read the excerpt and link I provided in you will see that it was the government regulators trying to rob Peter to pay Paul that pushed the FMs into trouble.
Congress does not regulate nor oversee the Government. They are responsible for writing the laws and, sometimes, the regulations. They do hold hearings to gain insight into the area they intend on acting. As far as the FMs are concerned, Congress did hold onto the amount of capitalization, but the actual oversight was the responsibility of the Office of Federal Home Ownership Program, a division of the Bush Treasury Department.
Barney Frank is not responsible for the financial collapse, despite what Rush Limbaugh and Michael Hannity say. The program to get more low income Americans into their own homes is a success. Those mortgages are no worse a risk than those for higher income people. This was a goal of Congress and Clinton and Bush.
The “toxic” mortgages we hear so much about are those which were obtained fraudulently, were interest only, or were given to people obviously unable to pay. Fraud was a big factor and the major banks covered up much of it so they could use these worthless pieces of paper as a security.
#33, Alfie,
This is a great timeline by the NY Times on the whole collapse. it is an interesting read.
http://tinyurl.com/auyyld