Joe Lieberman Stimulus Hero

And yet he couldn't budge the two people with whom he spent the summer, McCain and McCain's long time companion Graham.

Well said Joe.
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I think Obama is naturally inclined not to be vindictive but he also has a longer view of things than nearly any politician I can think of - GWB's insistence that History will see him differently not withstanding.

And yet he tried mightily to put a man in the White House who has a "cult-like in their devotion to failed economic policies" and who would have addressed this economic meltdown with tax cuts.
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But you are right, good for Obama taking the long view.

via sully, Specter speaks some truth:
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"When I came back to the cloak room after coming to the agreement a week ago today, one of my colleagues said, 'Arlen, I'm proud of you.' My Republican colleague said, 'Arlen, I'm proud of you.' I said, 'Are you going to vote with me?' And he said, 'No, I might have a primary.' And I said, 'Well, you know very well I'm going to have a primary.' ... I think there are a lot of people in the Republican caucus who are glad to see this action taken without their fingerprints, without their participation."
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And I find myself with new found respect for the "centrist three" who had the courage to do the right thing, even if many of us found fault in the details.

The stimulus is a risk for both sides. Obama and the Dems now own the economy as the stimulus will be expected to turn things around almost immediately (the GOP will not let them forget that point...).

For the GOP, they have become the party of "no" and blatant obstructionists to anything not matching the strictest interpretations of conservative dogma. The public will rally behind them if the stimulus tanks, but there's a better chance of the GOP continuing to erode support among moderates and swing voters who supported anything besides tax cuts.

http://www.political-buzz.com/

Matt, I think it is worth noting that the repugs plan to continue to campaign against the stimulus bill, and to hold hearings and "teevee availabilities" to tell America that it won't and can't work, increases the possibility that it won't, in fact, work. Their utter failure in a time of crisis to come together and do all they can to ensure the plan does work, is no better than giving aid and comfort to the enemy in a time of war.

Good post, Joe. I can't count the times that I and others have questioned Obama's actions, thinking that we know what would be best for him to do. He always takes his time and acts more gracious than any human I've ever met and, despite the cheerleading from the side, chooses to give others second and third chances to participate. It is already serving him well.

The problems we face are significantly more fundemental than whether Joe Lieberman is a DINO or a RINO. The entire McCain campaign and to this day the Republican strategy revolves around the fact that the public doesn't want to think to hard about details but are more likely to trust someone with easy slogans for answers rather than so-called experts. I still view 'bittergate' and the Natalie Maines backlash as defining moments in American culture whan proud ignorance became rallying cries to shout down anything that reeked of intelligence or caution.
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The current Senate makeup still reflects the fact that there are vast swaths of this Country who would rather shoot themselves in the foot than see someone else gain an unearned benefit from government.
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Joe Lieberman's relative importance is merely a symptom of a much larger problem.

PD- "proud ignorance" Accurate and funny. But I've been using "baldfaced obtuseness" lately. I'm running out of euphemisms.

Well, you'd think he'd have been able to convince at least one more GOP Senator to spare Sherrod Brown the trip back to Washington after his mother's wake to cast the 60th vote. I mean honestly, after the sickened ovation that Ted Stevens got, we were reminded about how the Senate is so tight-knit and takes care of its own. Would it have killed another GOP Senator to vote for this and spare Brown the trip? What about George Voinovich -- his fellow Senator from Ohio and someone not even running for reelection?

rickT - comity is a one-way street.

If Mitch McConnell (or, say, Judd Gregg) were a Mensch…

Interesting post wvng, although after my optimism yesterday I found myself wondering with one of the commenters, if such a deal were made could we trust them to keep it.

Guess Joe Scarborough was too centrist last week on NPR's Weekend Edition, this week they had Dorothy Rabinowitz who gave a horrible screed on her version of bipartisanship with no kind word for Mr. Obama. It was shocking.
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Then I read this from Jamison Foser and calmed down a little. http://mediamatters.org/items/200902130023?f=h_column

Steve Benen in doing great work today:
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As part of his ongoing offensive against the man who defeated him, John McCain continued to lash out at President Obama yesterday, blasting the economic stimulus package poised to become law. As the Senate debate was wrapping up, the Arizona Republican said, referring to the White House, "I hope they've learned a lesson."
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...it seems that the president and his team have, to borrow McCain's language, learned a lesson.
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I don't doubt that President Obama will continue to have a dialog with congressional Republicans. He'll keep them apprised of his intentions; he'll hear them out when they have complaints; and he'll maintain a respectful tone. But after the stimulus fight, the president, I suspect, has "learned a lesson" about how to engage a party that has philosophical, practical, and strategic goals that are wholly at odds with his own.

Klein's veneration for a bill that was passed without allowing anyone time to read it (in direct opposition to Obama's campaign promises) is startling. Ignoring the fact that fiscal stimulus packages do not usually work and the widely known fact amongst the profession that the multiplier will not be 1.5 (as the Obama people claim) - how can any man or woman with any modicum of respect for the institutions of the Republic be impressed that a man has, already in his first month of power, demonstrated a willingness to cry emergency to get any thing passed. The obviously faulty logic behind the thinking that "it's not perfect but we can't afford to wait" is deeply disconcerting from a man who campaigned on the mantra of "hope and change" so early in his presidency.

If JoeK wants to engage in the swamp, it would be interesting to hear his thoughts on the Foser essay. Given that JoeK occasionally plays at the fringes of media criticism.

oh lidster - pointing and laughing
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.

Great point. Nich change from listening to cable pundits (and some from the left) who imply Obama is a wimp when not being vindictive to Lieberman. I just don't know if we (and I include myself) are ready to really lay down our swords after these last terrible eight years of Bush/Rovian politics...I guess it's longer when including the horrible Ken Starr-Whitewater prosecution.

Man are we lucky to have Obama. I can't imagine how this would've played out with Clinton/Pelosi as being the target of the Republican bullying hords. It would be very ugly indeed. I'm really gald Clinton is working within the Obama umbrella of civility. His decency to Lieberman and Clinton both are inspiring and instructive to us all.

Argh! This software!!! Again:
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Great point. Nice change from listening to cable pundits (and some from the left) who imply Obama is a wimp when not being vindictive to Lieberman. I just don't know if we (and I include myself) are ready to really lay down our swords after these last terrible eight years of Bush/Rovian politics...I guess it's longer when including the horrible Ken Starr-Whitewater prosecution.
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Man, are we lucky to have Obama. I can't imagine how this would've played out with Clinton/Pelosi as being the target of the Republican bullying hordes. It would be very ugly indeed. I'm really glad Clinton is working within the Obama umbrella of civility. His decency to Lieberman and Clinton both are inspiring and instructive to us all.

"Klein's veneration for a bill that was passed without allowing anyone time to read it (in direct opposition to Obama's campaign promises) is startling."
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Several hours passed between the debating of the bill and holding the vote open for a further 4 hours for Brown to vote gave them even more time.
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On top of that, right here http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/arra_public_review/ is the text of the bill.
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There is no 'fact' that stimulus bills don't work. Quite the opposite. See Wiki and SourceWatch for FDR, New Deal, and the Great Depression. Wiki, while not citable, links out to literally thousands of pages of documentation of the historical affects of the New Deal, and the large majority agree that by 1934-1935, the Depression had ended. A few opinions by the occasional FDR hater is not going to counter what are literally thousands of pages of source material stating otherwise from economists observing the effects from 1935 on. SourceWatch give an in depth look at the actual laws as well as opinions from many sources about the effectiveness of the same.
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Hope and change is alive and well.

I'm sorry to learn that slow reading ability is a sudden problem among Republicans. They seemed to get through the PATRIOT act in record time.....

Im going to say here what I said at huffpo when I read the same article
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BULLSH*T
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The "hero" Joe Lieberman didn't do a got damn thing. If you actually read the article about the only impressive thing in it is that he yelled "we got to get it done". Hell even Arlen Specter said he didn't do much.
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He was important," said Sen. Specter, who, along with Collins and her fellow Maine Republican Olympia Snowe, broke ranks to join the Democrats. "But the critical talks occurred between Senator Reid, Senator Collins and, for awhile, Senator Voinovich. Those were the principal discussions."

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Now lest we forget, this muthaphucka CAMPAIGNED for Susan Collins. You know the woman who helped strip more than 500,000 jobs from the bill. Maybe just maybe had he campaigned for whichever Dem running against her we could have won the seat. At the least taken her down a peg.
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Second this sorry muthaphucka campaigned for the ass hole who LED THE CHARGE AGAINST THE BILL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Third what exactly did he do? What did he negotiate to keep in the bill? Read the article carefully, not a got damn thing.
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This is a load of sh*tty propaganda but the Village LOVES them some centrists so its not suprising that one of the few times you will EVER see Joke Line link to a HuffPo article was to a story elevating Joe LIEberman. I imagine today and tomorrow it will be linked to by the Villagers in the NY Times and the Washington Post as well. Please don't fall for propaganda.
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The HuffPo author states that on domestic issues Joe LIEberman is a liberal. But he supported John McCain's health care policy, privatizing SS, torture, and drill baby drill. Give me a break. Now I guess we are handing out medals for doing what he is SUPPOSED to do. Sorry but I for on am not buying it.
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And for those who think I am just going overboard because its LIEberman I ask you to go through the article and find something to copy and paste from the story that describes his "crucial" role. Show me something he helped to keep in the bill. Judd Gregg AND Ray Lahood both said the three Republicans voting for the bill were the same three whoo were in play the whole time. So show me something he actually did from the article and I will take it all back. Otherwise wake up and realize that you are being rolled by some serious LIEberman spin.

"widely known fact"= BS

Just to illustrate in stark terms what kind of ass holes we are dealing with check out how these Republicans touted provisions in the stimulus bill that will help their districts in press releases WITHOUT MENTIONING that they voted AGAINST the bill.
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http://www.mcclatchydc.com/251/story/62181.html