Anyone who thinks that conservatives or Republicans in general are merely enjoying the present floundering of the Obama Administration underestimates the patriotism of the Right and Center Right. Yes, there is a certain amount of schadenfreude, an inevitable feeling of "I told you so.". But if one is at all sensitive to what is at stake for our country in this moment he wants the president to succeed because he wants the country as a whole to avoid a worse predicament than we already are in.
However, that does not dictate support for the folly of the House "stimulus bill" that Speaker Pelosi facilitated. On the contrary, rueful though they may be, Congressional Republicans of all stripes could be President Obama's best allies in this crisis. Moderate Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine, for example, came out of a White House meeting today saying that the president recognizes that the stimulus bill must be "scrubbed". One hopes this means that Sen. Snowe herself, a pivotal vote, recognizes that "stimuli" that chiefly debauch the currency and add to the the national debt--and expand the long term commitments of government--constitute bad medicine for the economy. This in truth is a testing time. If moderates are supposed to stand on principle for anything, it is "fiscal responsibility."
If President Obama--backed by advisors Volker, et al--also can accept that understanding, a new, if temporary, alliance could be formed to make the stimulus bill what it needs to be, a union of public works, broad tax relief for individuals and businesses, economic incentives and restraint on unproductive spending--and not a political shopping list.
Frankly, bi-partisanship is the only way to revive public support for this act. Ordinary Americans are discovering that the House bill is mainly a scheme to pad the wallets of interest groups. That realization is yielding to dismay that is sinking support for the new president as well as his economic plan. Obama should move fast to change this perception by changing the reality behind it.
Republicans would have to rally behind a fiscally sound program, assuring that the Democratic majorities in both Houses would have to go along, too. And, President Obama would benefit from such an alliance because good policy for the country in the end is good political strategy. Results are what matter.
So, Mr. President, ignore the sniping from the media and the Internet. Republicans in Congress--for their own reasons, granted--are offering you a lifeline. Take it. Work with them to craft a pro-growth agenda, and watch the mood of the country and the market lift and the economy begin to heal.
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