• The Intellectual Redneck

  +1

  You can dig all you want, but there is no pony hiding under the Democrat's stimulus manure pile. <a href="http://bloggingredneck.blogspot.com/">There is no pony hiding in the stimulus "pile of manure"</a>

  Posted 1/28/2009 respond (flag)

Would Love to, But Prevented
Talking Points Memo — ... On a more constructive note, it was pleasantly shocking to see this article in the Post which shows that there are actually critiques of the Stimulus Bill that don't come from craven right-wing freaks of the John Boehner persuasion. Seriously, read the Post piece. ...

Make It Bigger
Obsidian Wings — ... by publius Tomorrow’s Post article (via TPM) usefully outlines some criticisms of the current stimulus plan from Democrats – namely, too many tax cuts and too little public infrastructure investment.  This is a good development – the pressure on the bill shouldn’t be coming solely from the Eric Cantors of the world.  There needs to be leftward pressure too. Frankly, I’m torn on Obama’s “outreach” strategy at this point.  Here’s the best justification that my feeble mind can conjure: Obama is, as always, looking long term.  When he ...

Stimulus pushback -- from the other direction
Political Animal — STIMULUS PUSHBACK -- FROM THE OTHER DIRECTION.... As the debate and negotiations over the stimulus have unfolded, we've heard plenty about conservatives' opposition, and quite a bit about efforts to make the right happy. It's encouraging, then, to see at least some attention directed towards those who worry that the stimulus package is missing an opportunity to go much further . For some House Democrats, the problem is less a matter of balancing the short and long term than a shortage of focus and will on the part of the administration. Their disappointment centers on the ...

A Test For Boehner
Wizbang — ... House. The Republicans are certainly no where close to regaining control of either the House or Senate in 2010, but the process of becoming a majority must necessarily begin with some dramatic statement. That opportunity presents itself today when Republicans can repudiate Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Reid by allowing the Democrats to shoulder full political responsibility and risk for this monstrosity of federal spending. Democrats know that passing the massive stimulus bill carries great risk . Former Clinton Budget Director Alice Rivlin noted yesterday: In testimony ...

Should there even be an economic stimulus package?
Sister Toldjah — With all the talk out there, mainly from the Democrat side, saying we need to “do something and do it now” as it relates to our troubled economy, it appears inevitable that indeed “something” will happen. But in the rush to get something passed, and with Obama’s telling the GOP that, regarding the stimulus they need to “not play politics” (read: don’t continue to object to anything we put in it, because we’ve already placated you enough and we need to pass it now), isn’t it long past time that Washington, DC slow the hell down, read the fine ...

House Votes on Stimulus Today: A Look at the Numbers
TPM Election Central — ... really sway any centrist GOPer to support the stimulus? Will the bill's relatively weak spending on infrastructure redevelopment persuade any liberal Dems to vote no? A few lawmakers to watch: ...

Hullabaloo — ... In addition, this bill is one of the rare chances to both create jobs and provide something lasting for the future, and even if you agree with Horn that only 15-20 billion is "wasted" (and I'm not totally convinced), it's wasted at the expense of an investment and a transformation. ...

Stimulate and Invest
The Reaction — ... I'm with the left-leaning Democrats here, go bigger. Keep the money for government programs and add to it a few more billion for "long-lasting infrastructure investments." What's another few billion at this point?

Stimulus a case of haste makes waste?
The Swamp — ... Meanwhile, there are Democrats who aren't crazy about the stimulus plan either. Here's a lengthy excerpt from a Washington Post story: ...

A Republican Worth Listening To
Matthew Yglesias — Rather than endless coffee sessions with John Boehner, maybe the White House should pay more attention to this guy: Rep. John L. Mica (Fla.), the ranking Republican on the transportation committee, called the proposed infrastructure spending “almost minuscule” and expressed regret that the administration had not crafted its plan around an ambitious goal such as building high-speed rail in 11 corridors around the country, which Mica said would cost $165 billion. “They keep comparing this to Eisenhower, but he proposed a ...

House Republicans Finally Get Serious About Pork; Democrats Ignore Infrastructure Needs
A Blog For All — ... , only the tiniest portion of the package is actually going for building and repairing roads. While the WaPo claims that some Democrats are skeptical of the stimulus package and its paltry sums for infrastructure , they didn't vote against it in the House. How much of the stimulus package is for infrastructure improvements? $40 billion . The bill to be voted on today includes $30 billion for roads and bridges, $9 billion for public transit and $1 billion for inter-city rail -- less than 5 percent of the package's total spending. You read that right. It was all just so much ...

"Overwhelming" GOP Opposition to Stimulus Bill
The Corner on National Review Online — ... ) in the New York Times pointing out the enormous amount of social, non-stimulative spending in the proposal, and in the Washington Post , highlighting some Democratic qualms about the bill. "This is finally penetrating all those headlines that said this is necessary for the economy and that it's all infrastructure and tax relief," my source told me. "It finally gets the idea out that this is just a really, really big omnibus spending bill." It's also clear that Republicans, battered after big losses in 2006 and even bigger losses in 2008, are finding their feet on this ...

Rivlin on Infrastructure
Matthew Yglesias — A few people have asked me what I think of these remarks from Alice Rivlin: In testimony before the House Budget Committee yesterday, Alice M. Rivlin, who was President Bill Clinton’s budget director, suggested splitting the plan, implementing its immediate stimulus components now and taking more time to plan the longer-term transformative spending to make sure it is done right. “Such a long-term investment program should not be put together hastily and lumped in with the anti-recession package. The elements of the investment ...

Republican Rep. Peter King: Obama’s stimulus plan needs more infrastucture spending.
Think Progress — ... Today, Rep. John L. Mica (R-FL) called the infrastructure spending in President Obama’s recovery package “almost minuscule,” criticizing Obama for not funding rail more generously. Matt Yglesias called him a “ ...

WSJ, Washington Post On Jimmy Carter Memorial Bill
California Conservative — When an Opinion Journal article focuses on the same thing as a Washington Post article, you know that it’s important. That’s why I took notice when both focused on the Jimmy Carter Memorial Bill is encountering. First, let’s look at James Freeman’s Opinion Journal op-ed: President Obama’s $825 billion (and counting) “stimulus” is steamrolling through Congress. One group of conservative Republicans is betting that it will only worsen the country’s economic plight. That’s where the House Republican Study Committee comes in. “No Trillion Dollar Spending Spree” is the message ...

The Stimulus Bill is a Good Bill
The Moderate Voice — ... It is not a great bill, to be sure. Alice Rivlin, Budget Director under Bill Clinton, offered the objection that the bill has too many long-term elements that should be separated out and debated on at length before being included in a separate package. I think she’s right on this score. ...

A Stimulus for Tomorrow, Part 4 - Improvements
Obsidian Wings — ... ) is to point out it makes sense to do Division A and Division B sequentially, in different bills, and not simultaneously as the House Democrats have.  By focusing on each division in turn, there is an opportunity to improve them both.  (This isn't a von-only view; some Democrats agree with me.)  ...

A Stimulus for Tomorrow, pt. 5: Big is the new Bold.
Obsidian Wings — ... Pass Division B quickly, without Division A. Make Division B bigger, even, if you can find worthwhile ways to do so.  But spend a single extra month -- one month! -- considering the provisions in Division A.  Division A is long-term:  The stimulus for tomorrow.  Everyone, Democrats and Republicans alike, should take a moment and consider what kind of tomorrow they'd like to live in.  As Rep. Mica noted, lamenting the absence of a serious plan for high speed rail corridors in the package: ...

Omnibus Catch-Up #2
The American Scene — ... A number of left-of-center economists have backed the stimulus package as offered by the Democrats, in part because of the fear that tax incentives won’t actually increase spending. This seems like a straightforward debate over second-best scenarios: federal and state governments are going to waste large sums, simply by virtue of limited absorptive capacity, and any tax cuts will also involve “leakage.” Like Alice Rivlin, I think it would have been best to split the plan. ...

Obama must pare-down stimulus: Kristol
The Swamp — ... Kristol's recommendation isn't just coming from Republicans. As I've written before, Alice Rivlin, who was President Bill Clinton's Office of Management and Budget director, has argued similarly that longer term spending, such as infrastructure funding, be split from the stimulus bill. Infrastructure projects need a longer, more thoughtful review, she said. ...

Tomorrow, baby. I'll love you tomorrow. . . . If you're still around.
Obsidian Wings — ... long term spending for targeted, game-changing infrastructure projects like Rep. Mica's high-speed rail proposal.  That would have been a bold move, in my view.  Unfortunately, however, ...