Republicans doubt Obama's economic stimulus bill will pass Senate
The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.
JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
-
U.N. Security Council blames Syrian gov't for Houla killings
( 3 )
-
U.S. drones kill 5 militants in Pakistan
( 6 )
-
NATO has fight on its hands in Afghanistan - Panetta
( 1 )
-
Iran may rethink 20% enrichment: spokesman
( 0 )
-
Egypt's uprising activists weigh Brotherhood vote
( 0 )
-
- English Instructor (Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe)
- Berlitz Japan, Inc. (ベルリッツ・ジャパン株式会社), Kansai
- Salary: ¥125,000 ~ ¥250,000 / Month
-
- ALT - Mie Prefecture - Yokkaichi City - June start
- NPO法人グローバル教育推進機構（GLAD), Mie
- Salary: ¥230,000 / Month For a full working month. Some months differ.
-
- Business Teaching Positions - Part-time - Kanto Region
- Interac, Tokyo
- Salary: ¥3,000 ~ ¥5,000 / Hour
Order by Time Order by Popularity
50 Comments
Login to comment
0
yabits
Wishful thinking on the Republicans part.
0
bebert
Anyone who has spent even 5 minutes reading what is in this so-called stimulus plan can see that it is a pigsty of pork with only about 20% devoted to solving the housing mess or stimulating the economy through projects like building more infrastructure. It seems to be more designed to bail-out irresponsible, loser states like California and Michigan than to help jump start the economy. It will fail and that's why the Republicans are not signing onto the bill, why the U.S. stock market tanked this week and why the American people aren't excited about it.
Obama can't be blamed for this bill - yet - but it is his responsibility to start kicking some ass in the Democratic Congress to get this thing right.
0
JoeBigs
The Republicans are ones to talk they were the ones that got us into this mess in the first place. They ruled the Congress for 14 years then had the White House for 8. Now they claim that they what is best for our nation?
They have a large set of nutz. They should just sit back and stay silent before they lose anymore seats.
0
smithinjapan
bebert: "Anyone who has spent even 5 minutes reading what is in this so-called stimulus plan can see that it is a pigsty of pork with only about 20% devoted to solving the housing mess or stimulating the economy through projects like building more infrastructure."
Even though you're wrong, if you were right that would still be 20% more to solve the economic woes for the average individual than under bush, who got you all into this mess. After all, where did his first stimulus package of billions go? Banks. How did they use it? Oh yeah... they refuse to say and there's nothing you can do about it since no one bothered to ask them to make it clear how they would use the money. Wouldn't be surprised, of course, if they are saying it from their new resort condos in Fiji or something.
0
SuperLib
Talking about Bush isn't going to solve the problem.
0
SushiSake3
Republicans and their merry band of clueless supporters have spent the last 8 years ramming through policies that have been detrimental to the American people.
Now, it seems that after stinging defeats in two consecutive elections, the GOP still doesn't seem to realize it has to do things FOR the American people, not against them, to win.
0
SuperLib
Talking about Republicans isn't going to solve the problem, either.
0
smithinjapan
SuperLib: "Talking about Bush isn't going to solve the problem."
Ignoring history and what led to the problem certainly won't, and hence bush is entirely relevant to the discussion.
"Talking about Republicans isn't going to solve the problem, either."
The article is about the problem of Republicans potentially causing the bill to be blocked, and hence they are very relevant to the discussion. Are you so burned out from being burned that you can't give a decent post? Aside from one good post yesterday, you really seem to be off the ball. Read the title and then tell me again that talking about Republicans won't solve the problem, when the problem (or one of them anyway) talked about in this article is them voting against passage of the bill.
0
wuzzademcrat
President Pelosi is tough, and she has the plastic surgery scars to prove it. Repubs cross her at their own peril.
0
VOR
the democrats shut out the republicans in crafting a stimulus bill that is not worthy of any of us wiping our tush with and its george bush's and the republicans fault. the left never ceases to amaze me.
0
SushiSake3
VOR - "the democrats shut out the republicans"
Damn straight, they did. Look what the Republicans did to the economy.
0
smithinjapan
VOR: "...and its george bush's and the republicans fault"
As far as the current status of the economy, bang on statement, my friend!
0
SezWho2
Switching ideological hats, Republicans demand appeasement.
0
wuzzademcrat
"Damn straight, they did. Look what the Republicans did to the economy."
Only a foreign Lefty could write something this silly about the US. I can't think of a single adult American among my friends and acquaintances who would even think of placing the blame for nearly all of us living waaaay beyond our means on the shoulders of a few hundred politicians in Washington, and certainly not on those of one single party.
This is one area where I am quite critical of my compatriots. This was our making. We danced - we twisted, we boogied, we rocked, we discoed, we thrashed, we got our groove on for a goooood loooooong time.Too many people came to think the party was never gonna end.
And now it's time to pay the fiddler.
0
SuperLib
Hey Wuzz...but I'm a Democrat. Sushi tells me I didn't do anything wrong.... Obviously I'm excused. ;)
0
smithinjapan
wuzzademcrat: "Only a foreign Lefty could write something this silly about the US"
Point of order! all of us are foreigners in Japan, unless we are Japanese. As to an opinion, it does not have nationality.
I of course know what you are referring to, but I still think that my statement holds true, and in fact in more than a few situations someone 'outside' the group or game is in a better position to give advice due to said distance/separation from the issue. The people on the field often can't see what's going on in the game. This goes for EVERYTHING, and not just the economy.
That being said, a few of the comments on here were simply put out there to get people like you riled up, and it nearly always works. The funny part is that your 02:38 post is probably the best one I've ever seen from you, aside from the first paragraph, so it's actually a good thing when you get all serious and post a comment worth debating.
"This is one area where I am quite critical of my compatriots. This was our making. We danced - we twisted, we boogied, we rocked, we discoed, we thrashed, we got our groove on for a goooood loooooong time.Too many people came to think the party was never gonna end."
Very good points.
0
SuperLib
I see. So one can actually give constructive comments about the stimulus package without ever mentioning the stimulus package. Fascinating!
Hmmm...let me check wikipedia and I'll get back to you on that.
0
adaydream
Well, I see republicans posting out here who loved and supported george bush till his last day of his presidency who claim to be a democrat.
The republicans and george bush caused the economic crash and the republicans want to keep us there for the next 4 years so they can claim the democrats caused this mess.
The republicans could be involved in this bill, but they'd rather cry and stay the course. Sound familiar? < :-)
0
wuzzademcrat
ouch
0
adaydream
She might have SuperLib. Is she a republican congressperson?
It's just the same old story, if it's not tax cuts for their constiuents (the rich and obnoxious), then they don't want to hear it.
But wait a minute, the republicans like spending money on the bridge to no-where (the money was dispersed for the bridge just spent on other pork barrel projects in Alaska) and a war that was started on lies. Heaven forbid the democrats try to repair what the republicans did.
I enjoy how the republicans like SuperLib, who supported everything george bush did, make light of the economic situation their spending put us in. It makes you feel better about a recession and maybe the coming depression. < :-)
0
proxy
It will be interesting to see what happens in California when the government starts handing out IOUs to the police.
0
adaydream
It's alright proxy. The jobs sent overseas, the job losses right now and the taxes lost from just those two catagories would sure help this lagging economy.
That's all right. Let the boys on Wall Street get paid more bonuses. They know their republican congressmen are working to get more tax breaks for them too. < :-)
0
dennis0bauer
Lefty foreigner, like there are no other political ideologies in the world. Just wait and see, if Obama can fill the bottomless economical hole that Bush and his cronies caused
0
SushiSake3
Republicans are actually trying to block a bill that - at its worst - will help millions of Americans.
If that wasn't bad enough, there's Republican voters trying to support Republican moves.
0
SushiSake3
"When I say start from scratch, what I mean is that the basic approach of this bill, we believe, is wrong,” Kyl [the No. 2 Republican in the Senate] said.
How clueless can you get? Sometimes you've just got to laugh. :-)
0
smithinjapan
SuperLib: "I see. So one can actually give constructive comments about the stimulus package without ever mentioning the stimulus package. Fascinating!"
You prove exactly that you fall into the simple-minded category. It's one or the other, is it? Well, just a quick news flash, but it's you who said discussing bush, and discussing Republicans is not relevant to the issue (despite it being about Republicans). I said it was, and you now say that I said it can be about anything but the stimulus package. I'm really not sure where you're pulling this crap out of, but in case you didn't know it, being 'relevant to the discussion' does not exclude other things from being relevant. In fact, it means that talking about bush is not irrelevant to add to the discussion ABOUT the stimulus package (nor is talking about Republicans). I'm truly, truly sorry that I need to teach you a lesson in English and what it means.
As I have stated twice today already, you are WAY off the ball today.
Go ahead and check Wikipedia what the idiom 'off the ball' means, if it'll help you understand how badly you're getting burned these days :)
0
SezWho2
SushiSake3,
I actually think that Republicans are trying to improve a bill that at best may help millions of Americans. What disturbs me is what looks to me like posturing when what seems to be wanted and needed is quick action and when any waste in this bill is totally incidental to the amount of debt we have and to the waste we have already incurred.
The Republicans, astonishingly continuing to vote as block, may show themselves willing to hold the rest of the country hostage to their ideology. By the same token, if their are components of the bill that are absolutely not necessary at this time, the Democrats would be wise to throw the Republicans a bone.
0
SuperLib
Smith, can you even tell me the different areas that make up the stimulus package? Sushi? daydream? Please....tell me that you can say anything at all about it...anything....without doing a Google search first. :)
You guys should learn from Sez. That's how you can take a swipe at Republicans if you want to, yet still talk about the dynamics of the package, the most important one being waste. There are also debates about how much of the package is being devoted to each area (I won't spoil the surprise by telling you) and other issues such as how soon the money will be spent and exactly how many jobs will be created short-term vs. long-term.
A healthy debate about the package is a good thing. From the looks of it you guys aren't even in the position to be included in the discussion.
0
smithinjapan
SuperLib: "Please....tell me that you can say anything at all about it...anything....without doing a Google search first. :)"
What's that, a preemptive strike telling us not to do what you've done already? The stimulus package has been talked about for days now on this site alone. One this Obama promises to do with the aid package is to create loans for small businesses. Another is to help lower mortgage costs and possibly buying back bad loans (if money permits). Those are but a couple, since you asked for only one. I can gladly list more, if you like, and I can contrast them with the nearly complete 350 billion given to banks buy bush, if that will make you happier still. What happened to that money, by the way?
0
SuperLib
I have absolutely no interest in debating George Bush with you, despite your insatiable desire to speak of him daily. Feel free to talk about it with others.
Are ya sure about that? You might be confusing it for the second stimulus which is set to take place after this one as well as the second half of the $700 billion that's already been approved. There are actually 4 different sums of money...the first $350 billion that Bush spent (mostly injecting into banks), the 2nd $350 that Obama will be spending (probably where mortgage relief will come in, plus buying some toxic debt). The 3rd is the $800-$900 billion that's the topic of this article, and the 4th is the one that will most likely follow this one. That's probably where you'll see more of a focus on small business, but details haven't really been ironed out yet.
0
smithinjapan
SuperLib: Well, thanks for the heads up. As for bush I'll try to keep it to a minimum, but I'm sorry, you cannot entirely avoid the man (hell, even you just mentioned him in your post with the first spending package).
As for the spending, the things I mentioned were what he was promising as part of the plans to spend the second installment, at least as of a few days ago. May have changed since yesterday.
0
Sarge
"unnecessary spending"
Heh, that's what's been driving the U.S. economy for decades!
0
yabits
The way I see it is that there are at least two different levels to the arguments here over the stimulus package: a policy-level argument and a philosophical-level one.
One poster would like to limit the parameters of the discussion to arguments over the specific policy, to the exclusion of the framework in which that policy must operate. To use a medical analogy, this would be like focusing entirely on the mechanics of conducting a surgical procedure while leaving aside any consideration of the environment in which the surgery is conducted. A doctor can perform the most expert heart operation, but if the operating room and equipment are infected with bacteria due to inadequate hygenic factors, patients will die by the score.
What we are dealing with here is the infection of a failed way of looking at the world, as exemplified in the person of George W. Bush and the Republicans who still have their hands and minds corrupted with filth. That infection will find its way into the best policy instruments that good people will come up with to attack this most serious of crises we are facing.
0
usaexpat
oh it will pass but I doubt that it will revive the economy anytime soon.
0
yabits
Can someone come up with a better, more harmful example of unnecessary spending and waste than a completely unnecessary war? The total cost of the unnecessary invasion of Iraq will run to over 2 trillion. That money would sure have come in handy for far more important purposes, such as getting us out of this financial mess.
Part of the solution to any problem is to understand the mode of thinking that got us into the problem in the first place. The mode of thinking that got the US where it is today is the essence of the Republican conservative philosophy as practiced since Ronald Reagan rose to prominence.
0
SuperLib
And a big thank you for your comments, smith. You definitely elevated yourself above Sushi and Yabits at the finish line. What's up with those guys, anyway?
0
SuperLib
Actually to use a medical analogy it would be like discussing a heart operation and limiting your comments to how much you dislike the patient.
0
yabits
wuzzadem writes: "I can't think of a single adult American among my friends and acquaintances who would even think of placing the blame for nearly all of us living waaaay beyond our means on the shoulders of a few hundred politicians in Washington, and certainly not on those of one single party."
Nearly all of us living waaaay beyond our means?
Think for a minute what is being said here, as this is a "problem" that didn't just happen last year. Over the past 35 years or so, Americans have been working harder and harder and making less and less. Put another way, the average person in 1970 living within his/her means might not change anything about their lifestyle and, over time, find themselves suddenly not living within their means by virtue of the fact that their work, and the dollars they get paid to do it, are worth less and less.
Over all that time, I do not recall any president aside from Jimmy Carter telling the American people that their expecations of living like their parents did would have to be deferred. And we all know how the very same people decrying the living beyond means felt about former President Carter.
0
SuperLib
Here ya go, Yadbits. This editorial was written for people just....like....you....
"The nation needs jobs, not a political agenda"
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-ed-stimulus2-2009feb02,0,7497766.story
0
adaydream
The republicans will never be happy with any package that the democrats put together. They don't want to take the blame for the economic collapse, but they sure don't want to follow the democrats way to get out of this mess they created.
There will never be a working between parties as long as the republicans refuse to accept the fact that their policies caused this situation and allow a this package to go through.
If all the republicans vote against it and it passes by democrats vote only, I'll accept that. Anything to work our way back to stability.
Isn't it remarkable how the republicans don't want to talk about what their party and george bush did to the economy. Guilt complex. < :-)
0
yabits
To SuperLib, regarding "jobs, not an agenda." (Which I read in its entirety.)
No, you are still riding the wrong horse. Your editorialist makes the following point: "Because any legislative effort to boost employment and end the recession will take months, if not years, to deliver its full benefits, it's important that the psychic benefits are felt immediately."
The attack on the Republican ideology which has infested the body politic and our financial system with disaster after disaster is something that achieves immediate and positive "psychic benefits." I would not want the United States to return to a time when the infection could reintroduce itself, jobs or no jobs.
In other words, I don't want the butchers who made this mess of the operating room to be allowed back in. I don't even want them offering a second opinion.
0
yabits
adaydream: You are right in saying that the last thing Republicans want is for any package to succeed which violates their discredited ideology.
We got an excellent preview of this back in 1993 when many of their ilk protested that the tax increases proposed by then-president Bill Clinton would take the nation back into a deep recession. Not only did the tax increases pass, they had the opposite impact of assuring the markets that Clinton and his team were serious about tackling the federal budget deficit and the economy proceeded to grow at its fastest pace in decades.
0
SuperLib
And you're still beating a dead horse....
By the way, are you ever going to get around to discussing a single point in the stimulus plan? Can you even name a single point in the stimulus plan? ;)
0
yabits
Instead of dictating to others what not to discuss, why don't you lead by example and bring up a "point" and try to make some intelligent comments on it? (I've got a copy of the proposed bill and doubt if you've gone through more than a small fraction of it.)
0
JoeBigs
I am glad to see a Republican admit that all those years under Republican control that we were wasting money.
I believe that President Obama does a better job than Ex-President Bush did. At least President Obama is not indebted to the Oil Companies. So he wont have to give them FAVORS like BUsh gavve...
0
VOR
I seem to recall the only time either party was acting at least semi fiscally responsible in the last 20 years was when Newt Gringrich kept his promise to the American people and led the disgraceful Bill Clinton to the watering hole.
Charles Krauthammer says it way better than i ever could. From today's Washington Post;
"After Obama's miraculous 2008 presidential campaign, it was clear that at some point the magical mystery tour would have to end. The nation would rub its eyes and begin to emerge from its reverie. The hallucinatory Obama would give way to the mere mortal. The great ethical transformations promised would be seen as a fairy tale that all presidents tell -- and that this president told better than anyone.
I thought the awakening would take six months. It took two and a half weeks."
JoeBigs, wake up dude.
0
JoeBigs
I wonder how much more the Republicans will harm our country? They would rather help the rich than help the people. That is why they will try to block any thing brought before them.
I for one hope that the Republicans continue to show their true colors and continue to try and help their buddies. Maybe after a few the rest of the country will wake up and they will lose more power in the next election.
I hope that one day the far right wing of the Republicans is gone and maybe just maybe the Republicans will return to their roots. But the corrupt far right wing is gone, that will not happen.
Yes good ole Newt and the gang really kept their promise with us. Yes yes I had almost forgot about him. He and his gang paved the way for where we are now.
Thank you Newt for sticking it to us, for that we will never forget you.
They really gave it to us but one good thing came out of that so called promise. The Republicans are no longer in control of anything.
Back to top