Obama Strikes Back and Misses the Target

Barack Obama hasn't liked the strenuous and successful Republican opposition to the "stimulus" bill that has been debated in the Senate after its passage in the House. The Senate bill agreed to last night reflects significant concessions to three Senate Republicans to secure a 60 vote majority.

In a speech before House Democrats, Obama criticized the speed with which the bill is moving through Congress, suggesting it is Republicans' fault for having the temerity to propose alternatives. Aside from the fact that a Senator has no more critical job than discussing and debating important legislation, yet alone a bill costing $800-900 billion, Obama's complaints miss the mark.

If the speed of implementing the "stimulus" bill were so critical, why:

• Is so much of the bill's impact occurring in 2010 and 2011?

• Did the House laden the bill with so much special interest spending, slowing down the budget reconciliation process that now has to occur between the House and Senate?

• Do the Democrats' proposals include measures of lasting importance outside mere "stimulus", such as significant steps toward nationalizing health care (when that is a subject that should be debated on its own) or expanding the role of the federal government in education (which is a major point of disagreement between the parties)? In other words, why did the Democrats seek lasting policy changes for what is purportedly near-term stimulus?

• Hasn't Barack Obama appointed the car czar, which has led to inaction on the part of the auto industry and UAW in meeting the looming deadlines in the late December auto bail out?

Obama also had the nerve to complain about the size of the deficit he inherited upon taking office and the increase in the national debt - when he is proposing massive increases in the deficit and the national debt!

"When you start hearing arguments, on the cable chatter, just understand a couple of things," he said. "No. 1, when they say, 'Well, why are we spending $800 billion [when] we've got this huge deficit?' - first of all, I found this deficit when I showed up, No. 1"

"I found this national debt, doubled, wrapped in a big bow waiting for me as I stepped in the Oval Office."

Aside from the incongruity of him complaining about the deficit and national debt when he wants to increase both dramatically, it does raise a substantive point that is missing from much of the debate over the "stimulus" plan: before including the higher deficits from the new "stimulus" plan, the size of this year's budget deficit, as a percentage of GDP, will be the highest ever in peace time - much higher than it was during the Great Depression.

So if deficit spending was the key tool for stimulating economic activity, we are already doing more than ever before. And the deficits of the previous years should have led to economic nirvana, rather than the recession of today.

Mr. President, we thank you for indirectly helping making the case against such "stimulus".