Reed Hundt points to the far-ranging effects of the various spending in the Stimulus Bill. And next up is the budget, which I’m told will be equally ambitious in terms of a major rewiring of the federal budget, particularly making a major down payment, as in a substantial amount of money set aside for health care reform.
To date most of the debate in DC has been tied up with largely nonsensical jousting with the rump GOP about the terms of the Stimulus Bill — largely the GOP’s push for doing no Stimulus at all or one focused on inefficient tax cuts. But the Democrats now control Washington — especially on the budget, where the same super-majority rules do not apply in the senate. So it’s much better to start thinking in terms of what change would benefit the country most over the short and long term rather than getting distracted by arguments with Republicans who polls show the overwhelming majority of Americans have lost patience and confidence in.
(ed.note: As one of the more humorous points of Republican irrelevance, see the feeble twists and turns GOP Govs. like Rick Perry of Texas are going to to explain why it’s taken them about a day and a half to apply ‘due diligence’ to the stimulus money their states are getting and decide it’s okay to accept all of it.)
