The Loyal Opposition

By The Editors

On January 20, a newly minted President Barack Obama declared an end to partisanship, for the time had come “to set aside childish things.” Not even a month has passed, and the glow of his proclamation has faded. For those of you keeping score at home: Remember that the Democrats are the prime landlords on the Hill; and Obama still faults the Republicans for the wrangling. But with him lies the blame. He may say “bipartisanship,” but Obama has shown over the past few weeks that what he really means is “conformity.”

Obama has punctuated his talk of bipartisanship with zingers aimed at his predecessor. While he thanked President George W. Bush for the former president’s service in his inaugural, Obama also rejected “as false the choice between our safety and our ideals” and announced to the world “that we are ready to lead once more,” obviously intended as an attack on Bush’s record. When asked by the New York Times about some Bush advisers who were offended by the inaugural, White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel replied: “If they didn’t know that was the judgment of people, then their subscription to the newspapers were canceled over the last three years.” And during Obama’s first conference with Congressional leaders, he reminded Republicans of their irrelevance, asserting, “I won.” 

Such hubris is common among new administrations, but Obama went through the motions to curry favor with the opposition. To show his goodwill, Obama schmoozed with Republicans on Capitol Hill in late January. He hosted a “happy hour” for moderate Republicans and Democrats at the White House. But this was hardly the tonic they needed since all 177 Republicans and 11 Democrats voted against his stimulus package when it came to a vote in the House of Representatives. 

The Crimson editorial board bemoaned Republicans’ resistance remarking: “After weeks of debate and compromise, and a meeting between Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and 11 House Republicans, several Republican demands were met, including removal of provisions for family planning and National Mall improvements.” Indeed, Democrats nationwide squawked that Obama included a few dreaded tax cuts to appease Republicans.

The tax cuts were hardly a concession. Republicans suggested cutting our corporate tax rate—the second highest among industrialized countries—and lowering the bottom two federal income tax rates from 15 and 10 percent to 10 and 5 percent respectively. Obama’s package, on the other hand, offered $500 rebates to workers, even if they do not earn enough money to pay federal income taxes. The president seems to be fulfilling his campaign pledge to cut taxes for 95 percent of Americans—and soak the rich. Not much bipartisanship there.

As for the spending cuts: the Democrats nixed the funding for “family planning” and National Mall grass seed because they were embarrassing, not because they wanted to cuddle up to Republicans. Asked by George Stephanopoulos to explain how funding for abortion clinics constituted stimulus, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi choked on her words: “Well, the family planning services reduce cost. They reduce cost. The states are in terrible fiscal budget crises now and part of what we do for children’s health…[is] to help states meet their financial needs…the contraception will reduce costs to states.” Republicans wanted to reduce costs by cutting out spending; Democrats wanted to reduce costs by cutting out people.

Still, liberals and moderates are scolding Republicans for not being more accommodating. But the Republicans are finally doing their job: For the first time in eight years, they are acting like the fiscal watchdogs they claimed to be. Rather than show the same restraint, the Democrats are trying to ram unbridled spending down the opposition’s throats. To stifle debate, Obama urged Congress to pass his package as soon as possible to avoid economic disaster. As Republican began revealing the spending items included in the package—such as $50 million for the National Endowment of the Arts—Obama lost his temper. In front of a crowd of Democrats, Obama slammed Republicans’ complaint that his was a spending package, not a stimulus package: “What do you think a stimulus is? That’s the whole point. No, seriously, that’s the point.”

Already the banner on hope and change is beginning to fray; Republicans should stand firm. Since the public learned more about stimulus package, its support has fallen from 63 percent in January to 51 percent early this month, according to a recent CBS poll. Obama and the Democrats have so far been unwilling to compromise, and seem to be sowing the seeds of failure. They don’t need Republican cooperation for that.