1 Boring Old Man

 In my last post, I said the Republican Congressmen were acting like children. This article, coming from some Democratic Congressmen, is something substantial. They are worried that it’s not enough. And their disagreements are about the long-term investments. They worry there’s too much focus on "shovel-ready" and not enough investment for the long haul. I’m completely sure they are completely correct about that. It’s an obvious flaw in Obama’s Plan.

Democrats Among Stimulus Skeptics
Some See Long-Term Goals Going Unmet
By Alec MacGillis
Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Republican criticism of the stimulus package that the House will vote on tonight has focused on its soaring price tag, but some Democrats on Capitol Hill and other administration supporters are voicing a separate critique: that the plan may fall short in its broader goal of transforming the American economy over the long term.

President Obama, who promoted the $825 billion package at the Capitol yesterday, says the proposal serves two functions — creating jobs and stimulating the economy in the short term, and laying the groundwork for overhauls in energy, health care and infrastructure that would be felt for decades. But some administration supporters say that while they appreciate Obama’s intent, the two goals are competing with each other, and that the package could end up missing both targets…

"Such a long-term investment program should not be put together hastily and lumped in with the anti-recession package. The elements of the investment program must be carefully planned and will not create many jobs right away," said Rivlin, a fellow at the Brookings Institution. The risk, she said, is that "money will be wasted because the investment elements were not carefully crafted."

For some House Democrats, the problem is less a matter of balancing the short and long term than a shortage of focus and will on the part of the administration. Their disappointment centers on the relatively small amount devoted to long-lasting infrastructure investments in favor of spending on a long list of government programs. While each serves a purpose, the critics say, they add up to less than the sum of their parts, and fall far short of the transformative New Deal-like vision many of them had entertained…

Even though most House Democrats say they will back the plan, many reject the administration’s argument, saying that infrastructure projects could easily be expedited, that the economy will need additional infusions for years to come and that the real reason for shunning infrastructure was to make room for tax cuts. Obama, with a public mandate to do something big, is missing a rare opportunity to rebuild the country, they say…

Administration officials and defenders of the stimulus package say that the plan should be seen as just a start of Obama’s priorities, and that there will be chances to do more later, such as in the five-year transportation bill that will come before Congress this year.

"While many of the projects are a down payment on long-term goals, including energy policy reform, health-care reform and the expansion of infrastructure investment, the goal has never been to accomplish every legislative goal in one fell swoop," White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.

House members warn, though, that it will be hard to argue for ambitious undertakings after the stimulus package passes, and that Obama may never again have as good a chance as this to act boldly. "After this initial rush … a lot of people are going to begin to wonder about whether we’re pushing the limits of our borrowing capacity here, and I’m afraid that when it comes time to do more robust investment… it will be ‘pay as you go,’ " DeFazio said…