With the rollout comes the blowback. And with them both comes the presidential-sized challenge for the not-yet president.
It turns out you don’t have to look very hard to find the fault lines in President-elect Barack Obama’s bid for a massive stimulus bill. He tried to scare Congress into acting quickly on Thursday -- and more pressure is coming Friday and beyond -- but there’s still no measure to act on, or even the outlines of one. Now there may not be one for a while. For the moment, at least, he’s got more to worry about on his left than on his right. (And if leaving Howard Dean feeling snubbed helps sell the package -- please explain how that one works.) Democrats in Congress, it turns out, have gotten used to having their own ideas. With more questions being raised about billions and bailouts on Friday, it’s only going to get harder for the Obama sales team. “President-elect Barack Obama’s economic recovery plan ran into crossfire from his own party in Congress on Thursday, suggesting that quick passage of spending programs and tax cuts could require more time and negotiation than Democrats once hoped,” Peter Baker and David M. Herszenhorn report in The New York Times. “Further complicating the picture, Democratic senators said Thursday that they would try to attach legislation to the package that would allow bankruptcy courts to modify home loans, a move Republicans have opposed.” “But the broad support he has enjoyed so far for the basic concept is now being tested as the specifics become clearer,” Baker and Herszenhorn write. “It was a remarkable speech for someone who isn't president yet and hasn't revealed the details of his economic rescue plan,” ABC’s Jake Tapper reports. “The most pointed criticism of the plan came from Democrats who objected to Obama's plans to cut taxes for businesses and for middle class families.” http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2009/01/the-note-1909-o.html --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
