Category Archives: Congress

GOP: Don’t Look Obstructionist

February 6, 2009 – 1:02 pm

The power of the podium was in evidence this morning as President Obama announced his new team of economic recovery advisors. The president jumped on today’s dismal labor report to urge action on a stimulus bill. He also got in a few lashes at obstructionists in the Senate. While he did not identify Republicans explicitly, […]

By Ed Walsh (WHWG) | Also posted in Presidency | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

From “Pig Wobble” to the U.S. Senate

February 4, 2009 – 11:37 am

Mark was not impressed with newly appointed Senator Roland Burris’ first remarks on the Senate floor, primarily because the focus of the Senator’s statement was an enthusiastic endorsement of Eric Holder.  But leaving our own opinions of the new attorney general aside, I think it’s worth noting the way Senator Burris opened his remarks — […]

By Vinca LaFleur (WWW) | Tagged | Comments (4)

Digging into Stimulus

February 3, 2009 – 2:25 pm

Here’s a web site sure to make Josh happy. StimulusWatch.org provides a list of projects around the country considered “shovel ready” by the U.S. Conference of Mayors. Every single project the mayors included in their “Main Street Economic Recovery” report is on the list, which is sortable in a variety of ways. The projects aren’t […]

By Ed Walsh (WHWG) | Tagged | Comments (0)

Making a Point, Not Making Law

February 2, 2009 – 5:59 pm

Over the weekend I had dinner with a couple of friends, one of whom is a Senate Republican staffer. We were discussing how the public might react to a potential policy proposal and found ourselves getting pretty into the weeds (yep, sometimes Saturdays in Washington are almost too much fun). My staffer friend stopped the discussion and […]

By Ed Walsh (WHWG) | Comments (0)

Don’t Swallow

February 2, 2009 – 2:07 pm

Ed makes a good point, to wit that opposing this stimulus pork pie carries certain risks. But then so does going along with it, which would completely and utterly shred any remaining Republican credibility on fiscal responsibility. Clearly it isn’t enough to simply oppose, however. The anti-pork faction has to make their case and they […]

By Josh Gilder (WHWG) | Tagged , | Comments (1)

A Bitter Pork Pill?

January 29, 2009 – 3:00 pm

I completely agree with Josh’s analysis of the pork pie moving through Congress. All the evidence indicates that this bill won’t do much to stimulate the economy, and, according to the CBO, the package even falls short of President Obama’s goal for how quickly money can be dispersed. But I worry that while the facts […]

By Ed Walsh (WHWG) | Tagged | Comments (3)

Words Matter

January 29, 2009 – 11:20 am

Words matter, so it’s time that Republicans stopped calling this a “stimulus package.” It has nothing to do with stimulating the economy, it’s simply a political payoff to Democrat constituency groups on a scale so massive it’s  mind boggling. This is Chicago politics on steroids. It makes Blagojevich look like a piker (though it’s all […]

By Josh Gilder (WHWG) | Tagged , , , | Comments (3)