Mark Halperin: Obama's Fault That GOP Opposed Stimulus, Obama Took 'Exact Path Of Bush'

When you gather together a group of establishment journalists, you're likely to hear all about how bipartisanship is a magic elixir, without which important pieces of policy cannot be enacted. That was the basic premise of this morning's dreary chat on Morning Joe, in which the House Republicans unwillingness to cast a single vote for the stimulus package was depicted as a failure for Obama's leadership. Never mind the fact that the bill did pass, and never mind the fact that if the bill clears the Senate and the policy enacted is effective, the vote totals will become largely irrelevant.

New York Magazine's John Heilemann asserts that Obama needs big vote margins, because important policies somehow cease to be important if they pass on narrow, party-line votes. I'd beg to differ: Bill Clinton stuffed his NAFTA bill full of carrots and it still narrowly cleared the House of Representatives in 1993. I'd posit that that was an important piece of legislation. I'd similarly posit that the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 was important, and it, too, got through the House without a single Republican vote.

Of course, then we have Mark Halperin, saying the sort of thing that leads people like me to wonder what planet he lives on. As astute readers are aware, Obama made substantial changes to the stimulus package as a sop to conservatives in an attempt to secure a "big centrist majority" over the objections of his own party. Those concessions include adding a bevy of corporate tax cuts, eliminating contraceptive funding, and cutting down funding for rail projects. Halperin seems to have missed all of this:

HALPERIN: The other thing he could have done...you can go for centrist compromises and say to your own party, "Sorry, some of you liberals aren't going to like it, but I'm going to change this legislation radically to get a big centrist majority rather than an all-Democratic vote." He chose not to do that. That's the exact path that George Bush took for most of his presidency with disastrous consequences for bipartisanship and solving big problems.

[WATCH.]

Comments

[tdubssurf]

It has been estimated that California could receive more than $25 billion (the Greater Los Angeles Area receiving around $6 billion) of the nearly $800 billion in aid, made available by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, or ARRA. More than $70 billion of the bill has been directed towards investment in renewable, and green technologi­es...

http://www.caivp.org/article/taxes/2009/2/24/california-gets-stimulatedor-does-it

[tdubssurf]

They say we now live a "post-partisan" world. The phrase implies that in 2009 we have all risen to a practical, solutions-based approach to politics that flies above your garden variety partisan rancor. If anything the past few months have shown us nothings changed.

http://www.caivp.org/article/issues/2009/2/10/looking-bi-partisanship-post-partisan-world

[bluestatesrock]

Thank you for pointing out that Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 passed without a single Republican Vote. While OBRA93 wasn't perfect , it leadi to an ultimate budget Surplus, for bush to squander, plus! "Tax & Spend Liberals" indeed! Bush spent, at some point someone must tax.

[Bramble8]

What a loser! Read this Months Vanity Fairs article referencing This Tool.

[likeicare]

Mark Halperin is one of the reasons I didn't renew my subscription to Time.

Maybe, once they go under, they'll figure it out.

[karela]

I hope that we'll be able to do all the things we need to do with bipartisan support, but I think that Barack made an effort to compromise. Compromise does not mean gutting your bills to appease the other side to the point that they no longer do the job. If the only way we can get the job done is to do it alone, so long as we can get it through the Senate, then so be it. But I know that the President will be doing all he reasonably can to get the job done by working together. So far, the republican side of the isle is playing old style politics and doesn't want to give it up------zero republican votes indeed!

[PlayTOE]

GOP plan ~

Cause a problem.
Blame the other side.

[XME]

Yup, it's Obama's fault Republicans voted against the bill. If it had been NOTHING but tax cuts for the rich, they would have voted for it. But no, he cared more about the less fortunate than about what it would take to get Repubs on board.

I don't mind Halperin, but in this case, he doesn't have a clue. Obama took out "family planning" AND added more tax cuts than Dems wanted. They aren't interested in bipartisan­ship...the­y're interested in "my way or the highway".

[XLintLuvR]

You don't get it. It didn't matter what he did. The bill could have cut out all gov't spending and be a 900B tax cut for corporations. They were going to vote against it no matter what it was. They already got together before their meeting with the pres and told the members of their party to vote against it. Where's the bipartisanship if you're determined to vote against it before coming to the bargaining table and spending all of your time whining about how the other side doesn't respect you?

[XME]

I do get it...I was being facetious.

[sixx]

Mark Halperin has not registered as a foreign agent, a fair target.

[MarkInEugene]

Republican politicians and political ideologues are extremely resentful and angry people right now. They'll do their best to ruin whatever they can during the Obama administration.

As Republican representative Mike Pence swooned yesterday,
"I cherish Rush Limbaughs contribution to the American discourse.­"

I guess Pence waxed sentimental when Rush made his eloquent dignified comment about our new President last week, "I hope Obama is a failure!"

How the Republican Party retains their rank and file just blows my mind!

[Poyda]

When I hear stuff like that -- so blindingly absurd -- it is difficult to see how President Obama keeps persisting in reaching out, taking heat from his own base; but persist he does. I wish I was as good a man as he. Where I look into the vacant stare of an incomprehensible baf oon, and see no hope, he sees common ground, hope for bipartisanship, and perseveres. I guess that is yet another reason why he is the President and I am not.

[Davwbaird]

Clearly another Dung Beetle has come out from its den.

[Drew]

How wrong can this man be how many times?! Jeebus!

He really must be a Republican -- he's clearly incompetent in his job.

[priscianusjr]

It's Obama's fault that GOP opposed stimulus. Because if he hadn't introduced the bill, they never would have opposed it.

[AGarcia]

The media is complicitous for giving this view air time and credence. I heard Matt Lauer argue the same basic viewpoint to Robert Gibbs this morning. Closet Republicans in the media love this take because they are terrified of Obama. Watch for more piling on by the news.

[brighterlight]

Yeah, Matt Lauer is truly a closet ReThug.