Money for nothing.

The Obama administration and members of congress of both parties are still sparring over the stimulus package as I write these words. Now, I've mostly heard from Republicans on the topic this week (because I listen to NPR), and they seem determined to characterize everything in the bill that is not a tax cut as "wasteful spending," as "pork," etc. Not sure they quite grasp the concept of Keynesian stimulus in this context at least. That's the general impression I'm getting. They are philosophically welded to tax cuts - specifically, capital gains tax cuts and those that benefit the wealthy disproportionately. That's all they ever talk about, practically. And though more than a third (now, 42%) of the stim package is just that, they're still squawking. Their idea of "compromise" is having the other side sign on to their program. Once would hope that's not going to happen, but with the Democrats, anything is possible (though Obama does seem to be showing a little spine on this issue lately).

Still, it's a little frustrating to hear almost exclusively from the Republicans on this question... especially when it was their ideas that brought us to this crisis in the first place. I guess it's back to Clinton rules again, where the opposition sets the agenda and the news media just rolls along with the current. The press is like this enormous beast with a thousand mouths and one eye. It peers through a microscope at one item - like Tom Daschle dropping out - and the mouths all start flapping away. So even though Obama goes on every major news program to talk about the financial crisis, the portion you hear is his response to the Daschle thing. They're still obsessing about it days later (Jim Lehrer probed David Axelrod about it just Friday night), pausing only to comment on how Obama seems unable to get his message across on the stimulus package. Meanwhile, another 600,000 have lost their jobs.

Of course, this feigned outrage over Keynesian stimulus is just plain absurd. The Republicans practice it all the time, enthusiastically. They brag about it. It's called the military budget. That baby is packed full of all kinds of high ticket items that are utterly useless, but that are nonetheless produced in Congressional districts all across the country. Essential stuff like Virginia-class submarines (about $2 billion a piece), F-22 raptors ($300 million plus a piece), and, of course, everyone's favorite endless boondoggle, "missile defense", which really should be named "defense contractor defense", because it's the gift that keeps on giving. These great Republican defenders of the public purse vote for these projects time and time again, sluicing billions of dollars into the sink hole that is military procurement, while all other human needs are neglected... including those of our military personnel!

So the next time you see one of these sorry-looking Senators stride up to the rostrum and wave the draft stimulus package around in the air, just think about all those Virginia class submarines we'll be sending into the Hindu Kush next spring. Your tax dollars hard at work.

luv u,

jp