Ben and Babs, please listen to us...

I sent versions of this to Maryland Senators Barbara Mikulski and Ben Cardin.

Re Stimulus Bill  [orig. sent to NPR’s Diane Rehm Show]

The panic being shown by [legislative] Democrats … is hurting their cause.  They are forcing this behemoth through and shutting down too much debate in the center.

The level of hostility and arrogance shown by leftist Dems is undermining support for the bill by the hour.

Many centrists want this bill broken up into at least two parts: relief (transfer payments) and reinvestment (infrastructure and other targeted spending).  These areas should be hammered out separately.

Giving this unprecendented [scale of] power and money to technocrats coupled with such little accountability and reform is a potential disaster in the making.

Thank you,

--[Name Withheld] in Silver Spring [Wheaton], Maryland

[Senator Mikulski et al., I have been a loyal Democrat all my life; I switched to unaffiliated / independent this January because I fear that “hope” and “change” [are] not translating into dialogue and reform under the current incarnation of the Democratic Party.  Please do not ignore your progressive centrist constituents.  There are more of us out there than you may think.]

The New Mandate: “Thou shalt OBEY”?

I was a dutiful registered Maryland Democrat until January. I still support many Democrats, particularly the ones that think for themselves and stand up to their own party machinery at the risk of being politically/socially exiled by their fellow party members.

As for the hypocrites and sell-outs, that’s another thing entirely. Right now I can only conclude that most leading Democratic incumbents are either drunk on their own power, in an all-out panic about the global economy, or both. The almost trillion-dollar “stimulus” package (full title: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009) is bewildering and massive, and the Dem leadership machinery seems insistent on ramming it through both chambers with a minimum of debate or compromise.

The full text is here on the HR website. Personally, if I want to read 647 pages of inscrutable text, give me Faulkner or Joyce instead. I think I need to look to independent academic / think tank types for insightful interpretation of this behemoth and its potential consequences.

How funny is it that Pelosi is co-sponsoring this bill with a Rep. “Obey” (D-Wisc.)?!