Pelosi Still Fighting For More Stimulus Spending

by: Chris Bowers

Wed Feb 11, 2009 at 17:40


Earlier today, when reports of a deal were reached on the stimulus plan, it was also noted that Speaker Pelosi did not appear at the press conference announcing the deal:

Pelosi was conspicuously absent from the news conference in which members of the Senate announced the agreement. It was not clear whether she stayed away out of unhappiness or a scheduling conflict, but moments later, Reid arrived in her office.

Now, it is clear that this happened because Pelosi wasn't done fighting for more some school construction money to be included in the stimulus (more in the extended entry):
Chris Bowers :: Pelosi Still Fighting For More Stimulus Spending
The Democratic leadership from the House and Senate are meeting in the Speaker's office, trying to salvage the deal that had been announced earlier. There were hard feelings by some House members that an agreement on the economic stimulus had been announced before they had seen the details.

At least some of the differences, aides said, appeared to be over construction spending measures. Aides said the situation would be resolved.

"I think we're moving very rapidly toward making an announcement of a deal," Nadeam Elshami, a spokesman for the House Speaker, told reporters who crowded the corridor outside Ms. Pelosi's office.

The Senate deal had no money for school construction at all. Speaker Pelosi and Rep. George Miller, who is often Pelosi's left-hand man in the House, apparently are still fighting for some to be included.

There might be wiggle room, as one of the three Republican Senators supporting the deal, Susan Collins, has said that getting the bill under $800 billion was a hard-line for her. However, right now the "deal" is at $789.5 billion, leaving potentially up to $10 billion for other spending.

No matter exactly what is happening, I'm glad that progressives are the final sticking point. Obstructing legislation appears to be the only way to gain influence and access these days. It needs to be clear that progressives have to be negotiated with, as well as Blue Dogs and "centrist" Senators.

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Pelosi Still Fighting For More Stimulus Spending | 26 comments
$799 billion (4.00 / 1)
I'm reasonably happy how this is turning out.  Earlier I suggested the correct form of compromise would be to limit the total to $799 in exchange for restructuring the package.  That appears to be what is happening.

On the other hand, I think the AMT change is still in there.  That's $70b right there just flushed down the toilet as far as stimulus goes.

How can the Dems hand be that bad? (4.00 / 3)
If the AMT is still in there, WTF? Come on - how can the Dems have been in such a weak negotiating position that they end up agreeing to keep it under $800 billion AND waste $70 billion of that on AMT?

If the Dems are really in this weak a position, we might as well give up on getting any good legislation passed for the next 2 years.

[ Parent ]
Huh? (4.00 / 2)
Skools?  Wuw we neede new skools fer$
I'm not impressed with Pelosi here (0.00 / 0)
She seems willing to torpedo an important legislative victory for peanuts (in the scheme of things). And too many progressives are short-sightedly willing to cheer along.

Look, the facts are verys imple at this point. You need two R senators on board. Nothing else matters at this point. Obama gets a big win and a pretty good bill passes. The alternative is Obama is badly weakened and nothing passes.

The progressive caucus needs to realize the long term stakes. Because it depends on Obama's success. And Obama's success depends on getting off to a good start. I say this as someone who is much more sympathetic to the Progressive Caucus than to the Blue Dogs. People need to look at the long time frame here.

The $10 billion for education does not matter in the broader scheme and is completely ridiculous to allow this to potentially blow up the deal which thus works to discreidt and harm Obama. Frankly, its very simple - progressive legislative success depends upon Obama's success. If this fight were actually over major differences, I'd be much more sympathetic. Its not, though. I sense it might be about teacher union support or pressure. And thats bullshit right now.

But then it's never (4.00 / 2)
about "major differences", is it? Not for the last 30 or 40 years, at least. How does it discredit Obama if the Republicans derail a stimulus bill because it gives money for schools? Screw 'em, and especially Collins -- there's no "success" if all it means is that some damn fool Reps won yet another game of bluff poker. How that sets the stage for a "good start" is beyond me.
[ Parent ]
Look at history (4.00 / 1)
Successful, transformational presidencies begin with major legislative victories - see FDR, Reagan in particular.

Then look at Clinton (modestly successful president, certainly not transformational) and Jimmy Carter (a failure), who both lost major legislative fights right after they came into office.

The optics of failure are signficant here - it will greatly embolden the GOP. You think they're bad now - they'll be much worse if this goes down. You can absolutely forget about any other major legislation going through until 2011. The press core will also have a narrative to run with - "Obama as failure," "Obama as weak." There is NOTHING good that comes out of this bill failing.

The options now are failure, or the Collins/Nelson compromise. You take your pick, but don't wish away the above consequences of this failure.

[ Parent ]
Failure (4.00 / 2)
I believe everyone agrees the bill cannot fail.  But that doesn't mean the bill can't be improved.  A few hours of additional negotiations is not that big of a deal.  The three R's are on the hook for this, now, and as Chris points out we have at least $10 billion of additional stimulus to tap.  There is still room for negotiations.
[ Parent ]
Neither FDR nor Reagan (4.00 / 4)
began their terms by knuckling under to ridiculous blackmail attempts by the opposition. How is it Obama's "failure" if the GOP decides to filibuster against a popular jobs bill because it has money to repair the schools? If the Dems' present situation is STILL not strong enough for them to stand up for themselves, it never will be. Advice like yours is what's made the party such a joke for nearly half a century.

Your argument is circular: calling the GOP bluff and forcing them to fight against jobs and schools will "embolden them" and make the "much worse", while showing them that they can hold anything hostage and win will -- what -- put the fear of god in them? Does that really make some kind of sense to you? Really?

Of course you see fit to put FDR and Reagan into the same sentence, so maybe it does.

[ Parent ]
Disagree (4.00 / 6)
Let's follow your logic here:

1--You need two R senators on board. Nothing else matters at this point.

2--progressive legislative success depends upon Obama's success.

The conclusion of this is that progressive legislative success equals giving in completely to at least two Repbulican Senators. I think it depends on more than that.

For starters, we have three Rs on board right now. And, as I pointed out, one of those three even explictly gave us $10 billion in wiggle room.

Second, unless it is made clear that you want more, and that you are willing to at least stall the legislation by a few hours--which is all that seems to be the case here--then you have no leverage to ever get more.

It isn't just about passing anything. It is about passing the bill, yes, but also making clear that you want more, and that you must be negoriated with. Without those two caveats,  the only long-term outlook is to just give in all the time.

[ Parent ]
Chris (0.00 / 0)
I understand your logic, but I think the downside is much greater now to the upside to Pelosi's posturing. I have to say I am absolutely furious with her right now because the politics of failure here are very, very bad as I point out in my response to Dave W, while The upside is $10 billion of education funding which is miniscule in terms of the bill's size and could very well be included in another bill in several months time.

[ Parent ]
What downside? (4.00 / 1)
The bill is going to pass. You overstimate the chances of failure here; they are miniscule. So the real choice is not between some probability of $10 billion in education funding and failure, it's between passing the bill in its current form or passing it with $10 billion extra in school construction money. Why not take the extra $10 billion? Pelosi is playing it smart here.  
[ Parent ]
Context, please (4.00 / 1)
"$10 billion of education funding which is miniscule in terms of the bill's size"

But what's important to educators? $10 billion is a lot when your state DOE is being told to pass down $60 million in budget cuts and the only way you know how to do that is to tell districts to cut projects and staff NOW. Fiscal years are already underway and in most states there's not enough money to pay for the backlog of projects and programs that kids need now.

"and could very well be included in another bill in several months time."

What "bill" are you talking about? The only other legislation on the horizon related to education is NCLB re-authorization and it has nothing to do with new construction. Don't you know how extraordinarily rare it is for any appropriations related to education to come up in federal legislation?
[ Parent ]
Pelosi (0.00 / 0)
she is a joke- end of story.  
Good for Pelosi. (4.00 / 3)
Maybe she'll get Dems to realize that they're the majority. I hope she and the House Dems stand their ground on this one.

As to Collins, can it get any stupider than to base your demands on an arbitrary number instead of what the bill contains? What an ass. She needs to be pilloried as the one who wants to give billions to bankers, but not one dime for schoolkids.

Yeah (0.00 / 0)
Great. The fundamental point is we need the support of 2 Republicans. Nothing else matters at this point - I wish it weren't so, but it is what it is.

Pelosi is now playing politics for very little upside and a massive downside. She needs to get on board. I don't know what she is playing at right now.

[ Parent ]
Ten Billion Dollars (4.00 / 1)
I remember a time when ten billion dollars seemed like a lot of money.  I feel so old and dirty now; innocence lost.
[ Parent ]
Fair enough (0.00 / 0)
It is a hell of a lot of money - you get my point, though. In the context of the bill, it is peanuts. Especially when that 10 billion could be added to another bill down the line.
[ Parent ]
Strike while the iron is hot (0.00 / 0)
I also think you overestimate the chances of there being some "other bill" down the line. Especially if there is the perception that progressives got rolled on this.
[ Parent ]
don't they write a budget every year? (0.00 / 0)

[ Parent ]
Down the line? (4.00 / 2)
Why would the situation be any different down the line? Now is the time to let the GOP know that we're not doing business as usual, and they're on the losing end.
[ Parent ]
that's the main legacy of Bush (0.00 / 0)
After the tax cuts, Iraq war, and TARP, no one can argue $10 billion is too much to spend.


New Jersey politics at Blue Jersey.
[ Parent ]
Make them justify their decisions (4.00 / 2)
to include 70b in AMT fix while cutting school construction and aid to states.  At least what Pelosi is doing shines a bright light on the choices that the two R. Senators are making in order to agree to support the measure.  No one has put any pressure on them to justify their actions.  They should not be able to get away with arbitrarily keeping to a dollar figure while including 70b worth of crap that would be enacted later in another bill.  
[ Parent ]
I'm sure (0.00 / 0)
that the kids and communities that will benefit from improved schools don't see it as "very little".

Check out Blue Arkansas:
http://bluearkansas.blogspot.com/
[ Parent ]
NSF and NASA funding? (0.00 / 0)
I haven't heard anyone say these were being debated, but I would love to see the $1.4 billion to NSF and $750 million to NASA reinstated. As a graduate student I can guarantee you that these agencies fund a lot of "shovel ready" projects.  

The truth about John McCain.
Done deal. Again. Perhaps. (0.00 / 0)
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Negotiators have worked out a disagreement between the Senate and House over education funding that threatened to throw a last-minute roadblock in front of the economic stimulus bill, Democratic leadership sources said Wednesday evening.

Details on how they settled it were not immediately available. But a Democratic source said leaders have come up with an agreement that House Democrats and moderate Senate Republicans can live with.



Pelosi Still Fighting For More Stimulus Spending | 26 comments
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