Obama, please stop playing nice with the Republicans in Congress to pass your legislation. The country rejected conservative philosophy and turned to you to try and navigate us out of this economic Armageddon that we are facing.
I understand that you've promised bipartisanship and you've kept that promise. However, implementing the massive corporate tax cuts in your plan to appease the Boehners of the right is counterproductive.
About two-thirds of the $825 billion is reserved for spending and the rest for tax breaks. In the Republican response to the president’s address, Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, the House minority leader, called for deeper tax cuts instead.
We need sound, but unfettered spending for stimulus and not some watered down bill that will be unable to do the job. As you've already seen, phony CBO reports have shown up to try and neutralize your plan before it even became realized. That CBO report was nonexistent, of course.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid indicated that the was significant discussion within today’s meeting about the CBO numbers --- which concluded that only $26 billion out of $358 billion in infrastructure and other appropriated spending would be delivered into the economy by the end of the budget year.
Reid said that OMB director Peter Orszag explained to the group today that the CBO study only analyzed 40% of the bill.
“He said he would guarantee that at least 75 percent of the bill would go directly into the economy within the first 18 months,” Reid said of Orszag's prognosis.
And many other media figures are promoting more propaganda against your plan as well.
Numerous media figures, including David Brooks, Larry Kudlow, Brit Hume, and George Stephanopoulos, have asserted that the proposed fiscal stimulus package supported by President Barack Obama would amount to spending at least $223,000 for every job created, echoing a January 15 "Stimulus Quick Facts" press release, issued by the Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee...read on.
Republicans lost the election and they need to reorganize their party if they want to be relevant again. It's fine to bring them into the discussions, but you should have started this negotiation with zero room for tax cuts and then worked up from there. I find it appalling that an economy which was based on tax cuts that led us to the abyss is now being considered as a major component of your plan while infrastructure spending is less than twenty percent of your plan.
You promised to get rid of the Bush tax cuts, but so far seem to be reneging on that promise and might just let them expire. I understand that not all tax cuts are bad, but the Republican mantra that tax cuts are the solution to every problem has got to be smashed---not reinforced.
I urge you to reconsider and design your plan around your original goals and then give the Republicans a chance to be part of the solution and join in. If they refuse then move past them. You won a mandate from the American people to govern the way you see fit. It shouldn't be a negotiation with conservatives in Congress to try and gain Republican votes for your bill. Remember, Conservative values have put this country in dire straights. I know this Sunday you will have Lawrence Summers on Meet the Press to sell your plan. I'll be waiting to hear him out.
So please heed my warning. They want you to FAIL. Rush Limbaugh speaks for them. Bill O'Reilly speaks for them. Sean Hannity speaks for them. They want you to fail. Through your failure can they only hope to make their case to the American people.
Make the stimulus package as big as you want and ram it down their throats in the end if you must. They never worked with the Democrats when they had the majority. We've witnessed eight years of them shunning democratic values and they are less inclined to work with you at this point in time because they root for your failure as a whole.
You probably only have this one chance to make it work. The media will pounce on you if it falls short even if the people understand that the Conservative economy you have inherited will take a very long time to repair. Let Republicans call press conferences and cry over the amount of spending that is needed to repair the damage they have caused. They cared little for the amount of money that they spent, the lack of regulations that were needed, the incredible tax cuts to the rich that made them wealthier with George Bush in office and look where it got us. Now is not the time to water down your bill by playing the bipartisan game. The stakes are too high. Do not blink on this. Go all in before the flop because they cannot draw any cards that can beat you.
