Some House Democrats are fessing up: the stimulus is one junky bill. The Hill reports:
“I’m concerned that bad process leads to a bad product,” said Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), who said he cast a “reluctant yes” vote.
“I’m willing to give the president and the Senate the chance to make this a better bill,” he added, reflecting a sentiment shared by both some Democrats and nearly all Republicans.
Despite what some described as “significant” Democratic trepidation, a number of Democrats said that many in the caucus were very hesitant to deliver any kind of blow to their president during his second week in office.
For the 11 Democrats, though – mainly a mix of fiscally conservative Blue Dog Democrats and newly elected Freshmen – it was just as important to send a message to their leaders that they have more work to do.
“His bill was fine,” Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.), a veteran Blue Dog said, referring to Obama. “Congress messed it up.”
“It’s not going to be passed for two weeks,” Cooper added. “Can’t we spend a little more time crafting a better package?”
Well, it remains to be seen whether the bill gets better or worse. According to the Senate Minority Leader, things are heading toward the latter with such additions in the Senate version as these:
• $20 million “for the removal of small- to medium-sized fish passage barriers.”
• $400 million for STD prevention
• $25 million to rehabilitate off-roading (ATV) trails
• $34 million to remodel the Department of Commerce HQ
• $70 million to “Support Supercomputing Activities” for climate research• $150 million for honey bee insurance
In the end, the vast majority of Democrats won’t cross the White House, but there is no reason why the White House shouldn’t make the bill better and remove the embarrassment factor for those walking the plank on its behalf. It remains a mystery why the White House isn’t taking a stronger hand in reworking the bill to improve it. After all, that is what Rahm Emanuel, in part, is there for — to restrain the worst impulses of the Democratic Congress. So far he’s not doing a very good job.
“as far as I’ve been able to discern”
There’s the rub.
Anyone older than 30 should know that the only thing you can count on with the Russians and the Arabs is that trust is not one of their virtues. Their culture allows them to do or say or sign anything that they think will help enable their cause, but they really do not mean to adhere to any of it.
Any day now… Peace in our time.
“autocratic, hostile, and near-imploding country”…oh, you meant them, the Bush WH or Russia or our current state of affairs…? Just want to be clear who you’re talking about as that phrase applies well to …well everybody in this conversation, both sides.
A missile defense system in your next door neighbor’s yard to protect you from the missiles of a country whose missiles can’t reach your shores is…understandably quirky.
Imagine Russia installing a missile defense system in Canada to protect them from missiles launched by Taiwan. Be kinda odd.
The irony is the posturing by two countries whose economies are imploding and who can’t afford to build the system or the missiles that would require them.
And everybody getting all kung-fu fightin’ mad about it…pumping their chests, yelling.
Like JE said ..any day now…
Let me begin by saying, I consider your style of politics shallow and poorly thought out. My experience of your writing so far is that of a man who loves to play chess, but the moment you’re up against a player who can see two moves ahead, you “accidentally” spill the pieces on the floor.
Let’s step back for just a moment and evaluate the situation from an intelligent person’s perspective, that would be mine, not yours in case you were confused already.
As you overglorified, Russia is experiencing difficulties as is the United States. As you also rightly pointed out, the Russian leaders benefit from showing their people they are stronger than the Americans. At this point in time, the world, not just one country or another is facing major economical crisis. The U.S. is printing dollars just as fast as the Germans printed Marks once upon a time. Did you think these dollars just come out of a place where fairies make them appears with magical dust? If the international community did not agree to allow the U.S. to do this, the result would be to devalue the dollar in relation to other currencies theoretically crashing the buying power of the dollar in the world market. The Chinese wouldn’t be able to devalue quickly enough to compensate and even if they did, it would crash much of the remaining worlds economies since yuan devaluation directly devalues products across the boards… starting with oil.
Forget the specifics of the process of collapse, it requires thinking several moves ahead and you’ve already shown your lack of ability to cope with more than one. We’ll just for the moment assume that there’s a world economic crisis and if it’ll make you feel better, you’re not personally to blame for it. You’re hardly significant enough for that.
So, the important fact up until now has been that in order for Russia to work together towards a common goal profitable for both the U.S. and Russia, the Russian leaders need to make it look like they’re doing the U.S. a favor as opposed to asking the U.S. for help in order to save face and not be thrown out of office. Well, here’s a great way to make it happen. Why not approach Russia and open the door by asking them for help with one problem. Then Russia can say no, but we’ve bought the leadership of Russia the illusion of strength internationally with their people.
Is it embarressing for the U.S.? Depends how you look at it. If you’re the type of person that will lift a 200lb box by yourself and pull out your back instead of asking a woman for help, then it’s embarressing as hell. If you’re the type of person that asks the woman for help and is pleasantly surprised when she brings you a hand truck, then probably not.
I can go on with this for a while, but I see little value in trying to teach you logic. After this many years, either you have it or you (and specifically this one is you) don’t.
Now, in case you’ve made it this far, I’m going to challenge you. And this is more of a dare than a challenge. I’m going to suggest you avoid breaking your back and instead get some help from the woman (using the republican symbolism that a woman is weak and since I’m not a republican I must therefore also be weak) baring a hand truck. I will help you write what I hope will turn out to be your best commentary yet, possibly ever.
Next time you see Obama or Hillary do something, I want you to write an article that either shows that you agree with them, or instead of lambasting them, offer a productive, intelligent (if possible) alternative solution that you feel might have worked better. Your writing style is entire negative and you make every effort to find the holes in the ship and point them out instead of plugging them and trying to help. I’m quite sure you’d rather spectacularly sink on that ship in the middle of the ocean so long as you manage to tell your story about it and pop it into a bottle so someone could read it later.
If you are in fact as smart is I believe you are dumb, show us. If not, simply delete this comment from your blog and pretend like you’ve never been challenged. I won’t tell anyone.
#2 – They sound just like Democrats!
Wow, Darren Starr, if you really play chess I bet you get beat a lot. Either that, or you take care not to play anyone with real skill.
There’s no need to unpack your whole sophomoric peroration — contentions regulars can do that for themselves, if they care to take the time. But here’s where you got yourself checkmated:
“So, the important fact up until now has been that in order for Russia to work together towards a common goal profitable for both the U.S. and Russia, the Russian leaders need to make it look like they’re doing the U.S. a favor as opposed to asking the U.S. for help in order to save face and not be thrown out of office.”
Your premise here, that keeping Iran de-nuked is a “common goal profitable for both the U.S. and Russia,” is invalid. You’re welcome to want to believe this, but there is not the slightest evidence for it from either Russia’s overt posture, her record of recent actions, or her history since the time of Peter the Great. Russia would much rather deal with a nuclear Iran that is Russia’s client, and an ally in ridding the Middle East of the United States, than help the US succeed in OUR policy of remaining the de facto hegemon of the region. A nuclear Iran is exactly what Russia needs to help squeeze America out of Central Asia, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East.
Russia and Iran neither trust nor like each other; but they are useful to each other right now. The fact that you obviously don’t realize that tells me that, however you may do with chess, you’d be awful at poker.
5: “I can go on with this for a while”: At least one uncontestable statement in a waste of words, as opposed to #4.
Is there a Pseudo-Intellectual of the Year award here at Commentary?
I’d like to nominate Darren “I can go on with this for a while” Starr.
“Imagine Russia installing a missile defense system in Canada to protect them from missiles launched by Taiwan. Be kinda odd.”
Yes, it would. But it would be even odder if the United States took issue with a Russian offer to build a missile defense system in Canada. Nobody is fooling anyone here, so we shouldn’t play like they are. Unfortunately, our president thought we could dicker with Russia about this. Did any one among us think that was a winning strategy? But he’s the smartest person in the whole world, so I’m told [sarcasm alert], I’m sure he knows what he’s doing.
Congratulations to the rest of you on your patience. For myself, I find that life’s too short to read past a sentence like “Let’s step back for just a moment and evaluate the situation from an intelligent person’s perspective, that would be mine, not yours in case you were confused already.”
Well, let’s not take too many shots at a policy of relying upon “the power of suggestion.”
Isn’t that PRECISELY our policy regarding islam, whereby we label jihadists, fundamentalists, supremacists and terrorists as “radical,” fringe types who are trying to “hijack” a “religion of peace.” We say that though we know, or have reason to know, {actual knowledge or constructive} that islam is expansionist, militaristic, imperialistic, warlike. That in short, it’s anything but peaceful.
Our ENTIRE war effort is predicated upon “the power of suggestion.” Supposedly if we repeat often enough and loud enough that islam is a “great religion” that’s entirely compatabile with the modern world that merely by endless repetition it will actually become reality.
Of course it’s a pipe dream, a fantasy, —————– which will inexorably lead to tremendous suffering, as well as the death of nations and states.
“heaping portions of servility and incoherence”.
Abe’s spot-on there about the essence of “smart power” as wielded by Obama and New York’s junior senator.
And there’s no reason to think Obama will come to understand what’s wrong, any more than Jimmy Carter, another man of considerable intellect(remember his knowledge of nuclear physics), came to understand the futility of his soft approach.
Just when does Robert Gates decide to make tracks?
Darren Starr (Re #5):
Sophomoronic snot.
You’re just not very good at this, are you?
I think you *may* qualify for the peanut gallery at Huffpoo.
Or maybe you’d be Ok as a junior assistant spittle-spewer (third class) over at the Kos Klucks Klan.
Or you could just toddle back to mewling and puking in your sandbox with all the other “special” kids.
But your shallow non-sequiturs prove you capable only of *faking* adult political disputation.
Because at bottom you are just another tendentious buffoon and you will remain one until the end of time.
God Himself could not easily elevate you from your buffoonery, and, being omniscient, He knows there’s no slightest reason to bother. Thus, there is absolutely no hope for you.
So have a nice day.
Isn’t it great to finally have superior intellects and termperaments at the wheel? They’re just so….superior.
“My experience of your writing so far is that of a man who loves to play chess, but the moment you’re up against a player who can see two moves ahead, you “accidentally” spill the pieces on the floor.” Wow, Darren, thanks for gracing our humble forum with your superior interllect. Do stop by again after your next chess tournament….dope.
Darren:
You’re really Dave Burge, aren’t you?
Too many decades of snotty stupid studio notes for you, Darren Starr, if that’s who you are. You’ve got Stockholm Syndrome. You’ve become worse than them. You’re a fool. There’ll be no place for “Sex and the City” in the world Obama is creating. Honestly, your grandiosity and self-delusion are staggering.
Yes!
We’ve had two great wars now where the dividing line was between Canada and America.
I remember when Canada and a bunch of their provinces had to live under Soviet rule.
#11, CK: life’s too short to read past a sentence like “Let’s step back for just a moment and evaluate the situation from an intelligent person’s perspective, that would be mine, not yours in case you were confused already.”
How right you are!
I’ve made the mistake of reading one more sentence and got this:
“As you overglorified, Russia is experiencing difficulties as is the United States.”
As you WHAT?
By 2015, Russia’s military conscripts will be majority muslim.
By mid-century, which is roughly 40 years from today, —————— Russia, Orthodox Russia, will be majority muslim.
Anyone who thinks that Iran is a client state for Moscow is deluding himself. Iran is nobody’s client state. Tehran will work with others to cause problems for The United States, and they’ll take Western technical expertise on various things, —————– such as hardening their nuclear infrastructure, but that doesn’t mean they’re in any way in any kind of alliance with Moscow, or in some kind of client like status.
Tehran’s main motivation is that which it receives from the strictures, the tenets and the teachings of the great warlord mohammad. They have their own agenda, which they’re slowly but surely working towards.
Russia is acting rogue, reaping billions in capital from assisting Tehran with her nuclear project. For them it’s money, as well as causing loads of difficulties for The United States.
As for Mr. Darren Starr, he’s made a few mistakes.
First off his foundational position that Moscow secretly wants to cooperate with The United States, but that somehow the Russian people were so unruly, so desirious of seeing The United States harmed, that Russia’s rulers had to contrive some diplomatic gimmick that would enable Moscow to lend whatever assistance they might. The problem here is that STARR is assuming a fact very much NOT in evidence. Where is there evidence that Russia’s people are so overflowing with venom that they’re eager to arm Tehran, ———————– especially when Tehran has links with the very rebels that pulled off the horrors in the Moscow movie theater, as well as the utter horrors in Beslan. If anything, Russia’s people are experiencing a rebirth of their traditional animosity towards the forces of islam, especially jihadist islam. Now maybe he has some evidence to back that up, ———— I don’t think he does, but whether he does or not, he didn’t post it.
Moscow’s game is that one usually finds played in the world of organized criminality, id est, short term gain, the hell with long term consequences.
Some very dirty, sordid, wicked people are making millions doing business with the mullahs in Tehran. And they don’t much care for the consequences, because all they’re doing is looking at their own bottom line. We saw much the same in Paris before we finally moved on Baghdad. Many a connected Frenchman was making significant cash doing business with Saddam, helping him avoid the sanction regime. With the contracts that Saddam signed, that would only take effect once that sanction regime fell, many a Frenchman had AMPLE reason not only to thwart The United States from removing Saddam, but in seeing the UN’s sanction regime collapse.
Starr doesn’t know much about the people ruling in Moscow.
For over the last 15 years, no diplomacy has worked with Tehran, and no real sanction regime imposed upon Iran.
They’re NOTHING that The United States can do to secure the assistance of China and Russia relating to Tehran. Just like as all of our diplomacy failed to secure the assistance of China in relation to North Korea.
The situation MR. STARR is far more grim than you would like to entertain.