Being in government proves at least as difficult as the kill-joys had imagined. I'll just highlight a few of the stumbling blocks over which the Obama adminsitration has ... well, stumbled.
1. The failed/failing bi-partisan approach
One of the mishaps that attracted the new administration the most flak from the liberal (left-wing media) such as MSNBC is the governement's failure to attract a single House Republican vote on the "stimulus package". Actually, what Rachel Meadow was most upset about was that : the Democrats didn't need Republican votes to pass the bill but that, because of his commitment to bi-partisanship, the president tried to get political opponents on board by making compromises (including a significant tax cut into the bill for instance). However, this proved completely useless, since in the end, and after meeting with Obama in person, not a single Republican voted for the president's bill. Left-wing commentators consider that Obama changed the proposed package for the worse and to no political avail.
The bill went to the Senate and was voted, with three Republicans voting with the Dems.
On the bi-partisan front, another problem has arisen : Judd Gregg, the Republican nominee for Commerce Secretary (after B. Richardson withdrew) backed out probably for several reasons ( fear of political backlash from his party, and officially because of a disagreement over the Census methods - NB: keep in mind how important the Census is for redistricting and other political vote related shenenigans).
2. The unpaid-tax stumbling block.
The administration has also been running into difficulties as it tried to get certain nominees confirmed. Some have had to drop their nomination; the most spectacular case is Tom Daschle's withdrawing as Health Secretary nominee due to unpaid taxes amounting to $140,000. Only a few hours earlier, Nancy Killefer (considered for the position of deputy for management at the Office of Management and Budget + as chief White House officer for contolling spending) withdrew as well on similar but much smaller grounds.
Meanwhile, Tim Geithner, the administration choice for Treasury Secretary is having problems nailing the nomination in the Senate with.... tax issues : he didn't pay $34,000 in tax and there is a slight legal mixup about the status of his foreign housekeeper.
Geithner was employed in the Treasury and earlier for the IMF, he presented the Bush financial bail-out in September and thus stands for continuity rather than change.
So far : 2 major screw ups in the vetting process for nominees : B. Richardson and T. Dashle.
3. What about substance?
I'll just address a question that might interest you : why is there such a fuss over the "stimulus package", although apparently all agree that stimulus is needed.
So what's wrong?
The Republicans vocally denounce a bill that they consider to be not a stimulus package but a spending bill with a slant in favour of "social engineering", what they mean by that is that the President would be using spending programs to advance leftist political agendas (such as abortion rights or the welfare handouts). A good example of this type of discourse is Bill O Reilly who has a radio and a TV show on Fox News.
It is true that there are some major spending items in the stimulus bill, many commentators think that perhaps this was not the best way to get the stimulus package through but probably efficient in getting spending on clean energy, long term investment ( such as the debated provision for broadband internet) and endowment for the arts (always controversial, see The West Wing season 3, episode 7 : Gone Quiet).
On the left, many doubt that the tax cuts included in the package will be useful to stimulate the economy. And as always, I think that this is the politically most contreversial point : listen to the point of view of many non-Republicans on NPR's website.
Next, I think I'll be discussing President Lincoln and the way his example and legacy is being used by both sides. Any thoughts on that?
