GOP shows some fight

"Thank goodness the Republicans are rediscovering their backbone under Obama," says John Andrews in the February round of Head On TV debates. Susan Barnes-Gelt scoffs that "tt's a new day and the Grumpy Old Partisans are tone deaf." John on the right, Susan on the left, also go at it this month over Obama's honeymoon, Salazar's agenda at Interior, how to fill Senate vacancies, and the future of print journalism. Head On has been a daily feature on Colorado Public Television since 1997. Here are all five scripts for February: 1. GOP SHOWS SOME FIGHT

Susan: The Republican Party is not destined to oblivion. History tells us that no political party dominates forever. On the other hand, and sadly for the country - the R's in the minority role are disciplined - consistently putting petty partisanship above the needs of the country.

John: After a big victory like the Democrats had, sweeping the White House and the Congress, Republicans have to fight back for the sake of our liberties, our pocketbooks, and our children’s national debt. If someone doesn’t stand as the loyal opposition, Pelosi and Reid and Obama could go too far.

Susan: R's have been in charge for 6 of the last 8 years. Bush inherited peace and a budget surplus. The best thing about the first weeks of Obama's watch is the emergence of Congressional moderates - D's and R's. It's a new day and the Grumpy Old Partisans are tone deaf.

John: Partisan checks and balances are essential. Fiscal responsibility was much better with divided government under Reagan or Clinton, than with one-party rule under Jimmy Carter or George W. Bush. The budget was more steady. The economy was more healthy. Thank goodness the Republicans are rediscovering their backbone under Obama.

2. OBAMA’S EARLY WEEKS

Susan: Following an historic election and inaugural week, President Obama has been plunged into the miasma of Beltway disfunction. Despite the entreaties of Republican governors, the R's in the House and Senate are playing politics with America's economy. Obama is smart and tough. He'll prevail.

John: Our new young president is gifted as a politician but totally untested as an executive. The first hundred days are testing him in a big way. With ethics problems, a pork-laden stimulus bill, and shaky poll numbers, he hasn’t exactly aced the exam. It could be a very short honeymoon.

Susan: The economy is in free-fall, Iraq, Pakistan. Afghanistan and the mid-East are in peril and his appointees await computers and phones! The partisan bickering in Congress is a distraction they are fiddling while Rome burns. The President must do what's right for the country - and ignore the Beltway baloney.

John: Mr. Obama is the biggest question mark ever chosen to lead this country – ever. The answers emerging so far are not reassuring. Will he stand tough against our enemies in Russia and China, Iran and Venezuela? Why is he cutting our defenses? How far left will he take us?

3. PRIORITIES FOR SALAZAR AT INTERIOR

John: Who is the real Ken Salazar, under that phony cowboy hat? As a senator, he was pleasant but slippery. Now as Interior Secretary, he has to really deliver for the West. Blocking energy development is not the way. We need mixed use of public lands for everyone’s benefit, Mr. Secretary.

Susan: Smart, moderate and politically savvy Coloradan - Ken Salazar has the integrity, the will and the know-how to clean up the severely degraded Department of Interior. Aided by his chief of staff Tom Strickland, he will balance the environment, energy demands, water policy and restore public, to public lands.

John: Environmentalists say Salazar isn’t green enough. Let’s hope he doesn’t pander to them. The Utah oil and gas shutdown is a bad sign. The New York Times says he isn’t tough enough. Let’s hope they’re wrong. As Senate President, I found Salazar tough as nails. And Tom Strickland will be good.

Susan; Salazar won his senate seat in moderate, center-right Colorado because he reflects the values that will serve him well as Secretary of Interior. He is intelligent, thoughtful and moderate and will balance stewardship of the nation's assets with the demands of a 21st Century economy.

4. WHAT IF THE ROCKY FOLDS?

John: Although we both write for the Denver Post, Susan, there's no doubt the Rocky Mountain News has made Colorado a better place for the past 150 years. But this recession has put the brave old Rocky on borrowed time. Competing newspapers enrich a city. Denver without the Rocky is not a happy thought.

Susan: What's happening at the Rocky is symptomatic of a larger problem: the demise of the local daily newspaper. Without a vigorous local press, democracy is at risk. The internet, YouTube and bloggers can't possibly replace a trained, full time professional press corps.

John: Think about that word “media.” Who do you want mediating for you? To stay informed as consumers, we have to pay others for news-gathering. But to stay free as citizens, we must think for ourselves. It’s okay if electronic news gradually replaces print, provided First Amendment competition keeps the media honest.

Susan: The issue is not electronic v paper. The issue is who is reporting the news. A trained professional, or a biased opionator (like you or me), an invisible blogger or script reader. Yes it will be possible to get in-depth info - but much tougher especially at the local level.

5. LET VOTERS FILL SENATE VACANCIES

John: Governors in four states, deciding alone like absolute monarchs, recently appointed powerful new members of the United States Senate. In Illinois, New York, and Delaware, the process was a clown show. Here in Colorado, Bill Ritter's pick of Michael Bennet was clean but strange. Let's have special elections to fill Senate vacancies.

Susan: We agree on this one John. An open US Senate seat is too rare and too important. No single individual should be the sole decider. And - the re-elect rate of appointed senators is less than 50%, the public ought to decide from the get-go.

John: Under the 17th Amendment, special elections for Senate vacancies are the preferred option. State Sen. Mike Kopp wants to mandate them in Colorado. US Sen. Russ Feingold wants a similar change to the federal constitution. If Coloradans had voted right after Salazar left, dark horse Michael Bennet would not have won.

Susan: We don’t know who might have won in an open election. That's the point - candidates articulate a message, work to build coalitions work hard to earn support and then the voters decide. Not the newspapers, not the elites, not the governor. That's democracy.

Give the Senate a shout out

Here are email addresses for over 500 staff contacts in US Senate offices in Washington DC. Let's make our voices heard in opposition to the "stimulus" bill that will do so little for our prosperity and so much TO our liberty. ==================================

SAY NO TO THE PORK BILL CONTACT THEM ALL

Note: These are listed alphabetically by staffers' first names. If your email browser permits, send to all of them. If you want to pull out by a specific Senator's office, copy into Word and search by that individual's last name.

aaron_mckay@grassley.senate.gov, aaron_saunders@landrieu.senate.gov, aaron_whitesel@lugar.senate.gov, Adam_Brake@LGraham.senate.gov, Adam_Howard@mcconnell.senate.gov, adam_noah@chambliss.senate.gov, adam_sharp@landrieu.senate.gov, Adelle_Cruz@reid.senate.gov, alan_hanson@sessions.senate.gov, alan_hanson@shelby.senate.gov, alex_swartsel@whitehouse.senate.gov, Alexander_McDonough@reid.senate.gov, Alice_Yates@levin.senate.gov, alison_pascale@levin.senate.gov, alison_warner@levin.senate.gov, allison_thompson@mcconnell.senate.gov, althea_stmartin@murkowski.senate.gov, amanda_clausen@begich.senate.gov, amanda_makki@murkowski.senate.gov, amanda_renteria@stabenow.senate.gov, amber_sechrist@bennett.senate.gov, amy_murray@harkin.senate.gov, Andre_Harper@Voinovich.senate.gov, andrea_mokros@klobuchar.senate.gov, andrew_grobmyer@pryor.senate.gov, andrew_person@baucus.senate.gov, andrew_wilder@kyl.senate.gov, andy_fisher@lugar.senate.gov, andy_fisher@lugar.senate.gov, andy_martin@klobuchar.senate.gov, andy_york@pryor.senate.gov, Angela_Mikolajewski@Voinovich.senate.gov, Angela_Youngen@Voinovich.senate.gov, angeline_macaspac@feinstein.senate.gov, ann_begeman@mccain.senate.gov, ann_norris@boxer.senate.gov, Anna_Levin@snowe.senate.gov, anna_taylor@lincoln.senate.gov, anne_caldwell@shelby.senate.gov, appropriations@martinez.senate.gov, arne_fuglvog@murkowski.senate.gov, ashley_ridlon@lincoln.senate.gov, ben_weiner@whitehouse.senate.gov, Ben_Widness@wyden.senate.gov, Beth_Hansen@Voinovich.senate.gov, Beth_Martens@Voinovich.senate.gov, beth_osborne@carper.senate.gov, beth_pellett_levine@grassley.senate.gov, Betty_Burger@Grassley.senate.gov, bev_schroeder@harkin.senate.gov, bill_ghent@carper.senate.gov, bill_lombardi@tester.senate.gov, bill_nelson@billnelson.senate.gov, Blair_Hinderliter@reid.senate.gov, bob_russell@pryor.senate.gov, brad_crowell@whitehouse.senate.gov, Brandon_willis@baucus.senate.gov, brendan_plack@thune.senate.gov, Bret_Bernhardt@demint.senate.gov, brian_hart@brownback.senate.gov, brian_mckeon@boxer.senate.gov, brian_robertson@brownback.senate.gov, Brian_Weiss@bayh.senate.gov, Brianne_Rogers@baucus.senate.gov, brianne_rogers@baucus.senate.gov, bridget_petruczok@boxer.senate.gov, Bridget_Walsh@tester.senate.gov, Brittany_Blanchard@reid.senate.gov, brownback@brownback.senate.gov, brydon_ross@martinez.senate.gov, brydon_ross@martinez.senate.gov, Bryn_McDonough@casey.senate.gov, bulletinfeedback@boxer.senate.gov, carbonbuster@klobuchar.senate.gov, carina_armenta@boxer.senate.gov, casework@grassley.senate.gov, Catherine_Henson@isakson.senate.gov, charlie_salem@bayh.senate.gov, Charvez_Foger@reid.senate.gov, chris_adamo@stabenow.senate.gov, chris_carr@isakson.senate.gov, chris_homan@durbin.senate.gov, Chris_Lanen@reed.senate.gov, chris_murray@bayh.senate.gov, Chris_Paulitz@Voinovich.senate.gov, chris_prendergast@carper.senate.gov, chris_thompson@feinstein.senate.gov, christiana_gallagher@bennelson.senate.gov, Christina_Martinez@reid.senate.gov, Christina_mulka@durbin.senate.gov, Christopher_Bradish@specter.senate.gov, christopher_day@billnelson.senate.gov, chuck_grassley@grassley.senate.gov, chuck_kleeschulte@murkowski.senate.gov, cictor_cervino@martinez.senate.gov, clarine_nardi_riddle@lieberman.senate.gov, clay_currey@sessions.senate.gov, Colin_Allen@LGraham.senate.gov, colleen_briggs@stabenow.senate.gov, colleen_briggs@stabenow.senate.gov, corene_ashley@specter.senate.gov, Courtney_Shadegg@Coburn.senate.gov, craig_ferguson@crapo.senate.gov, craig_wismer@kyl.senate.gov, ctrx4change@dodd.senate.gov, cynthia_bartel@johnson.senate.gov, Cynthia_Walker@Bayh.senate.gov, Daffnei_Riedel@thune.senate.gov, dan_mclaughlin@billnelson.senate.gov, Dana_Smullen@Voinovich.senate.gov, Danica_Daneshforouz@reid.senate.gov, darcie_tokioka@akaka.senate.gov, david_blair@wyden.senate.gov, david_cobb@baucus.senate.gov, David_Kronig@dodd.senate.gov, david_lazarus@durbin.senate.gov, david_lyles@levin.senate.gov, david_quinalty@ensign.senate.gov, David_Wade@kerry.senate.gov, david_young@grassley.senate.gov, Dayle_Williamson@bennelson.senate.gov, DCIntern4@klobuchar.senate.gov, Deborah_calvert@klobuchar.senate.gov, deran_atamian@feinstein.senate.gov, donalyn_delacruz@akaka.senate.gov, Drey_Samuelson@johnson.senate.gov, ed_french@lincoln.senate.gov, elissa.scannell@mail.house.gov, Eliz_King@reed.senate.gov, elizabeth_burks@lincoln.senate.gov, elizabeth_maier@kyl.senate.gov, Elizabeth_reed@levin.senate.gov, ellen_cahill@mccain.senate.gov, Ellen_Kinker@Voinovich.senate.gov, elyse_wasch@reed.senate.gov, energy@lugar.senate.gov, energy_prices@crapo.senate.gov, Eric_Hinten@Voinovich.senate.gov, Eric_Kleiman@bayh.senate.gov, Eric_Mogilnicki@kennedy.senate.gov, Erik_Johnson@Voinovich.senate.gov, erin_barry@johnson.senate.gov, Erin_Walls@carper.senate.gov, frank_rowe@lieberman.senate.gov, Fred_Karem@mcconnell.senate.gov, gabe_schneider@levin.senate.gov, Galen_Roehl@Brownback.senate.gov, Garrette_Silverman@Voinovich.senate.gov, Gary_Myrick@reid.senate.gov, Gavin_Parke@reid.senate.gov, gayle_mills@specter.senate.gov, george_callas@voinovich.senate.gov, georgiana_reynal@lugar.senate.gov, glee_smith@isakson.senate.gov, glen_chambers@brownback.senate.gov, Greg_bohrer@klobuchar.senate.gov, greg_chaney@stabenow.senate.gov, greg_gross@dole.senate.gov, gregg_richard@crapo.senate.gov, Hannah_Benton@mcconnell.senate.gov, hannah_herdlinger@pryor.senate.gov, hap_rigby@demint.senate.gov, healthsummit@klobuchar.senate.gov, Heather_Homan@Voinovich.senate.gov, Holly_Nesbit@collins.senate.gov, Holly_santry@bunning.senate.gov, Ida_Gaines@reid.senate.gov, Ileanexis_Deese@reid.senate.gov, inauguration@dodd.senate.gov, info@begich.com info@jeffsessions.com intern_coordinator@johnson.senate.gov, internapp@feinstein.senate.gov, internships@brownback.senate.gov, isaac_edwards@murkowski.senate.gov, jack@reed.senate.gov, jackie_cottrell@roberts.senate.gov, jackie_erickson@casey.senate.gov, jackie_parker@levin.senate.gov, jacqueline_lampert@johnson.senate.gov, jacqueline_wood@demint.senate.gov, James_brown@casey.senate.gov, james_chang@inouye.senate.gov, james_wallner@sessions.senate.gov, james_wallner@sessions.senate.gov, jan_fowler@voinovich.senate.gov, Jane_Campbell@landrieu.senate.gov, Janice_Miller@reid.senate.gov, jason_matthews@landrieu.senate.gov, Jason_mulvihill@ensign.senate.gov, jason_vanbeek@thune.senate.gov, Jeff_Connaughton@kaufman.senate.gov, jeff_gohringer@johnson.senate.gov, jen_olson@lgraham.senate.gov, Jennifer_Barrett@markudall.senate.gov, jennifer_cook@roberts.senate.gov, Jennifer_Hensley@tester.senate.gov, Jennifer_Piorkowski@merkley.senate.gov, jennifer_romans@kyl.senate.gov, Jennifer_Sawaya@reid.senate.gov, Jennifer_swenson@roberts.senate.gov, Jesse_BroderVanDyke@akaka.senate.gov, Jesse_Walls@Voinovich.senate.gov, Jessica_Bantham@reid.senate.gov, Jessica_Satre@reid.senate.gov, jim_askins@bunning.senate.gov, jim_bunning@bunning.senate.gov, jim_fenton@dodd.senate.gov, jim_inhofe@inhofe.senate.gov, Jim_Manley@reid.senate.gov, Jim_Manley@reid.senate.gov, jim_molinari@feinstein.senate.gov, Jim_Reilly@carper.senate.gov, jim_stowers@lincoln.senate.gov, jim_turner@levin.senate.gov, joan_kirchner@isakson.senate.gov, joann_papenfuss@stabenow.senate.gov, joaquin_esquivel@boxer.senate.gov, Joe_Campbell@Klobuchar.senate.gov, joe_donoghue@mccain.senate.gov, Joe_Shoemaker@Durbin.Senate.gov, joel_shapiro@wyden.senate.gov, jofi_joseph@casey.senate.gov, john_lewis@baucus.senate.gov, john_lopez@ensign.senate.gov, john_rankin@brownback.senate.gov, John_Richter@snowe.senate.gov, John_Stilliana@Voinovich.senate.gov, john_watts@feinstein.senate.gov, Jon_Selib@baucus.senate.gov, jon_selib@baucus.senate.gov, jon_yoshimura@akaka.senate.gov, jonathan_becker@klobuchar.senate.gov, jonathan_coppess@bennelson.senate.gov, jonathan_graffeo@shelby.senate.gov, jordanna_levinson@whitehouse.senate.gov, josh_kardon@wyden.senate.gov, josh_sargen@bayh.senate.gov, joshua_blumenfeld@dodd.senate.gov, joshua_sheinkman@wyden.senate.gov, Joy_Mulinex@levin.senate.gov, judy_vrchota@thune.senate.gov, Julianne_Fisher@johnson.senate.gov, julie_adams@mcconnell.senate.gov, Julie_Blackorby@demint.senate.gov, Julie_Wirkkala@kerry.senate.gov, jurani@ensign.senate.gov, justin_clay@chambliss.senate.gov, justin_clay@chambliss.senate.gov, kara_stein@reed.senate.gov, kara_stein@reed.senate.gov, Karen_Silberstein@reid.senate.gov, kasey_gillette@casey.senate.gov, kassandra_cerveny@billnelson.senate.gov, kata_sybenga@levin.senate.gov, Kate_Howard@bennelson.senate.gov, Kate_Nicolai@landrieu.senate.gov, kate_nilan@klobuchar.senate.gov, kate_nilan@klobuchar.senate.gov, Katherine_Oh@reid.senate.gov, Kathleen_Amacio@johanns.senate.gov, Kathleen_Rozner@reid.senate.gov, Kathy_nuebel@grassley.senate.gov, katie_downs@crapo.senate.gov, katie_laning@lincoln.senate.gov, katie_platt@billnelson.senate.gov, katie_platt@billnelson.senate.gov, ken_lundberg@martinez.senate.gov, kendra_barkoff@casey.senate.gov, kenneth_martin@johnson.senate.gov, kevin_bishop@lgraham.senate.gov, Kevin_glandon@levin.senate.gov, Khisha_Fallon@Voinovich.senate.gov, kim_dean@bunning.senate.gov, kimberly_gluck@demint.senate.gov, kolan_davis@grassley.senate.gov, Kris_Sarri@commerce.senate.gov, krista_lamoreaux@johnson.senate.gov, kristen_daimler@murkowski.senate.gov, kristen_daimler-nothdurft@murkowski.senate.gov, kristin_wikelius@feinstein.senate.gov, kristina_ko@levin.senate.gov, kurt_kovarik@grassley.senate.gov, kyle_downey@thune.senate.gov, landon_fulmer@brownback.senate.gov, Laura_Bauld@lGraham.senate.gov, laura_friedel@shelby.senate.gov, Laura_Ochoa@reid.senate.gov, laura_schiller@boxer.senate.gov, laura_swanson@johnson.senate.gov, Lauren_Edwards@lgraham.senate.gov, Lauri_Hettinger@Voinovich.senate.gov, laverne_saulny@landrieu.senate.gov, leann_crosby@mcconnell.senate.gov, lee_dunn@mccain.senate.gov, Lee_Sheehy@Klobuchar.senate.gov, leslie_ridle@transition.senate.gov, Linda_Greenwood@Voinovich.senate.gov, lindsay_calderone@klobuchar.senate.gov, Lindsay_mabry@chambliss.senate.gov, lisa@lisamurkowski.com Lisa_Zellers@Voinovich.senate.gov, liz_king@reed.senate.gov, Lois_Santiago@dodd.senate.gov, lucy_murfitt@kyl.senate.gov, Lucy_Stickan@Voinovich.senate.gov, madeline_otto@billnelson.senate.gov, Maggie_ward@Roberts.senate.gov, Margaret_ballard@crapo.senate.gov, Maria_Plakoudas@specter.senate.gov, marie_blanco@inouye.senate.gov, Marie_Francis@Bayh.senate.gov, Mariela_Hernandez@reid.senate.gov, Marjorie_duske@klobuchar.senate.gov, mark_haugen@thune.senate.gov, mark_hayes@lugar.senate.gov, mark_powden@brown.senate.gov, mark_pryor@pryor.senate.gov, mark_pryor@pryor.senate.gov, mark_salter@mccain.senate.gov, Mark_Shonce@Risch.senate.gov, mark_Wetjen@reid.senate.gov, marques_chavez@crapo.senate.gov, martha_pabon@bayh.senate.gov, Mary_Conelly@reid.senate.gov, mary_gautreaux@wyden.senate.gov, mary_yoshioka@inouye.senate.gov, MaryJane_Collipriest@bennett.senate.gov, matt_hoskins@demint.senate.gov, matt_hoskins@demint.senate.gov, Matt_Jennings@tester.senate.gov, matt_koranda@levin.senate.gov, matt_mckenna@tester.senate.gov, Matt_Rimkunas@lGraham.senate.gov, matt_thornblad@johnson.senate.gov, matthew_pippin@akaka.senate.gov, Matthew_Tuma@reid.senate.gov, max@baucus.senate.gov, meghan_keck@bayh.senate.gov, mel_martinez@martinez.senate.gov, melanie_benning@brownback.senate.gov, melanie_rogge@bennelson.senate.gov, Melanie_Rogge@bennelson.senate.gov, meredith_brown@thune.senate.gov, michael_bassett@martinez.senate.gov, Michael_Dustman@Voinovich.senate.gov, michael_quiello@isakson.senate.gov, michael_teague@pryor.senate.gov, Michael_Vannozzi@reid.senate.gov, michael_weiss@boxer.senate.gov, Michael_Zamore@merkley.senate.gov, michael_zehr@martinez.senate.gov, Michelle_Shwimer@casey.senate.gov, Michelle_spence@ensign.senate.gov, Mike_Esposito@reid.senate.gov, mike_kuiken@levin.senate.gov, mike_reynard@bunning.senate.gov, Mike_Schwartz@Coburn.senate.gov, mike_seyfert@roberts.senate.gov, mike_steenhoek@grassley.senate.gov, miles_Lackey@dodd.senate.gov, Mindy_Myers@whitehouse.senate.gov, molly_brenner@markudall.senate.gov, molly_manning@isakson.senate.gov, molly_mueller@roberts.senate.gov, Moon_Sulfab@mcconnell.senate.gov, morna_murray@casey.senate.gov, Natalie_cook@bennett.senate.gov, natalie_ravitz@boxer.senate.gov, Natasha_Guynes@reid.senate.gov, nathan_graham@bennett.senate.gov, Nathan_Steinwald@casey.senate.gov, Neal_Orringer@Dodd.Senate.gov, Neil_Campbell@reed.senate.gov, Neil_Kornze@reid.senate.gov, nick_matiella@mccain.senate.gov, Nick_Watts@kennedy.senate.gov, nicole_morse@dodd.senate.gov, Nicole_tapay@wyden.senate.gov, Nicole_Trzynadlowski@reid.senate.gov, noushin_jahanian@stabenow.senate.gov, Oliver_Kim@stabenow.senate.gov, olyvia_rodriguez@feinstein.senate.gov, open_positions@casey.senate.gov, pat_roberts@roberts.senate.gov, Pat_Souders@Durbin.senate.gov, patricia_readinger@stabenow.senate.gov, paul_wilkins@baucus.senate.gov, peter_cleveland@feinstein.senate.gov, Phil_Park@Voinovich.senate.gov, press@whitehouse.senate.gov, pressjobs@stabenow.senate.gov, qusi_alhaj@thune.senate.gov, Racquel_Russell@Carper.senate.gov, Reb_Brownell@mcconnell.senate.gov, regan_fitzgerald@whitehouse.senate.gov, regina_campbell@specter.senate.gov, requests@begich.senate.gov, Richard_Bender@harkin.senate.gov, richard_fontaine@mccain.senate.gov, richard_harper@feinstein.senate.gov, Richard_Perry@lgraham.senate.gov, richard_spiegelman@casey.senate.gov, Richelle_Zakrzewski@Voinovich.senate.gov, rick_dearborn@sessions.senate.gov, Robert_Herbert@reid.senate.gov, Robert_Sharp@reid.senate.gov, robert_steurer@mcconnell.senate.gov, Robin_McCain@reid.senate.gov, roger_fisher@lincoln.senate.gov, rohini_ravindran@stabenow.senate.gov, roland_burris@burris.senate.gov, Rosanne_Haroian@reed.senate.gov, rosanne_haroian@reed.senate.gov, Roy_Hansen@crapo.senate.gov, rsvp_whitehouse@whitehouse.senate.gov, ryan_jackson@inhofe.senate.gov, ryan_patmintra@kyl.senate.gov, ryan_thompson@inhofe.senate.gov, sallie_derr@wyden.senate.gov, sara_kuban@baucus.senate.gov, Sara_Kuban@baucus.senate.gov, sara_mabry@casey.senate.gov, sarada_peri@landrieu.senate.gov, sarah_little@roberts.senate.gov, Sarah_Nixon@whitehouse.senate.gov, sarah_rozensky@bayh.senate.gov, sarah_timoney@bunning.senate.gov, saxby_chambliss@chambliss.senate.gov, scheduler_landrieu@landrieu.senate.gov, scott_gerber@feinstein.senate.gov, Scott_Hoeflich@specter.senate.gov, scott_raab@mcconnell.senate.gov, sean_moore@boxer.senate.gov, seema_singh@specter.senate.gov, senator.klobuchar@senate.gov, senator@akaka.senate.gov, senator@bayh.senate.gov, senator@bayh.senate.gov, senator@begich.senate.gov, senator@bennelson.senate.gov, senator@bennett.senate.gov, senator@boxer.senate.gov, senator@demint.senate.gov, senator@levin.senate.gov, 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Dems' thinly disguised power grab

“You never want a serious crisis to go to waste” said Rahm Emanuel, President Obama’s chief of staff. One look at the so-called “Stimulus Package” that doesn’t stimulate but is the biggest aggregation of special interest pork in the history of the Republic tells you exactly what he means. Consider two facts: One, the amount of money this bill would shovel out the front door of the Treasury is- adjusted for inflation- Five times the total amount of money spent by FDR in his first three years in office.

Two, given that all this money must be borrowed, and hoping that the Chinese and others will continue to purchase U.S. debt, the rarely mentioned interest payments alone-347 billion dollars- are the largest single budgetary line item in our history.

The tipoff on what the Democrats are up to is revealed in the way they (aided by the media echo chamber) relentlessly describe the country’s economic condition as the “Worst since the Great Depression”.

The truth however is very different. Our economy while certainly bad is only the “Worst since the Carter Administration”. In that period unemployment touched double digits, inflation hit 12%, interest rates an astonishing 21 %, and gasoline prices-adjusted for inflation- were higher even than the recent four dollars per gallon. Today these key indicators of economic hardship are nowhere near as bad as the Carter years.

So, why are Democrats desperately determined to utterly ignore the Golden Age of Jimmy and rush all the way back to the Great Depression as the proper benchmark for today’s economic crisis?

There are two reasons. First, using the Great Depression as a comparative allows Democrats to cast George Bush in the villainous role of Herbert Hoover, and even better lets Obama masquerade as the Second Coming of the liberal God FDR.

Now for Democrats it just wouldn’t do to describe Bush as merely “the worst President since Carter”, particularly since that would get people thinking that maybe Barack Obama is the new Ronald Reagan.

The second, and far more ominous reason is that by invoking the “Great Depression” and the economic horror stories associated with it (e.g. 25% unemployment) the Democrats hope to create a climate of fear and anxiety among our citizens that will in turn facilitate their radical agenda of a massive power transfer that will transform all the major sectors of our economy- education, environment, energy, health care, labor relations etc. Only by persuading the public that the economic crisis is truly calamitous and catastrophic in scope can the Democrats justify and sell the sweeping, even revolutionary changes they have in mind.

Needless to say, these sweeping changes are not talked about openly. Democrats long ago learned the imperative of a “stealth strategy” (i.e. say one thing while planning to do another).

In broad stroke the true liberal goal is the transformation of America into a statist social welfare society along European lines. Remember, these are the people who tried to impose Hillary Care, still praise the rationed Canadian health care system, and even find good things in Fidel Castro’s approach to public health.

The means of achieving this Brave New World are simply put, redistribution of wealth and income. Remember Barack Obama’s unguarded remark to Joe the Plumber: ”Aren’t things better for everybody when you spread the wealth around?”

Up until now these Democratic goals have been hidden behind vague promises-e.g. affordable health care for all, tax cuts for 95% of us. Now, with the “stimulus” the Democrats have been compelled to put in writing for the first time a list of specifics. The result is an appalling compendium of “good ideas” put together by Nancy Pelosi and friends,that is only a down payment on the even bigger and better ideas that will soon follow.

Now if the economic crisis is as catastrophic as the Democrats would have us believe, then it logically follows that these good ideas must be signed into law real fast, at least fast enough to insure that the public has no real chance to look at them, and Congress has no chance to debate or significantly alter the most expensive piece of legislation in history.

There will however be ample time-one day- for our grandchildren to ask us incredulously: “What were you thinking”?

William Moloney’s columns have appeared in the Wall St. Journal, USA Today, Washington Post, Washington Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, and The Baltimore Sun.

C'est le change, Obama-style

Today's lead editorial in the Wall Street Journal caught my eye this morning, reminding me of a famous French proverb that should be kept close at hand over the next four years: "Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose". Translated: "The more things change, the more they stay the same." It sure didn't take long for Barack Obama to answer one of the compelling questions that I repeatedly raised during his campaign: will he be the "post-partisan" candidate that he promised to be? Or will he be the highly partisan politician he proved himself to be in the United States Senate?

The answer to this has come early in week #2 of his term, when he decided to ram the economic stimulus through the House of Representatives on purely partisan lines -- bowing to Nancy Pelosi in the process. As the Journal reports:

Barack Obama promised to end the "politics of division," unite Washington's factions and overcome partisanship. And what do you know -- so far he has: The President's stimulus plan generated bipartisan House opposition, with every Republican and 11 Democrats voting against it on Wednesday. It passed 244-188. The political class is feigning shock that Mr. Obama's stylistic olive branches to the GOP -- cocktail hour at the White House, cutting a line item for shrubbery on the National Mall -- failed to peel off even a single vote across the aisle. The chatter is that Republicans were taking a great political risk to oppose a President with 70%-plus approval ratings on his first piece of legislation. But the real risk here is to Mr. Obama, and it isn't from Republicans. It's from his fellow Democrats. Given the miserable economy and the Beltway's neo-Keynesian policy consensus, a true compromise would have gathered overwhelming support. But rather than use Mr. Obama's political capital to craft such a deal, the White House abdicated to Speaker Nancy Pelosi. House Democrats proceeded to ignore all GOP suggestions as they wrote the bill, shedding tax cuts while piling on spending for every imaginable interest group. The bipartisan opposition reflects how much the Pelosi bill became a vehicle for partisan social policy rather than economic stimulus.

Genuine bipartisanship means compromises on policy, not photo-ops and hand shakes. The last two Democratic Presidents, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, also came to power with big Democratic majorities in Congress, veered far to the left on policy, and quickly came undone. To adapt White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel's now famous line, a 70% approval rating is a terrible thing to waste on the ideas of Henry Waxman and Pete Stark.

One of my biggest fears about Barack Obama was that he would not be strong enough to stand up to the far-left partisans of his own party, and would be bullied into following the ideologues into a standard liberal abyss -- filled with the kind of redistributive social policies that brought us the Great Society and other expansive social progams. Given the unprecedented recent expansion of the government into our economy, with tax payers spending trillions on bail-outs and flame-outs, the hope was the Obama would be able to put pragmatism over politics on managing the public's interest. So much for "hope" and "change".

Of course, "change" was always an ill-defined bromide, capable of allowing the Obama campaign to create a narrative that had almost nothing of substance underneath it. It was the perfect vessel for this candidate, who gave people hope without telling them what specifically he was going to do to make such lofty ideas and goals a reality. And now we know that for all the rhetoric, the reality is something we've seen before: old style partisan politics with big government aspirations.

Change we can believe in, mon ami.

Why the stimulus won't work

The reason the so-called stimulus bill will not achieve the goals set for it is twofold: Ideology plus the Democrats' lack of understanding of how the economy works. Democrats do not seem to grasp the concept of the “money multiplier effect”. It’s important what you spend money on, not just the spending in itself. Spending needs to actually increase the size of the economy, and not merely be a transfer money from one sector to another.

** To “soak the rich” in the name of “fairness” shrinks the economy. Every $100 the government takes in taxes, only $65 ever makes it back into the economy, the rest is absorbed in bureaucracy. Punitive tax rates also discourage business (and jobs) formation, making the viability of proposed projects harder to achieve. That is why government to an economy is like mistletoe to an oak tree: it burdens the tree and leaches out its vitality. Yet the “economics challenged” Democrat public sector types will raise taxes to “get the corporations who have millions” and mumble “Justice! ” with great satisfaction.

** Vast portions of the spending have been earmarked for things like “bailing out the States”, (keeping the mistletoe healthy but not the tree) extending Medicare benefits (40% of which is absorbed in paperwork and HIPPA Compliance reporting requirements), more unemployment benefits, repairing Federal office buildings or constructing parks and public recreation centers. Infrastructure spending is beneficial, but it will take years. It addresses years of neglect and deterioration rather than adding to our capital stock. In all these cases once the money is spent the economic activity peters out. The ultimate result is filled medical waste bins behind hospitals, more housing project sewage, cleaned up Federal office buildings, fewer potholes, and empty new parks and recreation centers. None of this spending results in sustained increased economic activity! English major Democrat activists fail to understand or grasp this. They think any spending will do.

** The Government spending multiplier effect is typically less than one: $100 taken in taxes goes to $65 in spending which quickly peters out once the contractors finish their government projects. And another aspect: sometimes it takes government contractors months to get their money: (the layer of bureaucracy that “safeguards” the public purse must be satisfied). The “stimulus” then languishes in slow pay Accounts Receivable, pushing some contractors into bankruptcy.

** Real stimulus is in starting businesses. When a business starts, it generates jobs and demand for goods and services. The spending ripples through the economy sometimes at a ratio better than ten to one! Every dollar spent on a business results in ten dollars of economic activity in the economy. But this would entail “tax breaks for the rich”, ideologically unacceptable to the Marxist Progressives who now run the country. They cannot tolerate money NOT funneling though their hands and the power that goes with it. Yet with no understanding of the “multiplier effect”, they will continue pour resources into projects that will increase the size of government (the leaching mistletoe) and shrink the economy. Democrats are setting the stage to break the Japanese record for “stagflation “and misery. They will blame everything and everyone but themselves.