Nancy Pelosi and the House Democrats, sans 11, passed the stimulus bill in perhaps one of the most partisan votes of the recent past.
Today, Nancy tried to put a happy face on her inability to convince Republicans to see things her way:
Throughout the stimulus “discussion,” reports varied on whether and how many Republicans might support it. It wasn’t until the final couple of days that it became apparent that while unable to defeat the bill, they would show a united, principled stand and vote no.
Why, when many of these same house Republicans supported TARP and have been just as guilty of irrationally exuberant spending the past few years, did they now decide to get solid on spending? I don’t have the full answer but I suspect some of it could be due to this:
According to Rasmussen, net positive support for the stimulus plan has slipped from +11% last week to only +3% this week. Worse for Democrats, unaffiliated voters shifted from a +1% last week to a -23% this week.
It appears that as more time goes by and more information comes out, as people who are not blinded by latent BDS or worship of “The One,” understand more of what really is and isn’t in the bill, they understand that the bill will stimulate nothing but the size of government.
The Dems may have won the battle in the House. However, the House Republicans have done a good job of shining light on this pile of stink. The question now will be whether the Senate Republicans can organize themselves to accomplish the same level of principled opposition, perform more public education and see what the public sentiment is in a week or two.
I do believe that if people understand this bill they will find it seriously lacking. While I’m not hopeful, if enough people burn the Senate phones the Dems could find themselves winning the battle but losing an embarrassing PR war.
