Legal Commentary

Is This Triangulation?

By Big Tent Democrat

After making the splashy headline about limiting executive compensation pay (which is fine, but does nothing to help the economy), Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) stuck in the shiv to House Democrats. From a HuffPo interview:

McCASKILL: I think that there have been some mistakes made [by House Dems]. From my perspective there have been mistakes made on the stimulus bill. There has been such a starvation diet for some of these programs that the appropriators got a little over anxious in the House. They probably did some things they shouldn't have...

We do need to look at the safety net side of the stimulus bill that can get into the economy quickly. But we can't right every wrong in terms of programs we support in the stimulus bill. And the other thing is, whether it is the National Endowment of the Arts or some of the STD funding or contraceptive funding, all we did was just tee up ammunition for the other side to tear this thing down. And I would like to think we are smarter than that. I'm hopeful on the Senate side we will be smarter than that.

[MORE . . .]

We will pull some of this stuff out that is not stimulative and we will have safety net in there that will get into the economy quickly, because that is what these tax breaks do, and the unemployment insurance benefits and the food stamps. People need them and they'll spend it, and it will go into the economy quickly. But I think we have to remain very focused on how we are creating jobs in this thing. And I am hoping we will find that middle ground.

But I should shut up about this because we all know our new Obama Dems are playing 11 dimensional political chess that we peons could not possibly understand. What looks like good old fashioned triangulation to you and me is really a multi-move trap being set by Obama and his Dems. Even Ben Nelson knows this. I admit I can not see it.

Speaking for me only

Full post as published by TalkLeft on January 31, 2009 (boomark / email).