"Nevertheless, I have one relevant question: since the House GOP isn't interested in passing the bill anymore, can Democrats make it even better now?"

No.

Hallelujah, yes. Strip out everything that was offered to the GOP. Make it a Dem-only package and pass it with Dem-only votes.

i have been concerned about obama's centrism ever since he became the front-runner, and obviously this little real-time drama is an example of how he fetishizes that centrism. nonetheless, this is NOT lucy and charlie brown and to call it that is really, steve, beneath you.

what i sincerely hope is that obama remembers "i won" and, as you suggest, tells the gop caucus to go fuck itself and pass a good bill. FDR didn't fetishize republican votes....

So can family planning be retrieved? It is not only a stimulus to the American contraceptive industry but a really good way to keep women in the workforce. The family values part is that abortions won't be necessary for women who have access to safe and effective contraception.

I'm sorry, but where have you all -been-?

I knocked on doors for Obama, but the idea that he's gonna rise above his bipartisan shtick is not what you'd call reality-based.

No, he won't strip out everything offered to the GOP. He'll offer more.

No, he won't even metaphorically tell the GOP caucus to fuck themselves.

No, family planning will not be retrieved.

God do I hope I'm wrong.

"Once again, the relationship between Lucy and Charlie Brown keeps coming to mind."

Regardless of whether this is strictly true or not, Barack Obama and the Democrats need to devise a consistent strategy for dealing with the Republicans' perceived obstructionism. Clearly, this will be part of a persistent trend in the next several years.

As I've said before, if your house is on fire you don't waste time trying to change the mind of the neighbor who insists that the smoke and flames aren't necessarily bad. And you don't try to reach a "middle ground" with the guy who says that what you need to do is pour gasoline in through the window.

One of the reasons that Obama's candidacy made people like me so hopeful was that he has the oratorical skills to be able to counter the Republicans' simplistic, bumper-sticker talking points with hard facts and solid policies. Now that he's allowed the Boner & Co. to show their true colors, it's time for Obama give them a taste of a Chicago-style elbow to the teeth.

Sic 'em, Mr. President!

Just because Steve reports on what is happening every couple of hours doesn't mean that I have to decide the long-term implications of what is happening at the same rate. What will happen this afternoon? Gosh, I might just wait and see.

We'll see what happens, but I'm increasingly comfortable that Obama is not John Kerry or Harry Reid and that the fear among liberals that Obama is going to get rolled by the Republicans will be unrealized.

i think this was the game plan all along.

Give the GOP just enough rope to hang themselves with, then re-craft the bill to be effective.

We're halfway through. Let's see if Obama and the Dems finish this off properly.

Couldn't the Senate filibuster the bill, or is that seen as an impossible position?

Yesterday Geitner only got 60 votes, and that included 10 republicans. Somehow I would assume that the stimulus is more of a problem than the Treasure Secretary, but that is a big thumbs down for the person heading the stimulus sales job.

This is all leading up to the Republican filibuster ofthestimulus bill in the Senate. This time, Reid's going to have to have the cojones to call them out and make them filibuster it, and do it until they break. Let them publicly display their nitwittery to the 78% of Americans who support this all they want. Once they fix the blame (on themselves) politics will get better.

It seems to be more like:

R: You're wasting water on empty rooms.
D: Which ones?
R: You're wasting water on empty rooms.
D: Yes, but which?
R: Goodbye, water-waster. I hope the house burns down.

fromer: I hope you are right. And I really hope Obama and Dems grow a couple really soon. No more of this compromise bullshit. It's getting really old. You'll never please the GOP, and yes, Obama won.

There's something to be said for leaving some of the tax cuts and other conservative sops in place, in order to further undercut the already disaffected moderate Republican/conservative support for the GOP whackjobs in Congress.

"Democrats give you what you want, the GOP is the party of tantrummy children" should be the line.

Steve, I gravitated away from this blog when Kevin left. I read Kevin from the beginning of his blogging days but, for some reason, he doesn't seem to have the relevance to me that he used to. However, I am finding your blogging very helpful to point me to the important stories of the day. I'm back to a daily read of Washington Monthly. Thanks.

Thinking to myself, instantly what is the largest procurement business in America or the world?

Answer: The Federal Government…

Who controls this procurement now…

Answer the Democrats?

What would be the biggest change; building maintenance, repair and construction. Billions involved, at the stroke of a pen billions paid out or billions realigned. This includes military and civilian. Huge, huge amounts of money that Bush originally controlled, is now in the hands of Obama.

But this part is easy to resolve these issues could be done with or without the Republicans. Both parties are drawn into a media circus and the obvious big three cable networks have been out flanked and are doing what they do best confuse the public from the real issues.

I suspect Obama is slow dancing the repubs out the door. They have 2 choices: Participate, or obstruct. To date, they have chosen obstruction at every turn.

Obama is showing perhaps more patience than the repubs deserve, but in the long run, he's positioning to get what he wants, with very little repub input. They'll be in the cold, with only themselves to blame.

Congress could make the stimulus bill better by funding it with fines, fees and sur taxes on the wealthiest 15%, rather than with deficit spending.

...since the House GOP isn't interested in passing the bill anymore, can Democrats make it even better now?

Shorter Obama to Republicans: "Oh, so you don't like this half a shit sandwich you helped to make? Then by all means, help yourself to an entire shit sandwich. EAT IT, BITCHES!"

I wish.

BTW the contraceptive measure should have stayed in. As I said before: spending on contraceptives does help the economy, and saves taxpayers money on average. To add to the MoJo take: Short-term, it reduces the revenue loss from deductions and child tax credits, and releases money (net even after loss of credits) and productive time to parents or would-be parents. Long-term, it reduces demand on basic resources (like oil, copper, etc.) and reduces the cost and pressure for alternatives to the rest of us. BTW there is no legitimate advantage of any kind, social, economic, etc; to population growth once density like ours has been reached.

I think your take on this is wrong Steve. The Repubs wanted to go the mattresses over the medicare expansion. The President didn't take the bait and now the R's don't have a sound byte type reason to vote no on this bill.

IMO, President Obama wont this round. Boehner is now on defense and he will have to come up with a plausible reason to vote against this bill.

Obama did not become POTUS by being a political fool. I do not think he'll support an economic recovery plan that he knows is doomed to failure because it represents the failed economic of the republicans. I think he wants to at least make a show of attempting to be bipartisan. After the media events of meeting with republicans he can settle down to getting a good stimulus plan passed. We must remember that he is not operating in a self centered vacuum--he is surrounded by good advisors, both economic and political. I'm guessing that his every action is being approved by his chief of staff who is a cold blooded, bare knuckles partisan. He's giving the republicans a brand new rope to hang themselves with. When the republicans cry foul he can point out that he really tried for a compromise package, but they weren't interested. It may be up to the senate democrats to steamroll McConnel and company if necessary (allowing Harry Reid has the cojones), but only after Obama makes a show of trying to do things the nice way.

What's the detail on the tax cuts? Aren't they mostly geared to the middle class as Obama promised? If so, I doubt he would strip them, although I'd prefer that it be part of a separate bill. I'd prefer that the stimulus be near 100% infrastructure, clean energy, and high tech(including broadband access).
I don't think any of this is gonna happen, because the president insists on continued compromises with people who don't want to compromise and who continue to adhere to policies that have brought us to this dismal state of affairs.
It's pointless, and it's starting to really annoy me. I'm afraid I agree with gussie, but then Obama always seems to have a long term strategy that works out. We'll see.

In my opinion, the "right thing" would be to keep the bill with the terms he negotiated in order to allow as many Republicans to vote for it. He made a good faith effort to be bipartisan; the Rep party leadership being true to asshattish form shouldn't change Obama's goals or the way he reaches them.

After watching Obama during the campaign, I'm willing to sit back and see if this really is the Democratic leadership wimping out again, or if (as I suspect) this is yet another maneuver to trip up the Republicans.

Obama is much more patient and methodical than you or me. I'll be curious to see where the story goes from here.

i completely agree with Mnemosyne. This guy is smart folks, and he's proven it. Most of us saw the republican obstructionism coming and I'm sure Obama did as well. I believe he planned this to play out exactly as it has. He's overwhelmingly popular already, as is support for a stimulus plan. He then very publicly offered to cooperate with the republicans and is quite happy to see them oppose it and appear completely unreasonable and, frankly, idiotic. Now he can go about passing a much better bill and say "I gave it my all to work out a compromise, but the other side refused. Now the democratic party will move forward unilaterally to save the economy".

tomj,

"Couldn't the Senate filibuster the bill ... ?"

If they did, I suggest Obama ask for time from the networks for an evening broadcast, from somewhere in the White House other than the Oval Office. He should stand next to a large-screen TV and air the video of all the Senate Republicans who voted against the bill, and name names.

Tell the American people that if they lose their job, have their home foreclosed on, or can't get a loan, they should contact the Republicans who blocked the economic recovery bill.

No no no no no. Steve, you've got this backwards. Democrats control both the White House and Congress. We aren't Charlie anymore. We're Lucy.

Obama came out and offered a plan that wasn't purely partisan. It had, by all accounts, elements that were designed to attract GOP votes. Naturally, the GOP had critiques of the bill, and for reasons I never will understand they settled on "family planning" as their primary objection.

"Fine," Obama said, "family planning doesn't really belong in a stimulus package anyway, and we can always include it later where it is more relevant. So take it out."

After all that, the GOP is just going to up and walk away? In the middle of the greatest financial crisis of our lifetimes, they are going to brazenly play politics with the bill?

We're Lucy, and we didn't even have to pull the ball away. They chickened out and didn't even both to line up and kick.

You've got it all wrong. This isn't Obama whimping out. You need to drop the defensive mindset and start thinking about how things play from our new position of power. Please!

1. Did folks miss all the time Obama spent talking about tax cuts during the campaign? They're going to be in the stimulus whether the GOP votes for it or not.

2. I'd assume that the if Repubs vote en masse against the bill, the place to stick it to them is in the conference committee that reconciles the House and Senate versions. Or are both chambers passing the exact same bill?

3. Let's think farther ahead than tomorrow, shall we? Even if the stimulus works, the U.S. economy is going to sputter along for a while before it gets going again. When it does, we're going to have a triple buttload of debt and the most monsterous deficit in the history of history. That means that in the best of circumstances things are still going to be pretty darn crappy heading into the 2010 midterms. Giving Dem Congressman and Senators some cover against the charge of "tax-raiser" in that environment is a pretty good idea.

Mike

"Given this, of course he opposes the proposed rescue package. It's antithetical to all of his beliefs about government and the economy..."

The strategy that John Boehner and Mitch McConnell have today revealed is not at all related to their beliefs about government and the economy. These scoundrels quite simply are seeking to hold onto their last vestige of power by blocking Obama legislative initiatives at every opportunity, regardless of the merits, and regardless of the American people's will as stated in the 2006 and 2008 elections. Their sole calculus is that if a bill improves Obama's standing, it will be resisted. This distillation of partisan power maneuvering to perennial obstructionism can be dealt with in only one way--the Senate must eliminate the 60 vote super majority filibuster rule.

I had previously believed that it would be a bad idea to get rid of the 60 vote rule since at some point in the future the Dems will once again find themselves in the minority. But the country is on the verge of economic collapse and still the Repubs are more concerned about the exercise of their minority political will than the good or the will of the people. Unfortunately the Repubs' itching to push the system to its limits means the grown-ups must now take the keys away from them unless or until they grow up.

Obama is much more patient and methodical than you or me. I'll be curious to see where the story goes from here.

Yeah, this sort of reminds me of an old episode of Frasier, when his plucky agent is negotiating his new contract--at one point he thinks he's not going to get anything and that management will never give in to her demands, but in the end she gets exactly what she wants for him. Of course, he suffers a near heart attack, but all's well that ends well.
Obama is like the agent, while the rest of us flip out, he just cruises through it all with a smile on his face. I'll maintain my faith until I actually see him screw up or die from a stroke.

This is just too good---watching the grand chess-master Obama systematically dissect Boehner and his checker-playing chums.

Note to Harry---schedule the votes and tell McDoofus to filibuster until the end of time---and start thinking about that nuclear option....

I certainly may have missed something, but the closest thing I found to a pro-Republican thing in the package was a provision that would extend through 2009 a provision that would allow partial expensing of equipment, and would allow companies that lose money to spread their losses over multiple years. The CBO estimates this would reduce revenues in 2009-10 by 90Billion, but much of it would be recouped in the following 9 years.

How blissful to think that the Dems might make it better, but they won't.

Why is that, with such large majorities in the House and Senate, the Democrats act more like minority parties?

IndianaChaz asked: "Why is that, with such large majorities in the House and Senate, the Democrats act more like minority parties?"

The answer is Harry Reid & Nancy Pelosi & the other so-called dumbocrap leaders in the house & senate. For the last 2 years when they had the majority leaderships in the house & the senate; if you had looked up spineless in a dictionary, you would have seen their pictures.

I don't understand why the Republicans keep demonizing the Democrats, like Bill Clinton, Harry Reid, and Nancy Pelosi, who seem like they would have been very happy in the Republican Party back when there was a moderate wing, the Rockefeller Republicans?

It would be so nice if Speaker Pelosi actually decided to act the way Republicans claim she acts.

Why doesn't Pres Obama say to the GOP, "Alright. Fine. You guys write the entire bill. Every word of it. Every dollar can be a tax cut. And I'll get it passed."

Then, Obama will look certainly bipartisan for letting the minority pass a bill that they wrote. And when it fails, we achieve a permanent Democratic majority because the nation will see (again) what a party of losers and bad ideas the Repubs truly are.

Oh wait, I know why he won't do it. Because he actually cares about the country enough to not do something harmful for the sake of party politics.

MBunge, Alex, kahner, Allan Snyder, and Steve W.

Totally agree. This reminds me of Bill Gates skill at poker. (Jr. - learned much from Sr.)

Give them lots of rope and listen with open heart for a while - times up, "What are you going to do with the rope I gave you?"

"I said I'll grasp your hand if you unclench your fist. Didn't you understand me? I wasn't talking about foreign dictators."

Mnemosyne, you and I are going to have to spend time reading about rhetoric from the masters, the Greeks and the people who grasped their wisdom. I don't know the details but this president not only has the advantage of mental health but the wisdom of the ancients, at least as far as my radar can discern. The little I know about rhetoric is that it is astoundingly powerful. It can shape the destiny of civilizations.

Not only do we have an adult in the White House, we have a healthy human being who is adept at persuasion.

He is likely to push on the boulder from the side no one else chooses.

He looks brilliant because of some simple choices.

Let's hope this is true. Read scientific journals - humanity is at stake.