As was demonstrated by the use of this policy to withhold funds from United Nations Population Fund, in actuality the policy was used to penalize an organization which was falsely accused of being complicit in Chinese abortion policy, even when there was absolutely no evidence of such activity. And of course the insistence by some that “contraception is the equivalent of abortion” means that funds also could be withheld from organizations which prescribe hormonal pregnancy prevention in the form of birth control pills taken monthly or in the form of Plan B (thereby increasing unwanted pregnancies and the abortions consequent from them). This policy was rescinded under Clinton with no leap in abortion rates so why would doing the exact same thing be cavalier now?

That doesn’t require a time machine, only Republicans who have decided to make sure the public knows which soon-to-be discredited party and president owns this massive fraud.

I’m not sure which discredited party, or massive fraud you’re referring to. There have been so many lately, it’s kinda hard to tell.

“Your hypothesis would require a time machine.”

I hope it is a better machine than the one Harry Reid took when he declared the Iraq War lost.

The Democrats own this debacle, and will pay heavily come 2010 as the fraud and incompetence it represents leaks out. That doesn’t require a time machine, only Republicans who have decided to make sure the public knows which soon-to-be discredited party and president owns this massive fraud.

Time’s arrow is only one of their problems. They’re in denial. They don’t realize that they’ve just wet their pants and everyone sees the stain. They don’t realize how discredited they are. They don’t yet realize that the only person even pretending to listen to them is Barack Obama.

There’s spending, there’s pork, then there’s just plain foolishness.

It is terror in the eyes of the Democrats you’re seeing. They’re seeking Republican compliance NOT because the bill is good, but because they doubt their own ideas and they want bi-partisan cover, not for ‘if’ it fails, but when it fails to produce the result they claim it would.

This entire “Stimulus” premise is flawed. As if printing currency is going to grow an economy. If it was that simple, why not shave down gold coins like the Romans did and expect the same amount of coins to buy the same quantity of goods, which did not happen.

but all the propaganda in the world can’t make someone who is unemployed or underemployed not realize the stupid economic mistakes the Democrats are about to make caused it.

Your hypothesis would require a time machine.

This isn’t betting on failure. It is acknowledging this type of massive, discredited spending fails. This will be the Democrats’ economic Iraq.

If Obama wants to release his inner left-winger, let it rip. He has all the votes he needs in a Democratic Congress, and he should go fish there. The GOP isn’t biting, the public is starting to see this as the grand larceny it is and to remember why they kicked the Democrats to the curb in 1994.

I think I’ll stay with the GOP position. I know Obama wishes it would change, and not because he wants more Republicans in Congress and one in the White House in 2012.

Funny you should talk about pyrrhic victories.

Politics is only tangentially about reality, what matters politically is perception.

If you want to look at the odds, consider:

1) Recessions eventually end.
2) It is highly likely that this recession will end within Obama’s first term.
3) Presidents get credit for what happens with the economy.
4) Action usually trumps inaction.

So, assuming a turn-around within the next four years, and knowing that the public will credit whatever action was aimed at effecting the turn-around, how do you see this working for the GOP?

The GOP is in the position of betting on America’s failure. The GOP doesn’t “win” unless the economy stays in the crapper — in which case the GOP will be blamed for causing it to begin with, and the Democrats will only be blamed for failing to end it.

And think about this: Obama’s rhetoric has been pretty moderate so far. It need not remain that way. If he concludes that the GOP is playing a purely partisan role he’ll be free to turn the big rhetorical guns on you and ratchet up the blame game. You have no one on your side capable of countering effectively. You haven’t been re-Hooverized yet, but you could be.