The Blog

The Stimulus

6:35 AM, Dec 1, 2008 • By MATTHEW CONTINETTI
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Robert J. Samuelson on the many economic challenges facing Obama:

The temptation will be to press ahead with a 'bold' legislative agenda - to ape the New Deal. This would be a mistake. The psychology of bruising legislative battles will not bolster confidence. The country does need to face its health and energy problems as well as deficit-ridden federal budgets. But trying to do too much too soon risks doing none of it well. We - and he - are caught up in a web of contradictions. In the long run, we need to discipline our appetite for health care and energy; we need to reconcile our desire for government benefits and our willingness to be taxed. But Obama's first job is to avert an economic freefall.

Samuelson is right (as usual). But he provoked a raised eyebrow when he mentioned "bruising legislative battles." Two factors - Obama's honeymoon and the decrepit state of the congressional GOP - suggest that there won't be a "legislative battle" over Obama's stimulus plan next year. For the GOP to oppose Obama so early on in his presidency, at a moment of national economic crisis, would further degrade the public's impression of the party. Not that this would stop the GOP, of course.

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