Is the Obama Administration Forked Yet? Downstream Effects of the Big Bailout

Great Debates
1

It’s my contention that we ought to think of the battle over the bailout as the first major battle of the Obama Administration.

For that matter, Barack Obama should think of this as the first major battle of the Obama Administration.

If Congress writes a blank check for $700,000,000,000, you know what’ll happen next year: Broder and all his crowd will mightily kick ass to defeat any major expansion of access to health care, crying that it’s unaffordable due to the monumental deficits. And they’ll almost surely carry the day. All the Republicans will be opposed anyway, and they’ll persuade enough Blue Dogs to sink the thing.

Ditto anything else Obama wants to do that requires nontrivial Federal dollars.

Is there any doubt about that? It’s hard to not see this one coming a mile away.

So if Obama actually wants to get anything done during his Presidency, he’d better kick ass and take names NOW. He’s got a nice set of principles he’s stated for what a bailout should look like, but he’d better have his people counting votes and twisting arms in both houses of Congress, reminding the Dems there of who’s going to be President in four months - IF they’re lucky.

And I don’t see him going to the mats over this one.

Fuck fuck fuckity fuck, that’s all I have to say.

2

Bush may have another tax cut before he leaves. Some do not want to pay for the government.
The neocons have their chance to remake the whole system like they said they wanted to. Eliminate Social Security, Medicare, Medicade and any other social programs. It was ugly but they won.

3

Over my dead body.

There will be a benefit screening of The Grapes of Wrath and whole grain bake sale at my place, followed by a Woody Guthrie singalong. Ample bicycle parking. Effete Eastern Volvo Birkenstock liberals welcome. Well, OK, tolerated.