It’s somewhat unclear what exactly Senators Nelson, Collins, Specter and Snowe were aiming for in the cuts they demanded from the Senate stimulus bill. They didn’t dispute the need for a large economic stimulus, nor did they offer a detailed critique of why spending on school construction or state aid would be “less stimulative” than … Read more
Well, first of all Obama’s pay cap gambit sees some returns. The Republican leadership is doing the best thing for their party; simply refusing to talk about it. The rank and file is less cooperative. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell just walked away when questioned about it. However, individual Congresspeople are more or less forced … Read more
Apparently Congress is doing some bipartisanity of its own, without the intervention of President Obama. And possibly without his approval. Yesterday, Congress (with overwhelming support from both parties) quickly gave its approval to greatly expand the powers of the Inspector General investigating the use of bailout funds by recipient banks. This IG, Neil Barofsky, is … Read more
With the Obama Administration yesterday announcing that they plan to impose strict pay limits on bailed-out bank executives, Republicans are in a tough position. First of all, they’re not needed; Treasury can do whatever it wants. But more importantly, they’re put in a bind between a very popular notion and their stated principles. They can … Read more
Two weeks ago, Obama made a comment to House Republicans that they “can’t just listen to Rush Limbaugh and get things done”. This was treated as the failure of bipartisanship*, and was perceived as an impolitic thing for him to say. Hypothesis: Obama messed up. Datum: Rush Limbaugh is incredibly unpopular. This story provoked a … Read more
No words.
That’s the only thing I can conclude from the vote on the transition to Digital TV. Since it seems like there are around 20 million people who haven’t yet made the transition, and the government voucher program is out of money, making the switch as scheduled will cause massive chaos and tons of people losing … Read more
Ford today reiterated that, despite its less than rosy business prospects, it does not want federal aid. Now that’s refreshing. Like a brand-new F-150, Ford plows on through the metaphorical snow and mud, much like I did (through the real stuff) on my way through Harvard Square this morning.
I’m completely unsurprised to note that as of today, the House GOP leadership has declared that they’re going to begin whipping up votes against the stimulus. They ran up against the wall of what they could extract in concessions from Obama, and so now they need to do their best to kill it. They’re judging … Read more
Here’s what I would be thinking, if I were running the Republican Party. Well, I don’t know if this stimulus package is going to work. So let’s suppose it works. Well, then we’re in trouble no matter how many Republican votes in got in Congress. The more tax cuts we can stuff in, we’ll win … Read more