Republican Leader Is Highly Stimulated

Like the Claude Rains character in "Casablanca," John Boehner was "shocked" yesterday by details of the Democratic stimulus plan.

"There's over a half-a-trillion dollars worth of spending," he said on the PBS News Hour. Spending in a stimulus bill? As shocking as gambling in a casino.

The House Minority leader, who has been an embarrassment before, doesn't like the proposal because (1) it isn't all tax cuts and (2) Republicans weren't consulted enough.

The $825 billion stimulus bill unveiled by Democrats yesterday has $275 billion in tax cuts and credits to jump-start the economy (and appease Republicans), along with $550 billion in spending for clean energy, road construction, social welfare programs and emergency assistance to states.

There is much to debate about the details, not only the nature of the infrastructure expenditures but opposition by some Democrats to the size of the tax cuts, but Boehner's boobery-as-usual won't advance the process very far.

When the original bailout was voted down in late September, Boehner insisted it could have drawn enough Republican votes "had it not been for the partisan speech that the speaker gave on the floor of the House," claiming Speaker Nancy Pelosi's words "poisoned our conference, caused a number of members that we thought we could get, to go south."

This led Barney Frank to respond with disbelief, "Because somebody hurt their feelings, they decided to punish the country?"

The House Republican leader is a sensitive man, who has shed patriotic tears on the floor, but with the US economy at stake, Boehner will have to calm down and get his colleagues to discuss the bill rationally.

Throwing Money at the Economy

With the worst financial hangover in recent history, Americans start a new year, still trying to figure out what hit them and being urged to swallow hair-of-the-dog pick-me-up remedies to steady their nerves.

In the aftermath of a buying binge in real estate and on Wall Street, the ironic answers to getting straight are more personal spending and much, much more government spending. In his weekly address, the President-Elect today proposes “an American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan that not only creates jobs in the short-term but spurs economic growth and competitiveness in the long-term.”

But this new spending spree, unlike those that caused the meltdown, according to Barack Obama, "must be designed in a new way—-we can’t just fall into the old Washington habit of throwing money at the problem.

"We must make strategic investments that will serve as a down payment on our long-term economic future. We must demand vigorous oversight and strict accountability for achieving results. And we must restore fiscal responsibility and make the tough choices so that as the economy recovers, the deficit starts to come down. That is how we will...create three million new jobs, more than eighty percent of them in the private sector.”

As always, well said, but when Congress starts working next week on up to $1 trillion of stimulus, old Washington habits won't suddenly disappear.

Republican minorities are reduced to playing tough cops on what Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell calls the "largest spending bill in the history of our country at a time when our national debt is already the largest in history" and the House's John Boehner is warning against "pork-barrel spending that does nothing but give taxpayer money to special interests and campaign contributors."

It's good to see the party that racked up the largest deficits in history returning to its fiscally conservative roots. We're moving into new territory here and, for all our sakes, Washington leaders have to stop scoring political points and start figuring out how to do more than just throw money at the economy.

One more brainless spending binge could send the country into an economic AA.

The Perfect Political Storm

Congress and Wall Street both crashed today as politicians' fears and public rage collided over the American economy. House members, overcome by genuine doubt as well as panic over self-preservation five weeks before facing reelection, narrowly defeated the financial rescue bill, sending the Dow into an historic dive.

Everybody lost today--the lame-duck Bush Administration, Congressional Democrats for failing to find a convincing compromise, John McCain for prematurely bragging about his leadership in persuading Republican legislators to get on board and Barack Obama, fairly or not, for being helpless on the sidelines.

Watching the numbers on cable TV split screens was an ugly experience and, when the House count was over, Republican leaders John Boehner and Roy Blunt added insult to injury by blaming Democrats for their failure to produce enough votes for passage.

"We could have gotten there today had it not been for the partisan speech that the speaker gave on the floor of the House," Boehner said, claiming Speaker Nancy Pelosi's words "poisoned our conference, caused a number of members that we thought we could get, to go south."

Democrat Barney Frank responded with disbelief: "Because somebody hurt their feelings, they decided to punish the country?"

Before the vote, Frank had said, "Today is the decision day. If we defeat this bill, it will be a very bad day for the financial sector of the American economy and the people who will feel the pain are not the top bankers and top corporate executives but average Americans."

If Washington was broken before today, it is now in shambles as so-called national leaders race to reassure worldwide investors that the American economy is still working.

It may be time to call in older and wiser heads--Warren Buffet, Mike Bloomberg et al--to oversee this mess before it sinks us all.