A reader chimes in …

I don’t share the sense of panic expressed by some Obama supporters over his approach to the stimulus package. If the campaign taught us anything, it’s that Obama is willing to invest in strategies that only yield dividends in the long term. I suspect his careful cultivation of the GOP side of the aisle is closely akin to his caucus strategy; it may require a lot of time and effort before it produces a payoff, but if he can pick off votes and limit rancor, it will be well worth the investment.

But I have been surprised that Obama has not done more to make his case directly to voters. Creative and constant communication was always a hallmark of his campaign. Its website, for example, featured a tax calculator, with which voters could find out just how much they would save. Why isn’t there a similar site now, so that Americans can see what Obama wants to give them, and what every Republican just voted against?

Or how about a little java applet that can take in a ZIP Code and spit out an estimate of the number of jobs the package will create or save within fifty miles? Or a ticker of e-mails sent to Congress in support of the bill?

The downside to overwhelming popularity is that it can produce a false sense of confidence. Electoral support can never be assumed; it must constantly be pursued. Conducting five sit-down interviews is a nice first step. But it’s not enough. Obama should be using every available outlet to take his case directly to voters, to illustrate to them just how this package stands to impact their lives – and he hasn’t. That’s my
real frustration.

The reader’s point about the long view is well-taken. Obama’s mix of steel and patience are two of his key virtues.

But I have been surprised that he has not chosen yet to play more to, and get out among, his real constituency — particularly on this bill — the people. This is about them. 10 or 15 thousand people are losing their jobs every day at the moment. Half a million people a month. It would not be hard to find — and I can’t believe they’re not thinking about it already — lots of communities around the country where some version of this bill would provide critical, immediate and sustained relief to lots of people. In fact, you’d likely find one almost anywhere you put your finger down on the map.

When political battles are entirely bounded by Pennsylvania Avenue, back and forths between the White House and the Hill, presidents can become just one player among many, cut off from their real source of power. And the whole nature of the debates can get rapidly disconnected from the realities actually people are experiencing in the country. Presidents are powerful when they have a national constituency behind them. Washington is a dark place, eager to trip all this up.

The AP is dashing the hopes of millions, claiming copyright infringement for Shepard Fairey’s iconic Obama “Hope” poster. That and the day’s other political news in the TPMDC Morning Roundup.

Obama’s executive pay restrictions are a “joke.” Senate is still looking at adding teeth to them.

I’m starting to get the sense that Larry Summers is to economic policy in the Obama Administration what Dick Cheney was to national security policy in the Bush Administration.

Elana Schor has a post this morning showing the four Senate Republicans who appear to be in play for President Obama on the Stimulus Bill, based on their vote last night on Sen. DeMint’s alternative Stimulus Bill. But there’s something else last night’s vote tells us. There were 36 out of 41 Republican senators who voted to scrap all spending in the Stimulus Bill. All of it.

This approaches flat earth territory in terms of where the economy is right now and what conventional macroeconomics suggests about how to combat the problem.

Late Update: TPM Reader MH ain’t happy …

I study neanderthals! Don’t insult them by associating them with Republicans. They survived ice ages and tens of thousands of years in the wilderness; with stone tools. The Republican Party couldn’t do that!

Obama: “Washington may not be ready to get serious about energy independence. But I am.”

I’m told the group of ‘centrist’ senators (Collins, Nelson et al.) is meeting at this moment. And the basis of their meeting is a staff paper that was just circulated with a total of $77.9 billion proposed cuts to the existing senate bill.

The biggest hit is on education spending.

A few examples of the recommended cuts …

$24.786 Billion on “State Stabilization Money”
$15 Billion for “State Incentive Grants”
$6.75 Billion for “IDEA”, proposed cut 50%
$6.5 Billion for “Title I Funding”, proposed cut 50%

Most of $5 billion from HHS for ‘prevention and wellness’ programs.

$5.5 Billion “Supplementary Discretionary Grants Program” at HUD Transportation

Click the page below to see the full document …

In the second part of my interview with economist Dean Baker, we talk about the fact that a significant portion of the banking industry is already insolvent and that a much larger portion will be broke before the end of the year. Any discussion of nationalization — or any denial that we’re nationalizing the banks — needs to start with the premise that if you’re not going to let the banks declare bankruptcy then you’re nationalizing them at some level.

Who takes the bigger hit: taxpayers or shareholders? It depends on how you do it. Dean Baker explains:

If Larry Summers is trying to assert Dick Cheney-style influence over Obama’s economic policy, then wouldn’t it be ironic for the new Vice President to be the primary check on Summers’ influence? That’s the dynamic Chris Hayes sees shaping up.