Republicans Just Say No to Obama

By Daniel Politi
Posted Thursday, Jan. 29, 2009, at 6:27 AM ET
The House approved the $819 billion stimulus package, but President Obama's efforts to bring Republicans to his side didn't pay off. The bill passed without a single Republican vote, and 11 Democrats also opposed the measure. The Los Angeles Times declares that the package is "the largest attempt since World War II to use the federal budget to redirect the course of the nation's economy." The Washington Post specifies that the price tag is larger "than the combined total cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan so far," and the Wall Street Journal points out the cost of the bill is "almost equal to the entire cost of annual federal spending under Congress's discretion."

The New York Times notes that the lack of Republican support for the bill "seemed to echo the early months of the last Democratic administration, when President Bill Clinton in 1993 had to rely solely on Democrats to win passage of a deficit-reduction bill that was a signature element of his presidency." But USA Today says that "Obama's chance of winning GOP Senate votes next week is better." Indeed, Obama suggested that he will welcome changes to the bill in the Senate that might attract more support from Republicans. And a few Republicans hinted that they might support the final version of the bill if some changes are implemented in the Senate, suggesting the unanimous voting was a tactic to get Democrats to pay attention to their demands.
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