Six months into the Obama Administration, a clear pattern of legislative pragmatism has emerged: focus on winning the big votes and don’t fret too much about losing some of the details.
Obama on Health Care: Pragmatism Over Principle
Tag Archives: stimulus
Obama’s Economic-Stimulus Plan: Failing by Its Own Measure
The $787 billion stimulus plan is turning out to be far less stimulating than its architects expected.
GOP says White House sends mixed messages on stimulus
Republicans disappointed with the president’s stimulus plan are expected to hit the Obama administration and Democrats hard Wednesday during a House hearing on oversight of the stimulus spending. Republican lawmakers will accuse the administration of misreading the effectiveness of the stimulus and say the administration has “rigged the game” by using what they call the immeasurable metric of “jobs created or saved,” according to a Republican memo obtained by CNN
What Happened to the Stimulus?
Fueled by Coke Zero and a double-chocolate protein bar, Vice President Joe Biden is roiling, ranting, being his usual self. Five mayors and county executives listen in silence on the other end of a White House speakerphone as the Delaware ear bender tries to ride herd on the stampede for dollars known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the $787 billion monster that is the largest domestic-spending effort in U.S
Republicans in the Wilderness: Is the Party Over?
These days, Republicans have the desperate aura of an endangered species. They lost Congress, then the White House; more recently, they lost a slam-dunk House election in a conservative New York district, then Senator Arlen Specter. Polls suggest that only one-fourth of the electorate considers itself Republican, that independents are trending Democratic and that as few as five states have solid Republican pluralities.
Specter starts anew with longtime constituents
He has represented Pennsylvania in the U.S. Senate for nearly three decades, but Arlen Specter now has to re-introduce himself back home. That was the primary goal at Specter’s first town-hall meeting as a Democrat, where he was still stunningly blunt about the real reason he left the GOP: Specter knew he would lose his seat as a Republican
House approves $3.44 trillion budget resolution
The House of Representatives passed a $3.44 trillion budget resolution for fiscal year 2010 Wednesday, approving most of President Obama’s key spending priorities and setting the federal government in a new direction with major increases for energy, education and health care programs. The resolution, which was approved by a vote of 233 to 193, passed in a virtual party-line vote.
Nationwide ‘tea party’ protests blast bailouts
Conservatives are showing they know their way around the Internet just as well as liberals, as hundreds of organized "tea party" protests are planned across the nation Wednesday. The protests are in part a backlash against what some view as excessive government spending and bailouts. Heralded on videos and blogs, the movement also appears, in part, a reflection of a general anger among people who contend the government takes too much from their pocketbooks
Japan announces $150B stimulus plan
Japan’s Prime Minister Taro Aso announced a historic ¥15 trillion ($150 billion) stimulus package Friday aimed to turn around the recession in the world’s second largest economy.
Critics slam Microsoft bridge as waste of stimulus money
Should a bridge that would connect two campuses at Microsoft’s headquarters be funded with $11 million from the federal stimulus package? Critics of using stimulus money for the bridge say it would give the software giant a break on a pet project. They also say it serves as a warning sign of how some stimulus money is not being used to finance new projects but is being diverted to public works already under way.