My gut says that freightraining an economic plan of this critical national importance and phenomenal size is ludicrous.
With a party that already has a majority, it doesn't make sense, unless one is afraid that improper resistance will build up, mostly due to lobby money. That is not a small concern:
The stimulus bill currently includes some $6 billion for infrastructure improvements designed to increase access to broadband Internet services. Currently, the bill conditions funds on adherence by the recipients to the principles of net neutrality, but the telecom companies who're salivating over the prospect of getting this money want those conditions out, and are lobbying hard to get that done as early in the process as possible -- their first crack at it coming in today's markup.
If you've got a problem with telecom companies using federal tax dollars to build a subsidized broadband infrastructure, and then turning around and slicing and dicing up services so that you'll have to pay a premium to access sites that haven't agreed to pay these telecom carriers extra to favor their stuff, then you need to let members of the Energy and Commerce committee know that ASAP.
[ed. note: Frankly, I'm not sure why someone isn't trying to cut cable access fees, as a means of 'stimulus'.]
But it is also a separate problem.
The need for public input is plain. Have the Congress applied a consistent set of principles to create a stimulus sufficient to the job, or have they simply cobbled together a bunch of disparate, incremental or "pet" ideas that may not do the work they are supposed to?
We also need to know how this spending is strategically timed. We need to know how it is going to reach those parts of the nation most in need. And before that, we need to know how it is going to dovetail with the 'Comprehensive Housing Solution', alluded to by the new Treasury Secretary.
On the latter point, one could support a nationalization of the banks, even, if that is what is required if changes in the bankruptcy code are done and the industry bands together to balk...
Finally, the long-term fiscal situation needs to be put into the balance, yes?
