Noam Scheiber asks whether, in an effort to attract substantial Republican support, Obama is aiming for too low a dollar amount ($675-$775 billion over 24 months) in his upcoming fiscal stimulus package.
I’m torn on this. As Noam points out, that looks to be a starting point at the low end of what most economists think is necessary, leaving treacherously little safe room to negotiate down. And everything about our recent history and current predicament tells me we have to be bold and aggressive, on policy and politics. But I’ve always had a weakness for One Nation politics; so I’m not willing to discount the possibility that Obama reshuffle the deck politically, operate under a different calculus.
Obama reportedly to meet with Congressional leaders on the stimulus package after he arrives in Washington on Monday. That and the day’s other political and transition news in the TPM Election Central Morning Roundup.
I was hoping it wouldn’t be too long before the real nonsense kicked in. And it seems my prayers have been answered. According to this story in today’s Post, some right-wingers think some of Obama’s advisors are too liberal. Imagine that …
Obama’s Team Rankles the Right
To Some Conservatives, Advisers Are Alarmingly Liberal
To some staunch conservatives watching President Bush relinquish the reins of power to President-elect Barack Obama, a few too many ardent liberals are now crashing the gates.
Some well-known Democratic activists are advising Obama on how to steer federal agencies, including a few whom conservative Republicans fought hard to keep out of power in the Clinton administration. They include Roberta Achtenberg, a gay activist whose confirmation as an assistant housing secretary was famously held up by then-Sen. Jesse Helms (N.C.), and Bill Lann Lee, who was hotly opposed by foes of affirmative action and temporarily blocked from the government’s top civil rights job.
Conservatives fear that some of these Obama transition advisers are too far left on the political spectrum and are a sign of radical policies to come.
Like many others, I’ve been saying this for years. So I’m surprised to be surprised. But the journalistic establishment in Washington, whether it’s the Post or the Politico or much of the rest of the journalistic apparatus in the city, is essentially Republican in character — not necessarily in terms of individual voting habits, though you’d be surprised, but in fundamental outlook about whose opinions matter and how government functions, which is what really counts. And you can see that resurfacing with increasing clarity just in that last week.
From the Post:
The handover of the Green Zone from U.S. to Iraqi control Thursday presented such a powerful symbol of the waning American presence in Iraq that it would have been nearly impossible for both sides not to mark it with a formal ceremony.
They did, but the ceremony wasn’t much. A podium was set up in the middle of a dirty street. Five small balloons and some tinsel decorated a seating area. The American ambassador and the top commander of U.S. troops didn’t show up. Neither did Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
Maliki instead attended an unannounced event where he watched what might have been one of the most stirring signs of the new Iraq: the raising of the Iraqi flag over what just a day earlier had been the U.S. Embassy. The decision to keep reporters away from this ceremony hinted at the unease and uncertainty both sides feel about the transition.
Almost goes without saying (but it shouldn’t) that the transfer is largely a formality and U.S. troops are still providing security in and around the Green Zone.
It’s always a bittersweet moment. One of our vets, who did amazing work for us over more than two years, Greg Sargent, is moving on. Here’s Greg’s farewell post. He’ll be missed and we were honored to have him.