Thursday, February 12, 2009

Thoughts On The Stimulus Plan

-As far as I can tell, it's all over but the signing now. Good work, House leadership.

-If Susan Collins wants to come out and bless the stimulus package by spouting nonsense about how going below $800 billion puts it at a 'fiscally responsible number', fine with me. Wish she hadn't screwed with the package so much in the first place, but her whole game is a sham and we might as well get a piece of the shammy action.

-Isakson's idiotic $15K tax break per house for home-flippers is gone, and a bunch of the aid to states is back.

-I hope the Obama administration has learned its lesson / cannily demonstrated what needed to be demonstrated to America about Republicans: Apart from like 3 Senators, they have zero interest in doing the bipartisan thing. From now on, no point designing legislation that will respect their concerns and complaints. Ram stuff through the House while John Boehner tries to scream through the Pelosi-district ball gag in his mouth, let Susan Collins make a symbolic change to the legislation to beat the Senate filibuster, take Susan's change out in conference committee, and it's off to the Rose Garden for a signing ceremony. (Cutting out the Susan Collins steps via budget reconciliation is even better if you can pull it off.)

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