January 31, 2010 – 12:31 pm
So I watched the president’s appearance before the GOP House caucus. It came, of course, two days after Mr. Obama delivered his State of the Union address. Drafting an SOU is generally a team effort. I have been on one of those teams (1988), penning the best received, per the pulse polling, section of that […]
Today’s Wall Street Journal takes a humorous look at the proliferation of acronyms in stimulus-era Washington. They include the ugly (RAT Board), odd (LUST Trust), and potentially profane (FCCCER). But the Commerce Department (AKA DOC) takes the cake: Some government departments have described their stimulus plans almost entirely in acronyms, such as the Department of Commerce, […]
Proving that soul can make anything sexy, new Late Night host Jimmy Fallon and his house band, The Roots, Slow Jam news about the stimulus.
February 24, 2009 – 5:33 pm
Last week, new RNC chairman Michael Steele generated some buzz when he said in a Washington Times interview that Republicans would be developing an “off-the-hook” messaging strategy to connect to a wider cross-section of voters. More interesting, I thought, was Steele’s assertion that developing a deep bench of prospective GOP candidates would be his top priority, rather […]
February 17, 2009 – 3:45 pm
Over at NewMajority, my former (more senior) colleague David Frum explains why, despite the general glee on the right, Republicans likely fumbled a real opportunity on stimulus.
February 12, 2009 – 3:15 pm
Apparently Senate Democrats are hearing Josh’s warning about the “socialist death spiral.” A well-sourced friend mentioned to me that Harry Reid has been trolling for a Republican – any Republican – to join Senators Specter, Collins, and Snowe in voting for the upcoming stimulus conference bill. Why? Because the original Senate vote scored 61 in […]
February 12, 2009 – 11:39 am
In today’s Wall Street Journal, Karl Rove – no slouch when it comes to Republican strategy – agrees with Josh and disagrees with me about whether stimulus opposition will be good for Republicans. I agree with Karl that Republicans successfully branded this particular stimulus package a bloated, ill-prioritized porker. But they overshot. They forgot to […]
February 11, 2009 – 3:36 pm
Update (3:35 pm) – I just received the press release with all of the details for tomorrow’s hearing. See them pasted below the jump. Call it the Geithner Effect: our new Treasury Secretary goes up to Congress (the very day the “stimulus” “ye dare not call it pork” plan passes) to unveil his new financial […]
February 10, 2009 – 10:52 am
As others have pointed out, one trillion dollars–which is what this stimulus “ye dare not call it pork” bill is going to cost–divided by 4 million jobs is……$250,000 per job! Where does one apply for one of these jobs? More to the point, wouldn’t it have been possible for at least one of our numerically-challenged […]
February 9, 2009 – 10:25 am
Question: how does the spirit of bipartisanship jibe with Obama’s message (which I paraphrase only slightly), “You lost, we won, so stuff it!” Of course, the administration can count on the mainstream media to carry its water for them. The Washington Post seized on the total of three Republicans to go along with the stimulus […]
February 6, 2009 – 4:12 pm
John Adams may have had really terrible teeth (at least as portrayed in the excellent HBO miniseries by Paul Giamatti), but he was a powerful orator, in part because he took seriously his famous observation that “facts are stubborn things.” The full quote is: Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our […]
February 6, 2009 – 3:51 pm
I agree with Ed, but it doesn’t seem to me the Republicans are being obstructionist or even appearing that way, despite the President’s efforts to convey that impression. They’re not just standing athwart the stimulus bill saying “No,” they’re providing alternatives which might actually have a stimulatory effect and – another plus – seem to […]
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, […]
February 5, 2009 – 1:25 pm
Obama’s warning yesterday that failure to act quickly on the stimulus “will turn crisis into a catastrophe” demonstrates both the President’s great strengths as a communicator and what may well become his fatal flaw. First the strengths: I don’t know who writes this stuff, Obama himself, his ace speechwriter, or some symbiotic combination of the […]
