Billion here, Billion there

The House passed the massive economic "stimulus" package by a party line vote. Congratulations to the President and Speaker for getting their package passed and congratulations to the Republicans for finding their spine again.
Not a single Republican voted for the package. Good. The only thing this package seems designed to stimulate is the printing presses at the national mint. Money for contraceptives, money for sod for the National Mall, money for the "arts". This bill became a giant liberal Christmas stocking. Credit the President for trying to knock a few things out of it, but condemn the Speaker of the House for allowing her caucus to turn this into good old fashioned pork barrel spending.
When the bill comes back from the Senate it will look a little better, but Republicans should still vote against it. This bill represents the philosophical divide between the parties: who is better positioned to improve people's lives and the economy, the people or the government? Speaker Pelosi and the President clearly feel it is the government. Republicans may have actually remembered that it is the people.
The national media is lamenting the lack of bipartisanship on the part of the Republicans. Yes, the President went to Capitol Hill and sat with House Republicans to discuss it. He gets credit for reaching out, but bipartisanship does not have to mean selling out.
Republicans risked being co opted by this bill. As we learned from Medicare prescription drugs, when Republicans support big government programs that are only a little less big than what the Democrats want, the distinction between the parties ceases to exist. In the public's mind, if both parties are promising the goodies, why not go with the party that promises more?
So on the stimulus the Republicans finally drew the line on spending. Where were they when $700 billion was appropriated for the banks and Wall Street? Fair question. The Republican Party still has a lot of work to do to get its mojo back as the anti big government, anti drunken sailor spending party, but yesterday's House vote was a first step.
Bipartisanship can exist without a compromise of principles. The President and House Republicans sat down together in a respectful way. Some have whined because the President said "I won" when confronted with Republican opposition. You know what? He did. At this point he does not have to compromise his principles for Republican votes and Republicans should not compromise theirs just to be on the side of a new President. The Democrats won. This stimulus is their baby.
In this debate however, we may have sown the seeds of the revival of the Republican Party. As people start to see where all of this spending is going and how little of it is going to make a difference in their lives, their is going to be a backlash. If the economy does not pick up and pick up fast, then the President is going to be held accountable. House Republicans were right to stay away.