I'm disappointed that President Obama didn't veto the stimulus bill and send it back to Congress to eliminate all the pork. I feel like he gave in. I'm in sympathy with John McCain, who argues for vetoing this bill. "If he wants to argue this is last year's business, we should send it to Crawford [Texas] to get signed." And yet:
- While it sounds like a lame excuse, and while the bill IS being signed on his watch, there is some truth to the argument that it is last year's business. Still, the lameness is very strong.
- Obama has expressed his displeasure with the pork, both privately and publicly. So, trying to put a positive construction on things, I'm gonna assume that he received assurances from Congressional leaders that, next time, things will be different.
- It's not easy fighting a Congress with entrenched ways of doing things. Can you imagine going to battle against over 8000 individual earmarks? Is that not only a battle worth fighting, but a battle that could be won? (Maybe yes.)
- Congress is, indeed, a separate branch of government, not subservient to the Administrative branch. On the other hand, it is the president who signs bills into law, so it's a team effort. He doesn't have to sign something he doesn't like.
- Nancy Pelosi has plenty of her own pork in the bill. There is an element of needing to appease in order to gain her approval for future things the President wants to do. It's distasteful, but that's how politics is played.
- Obama's taking the right approach in trying to overhaul the whole earmark process. Rather than fight the same battle with each bill, just change the underlying rules of the game. Very smart way to go.
There's talk now of doing a second stimulus package. Why? I have no clue. Let the circus begin. But it they begin working on a new animal, it'll be interesting to see what happens with pork. If there's a second stimulus, Obama MUST win this time. I'm not confident he will, no matter how hard he tries. Congress is a tough, selfish, greedy opponent.
Career-wise, I've been hanging around and writing about and cheering on churches and pastors for the past 25 years as my denomination's Communications Director.
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