Thursday July 9, 2009
"The U.S. should consider drafting a second stimulus package focusing on infrastructure projects because the $787 billion approved in February was 'a bit too small'," according to respected economist and Obama advisor Laura Tyson,
per Bloomberg News.
Other pragmatic Democrats, including Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell and and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) believe likewise. Even moderate, level-headed House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer feels that "We need to be open to whether or not we need further action."
But does a second stimulus make sense when President Obama's first stimulus package obviously didn't stem unemployment or jumpstart the U.S. economy out of its doldrums, as promised?
Or was the first stimulus package inadequate for the task, as Nobel Laureate economist Paul Krugman when he warned the White House early this year that an at least $2 trillion.effective stimulus must be
Was Obama's stimulus package doomed to fail, a victim of political compromise in Obama's naive search for bipartisan support that ultimately yielded votes from no House Republicans and only three Senate Republicans?
Or are we being impatient, given that, due to Obama administration foot-dragging, far less than 10% of stimulus package funds have been spent?
Is the public will there for a second stimulus package? Will centrist Democrats, such as Senate Budget Chair Kent Conrad (D-ND), support a second bill after their tepid support for Obama's first stimulus package?
At my quick-reading Pros and Cons of Obama's Stimulus Package, I explain and simplify this complex issue for you.
And I attempt to answer the timely, burning questions, including "Would Congress really pass a viable second stimulus package in 2009 or 2010?"
One thing I know for sure: the 2012 fate of President Obama's political fortunes may rest on the success of his stimulus package to lift the economy for middle-class Americans.
As Labor Secretary Hilda Solis commented yesterday about the economy, "Nobody is happy, and the president and I feel very strongly that we have to do everything we can to create jobs."
(Photo taken on April 13, 2009 as President Obama and Vice President Biden delivered remarks highlighting the transportation projects and infrastructure jobs created by Obama's economic stimulus plan, at the Department of Transportation in Washington, DC: Michael Reynolds/Getty Images)
Franken Lands Plum Committees, to Debut at Sotomayor Hearings
Monday July 6, 2009
When
Al Franken is sworn in on July 7, 2009 as U.S. Senator from Minnesota, he automatically takes on a top leadership role among Congressional Democrats, but not just because of his fame as
comedian and author.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and top Senate Democrats have reserved high-profile committee assignments for Sen. Franken, including:
Sen. Franken was selected for these plum yet challenging committee assignments because he's both unusually bright and quite conversant on the issues. And because he's an unabashed, unashamed progressive Democrat who will undoubtedly be a reliable liberal vote and voice.
Sen. Leahy and Sen. Kennedy, two of the Senate's longtime liberal lions, must be frankly delighted to welcome to their ranks a staunch liberal, in their own proud traditions, who will carry the torch for progressive reform of vital issues.
Franken enthused today that he's "ready to get to work" on "education, health care and energy issues."
Look for Sen. Franken to make his public debut as political leader on July 13th, when Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee to being hearings on her confirmation.
(Photo taken on July 6, 2009 of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Sen. Al Franken: Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
In Praise of America
Friday July 3, 2009
On this 233rd birthday of the United States of America, I urge you to take a few minutes to really absorb the poignant words of this patriotic hymn written in 1893 by a 33-year-old English professor who was inspired by a train trip through America's heartland.
America the Beautiful
O beautiful, for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America! God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood, from sea to shining sea.
O beautiful, for pilgrim feet
Whose stern, impassioned stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America! God mend thine ev'ry flaw;
Confirm thy soul in self control, thy liberty in law!
O beautiful, for heroes proved
In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved
And mercy more than life!
America! America! May God thy gold refine,
Till all success be nobleness, and ev'ry gain divine!
O beautiful, for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years,
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America! God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood, from sea to shining sea!
(Photo taken in Idyllwild, California by Deborah White)
Al Franken Seating Puts Liberal Pressure on Obama Agenda
Wednesday July 1, 2009
Progressives are positively exultant over one of their own, Al Franken, being (finally!) seated as U.S. Senator from Minnesota.
But underneath his intransparent surface, does President Obama feel the same relieved joy?
Or does the presence of a forceful progressive voice, and a filibuster-proof 60 Senate-seat majority, create pressures on Obama to stop his futile "bipartisan" pretensions, to grow past his fearful political timidity, and to pass a fully liberal agenda?
Al Franken is an exceptionally astute, accomplished, well-educated guy, and an unabashed, outspoken progressive. (See my Profile of Sen. Al Franken of Minnesota .) His acerbic wit and preternaturally smart insights have been widely celebrated, to the universal delight of liberals.
Conservatives hate Franken's politics, and they hate him. (After all, one of his best-selling books is Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot.) Sen. Franken will undoubtedly become for the Republican party what Ted Kennedy used to be: their much-flogged, endlessly ridiculed symbol of the scary evils of liberalism.
In other words, until now, Al Franken's uncompromising approach to dealing with conservatives has been precisely the opposite of Barack Obama's instincts toward liberal timidity and bipartisan pandering. (As a senator, Franken will necessarily become more collegial with the other side of the partisan aisle, but zebras ultimately don't change stripes, and neither do politicians.)
If Franken had been elected as, say, the 54th Democratic senator, President Obama could treat him like he has staunch progressive Sen. Russ Feingold: as an interesting eccentric of integrity to be ignored.
But as the filibuster-proof 60th Democratic vote in the U.S. Senate, charismatic Sen. Franken becomes a significant player... and one who renders moderate Republican voices, such as Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine, much less influential on pending legislation.
For the first time in 30 years, since the Carter administration, a President has a filibuster-proof majority of his own party leading the Senate. With the swearing in next week of Sen. Al Franken, the Democratic majority becomes more liberal, and the Republican minority becomes close to politically impotent.
But is that what President Obama wants? Given Obama's depressing string of broken and procrastinated promises and seemingly solemn pledges, I, for one, am no longer sure.
Here's what I am sure of: President Obama now has no excuses to not wholeheartedly support the liberal agenda that he expressly campaigned on, and for which he was elected. And for which he was narrowly selected over Hillary Clinton.
With 60 Democratic seats in the Senate, a huge Democratic majority in the House, and the formidable political skills of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the time will likely NEVER be better during the Obama administration to pass urgently needed, no-compromise legislation on healthcare reform, climate change, energy, education reform, college affordability, immigration reform and much more.
The burning question is: Is Obama up to the task? Or will the President inexplicably continue to be cowed by bullying Republican sound bites and blowhard conservative posturing?
I believe the jury is out on that question. And I strongly believe that the answer will have great bearing on whether or not Barack Obama is elected to a second term in the White House.
Meanwhile, reread a basic litany of Obama's campaign promises (below). Hopefully, with the swearing in of Sen. Al Franken, we can look forward to Obama pushing hard to fulfill the liberal agenda.
(Photo taken of Sen. Al Franken and wife Franni on June 30, 2009: Jeffrey Thompson/Getty Images)
