I'm for the basic stimulus plan, as heavily flawed as it is. I want to see a new energy grid, and a push toward sustainable energy sources and more fuel efficient cars.
But if I were a Republican member of congress, especially in the Senate, there's no way in hell I'd support the stimulus. I'd want to see Obama go down in flames. Country (and environment) be damned. After the New Deal pulled us out of the Depression, the Democrats remained in control of Congress for four decades. So if this ambitious and sweeping stimulus works, there's the chance that no sitting Republican member of congress will ever wield any power. Ever. No committee chairmanships, no speaker of the house, no majority leader, nothing. The lobbyists won't even kiss up to them and offer them free golfing trips to Scotland anymore. Most members of congress are power-hungry and ambitious. I don't mean this in a bad way. But they wouldn't get elected if they werent. At least Rush Limbaugh is intellectually honest about it.
That's why I can't figure out Republican senators Snowe and Collins from Maine. They're both essentially liberals. If they help the Democrats pass this bill, they might as well flush their chances at any leadership posts down the drain. But if they don't pass the bill (and Maine is hurting right now), they'll totally be acting against their liberal convictions. They might as well just become independents, caucus with the Democrats, and be done with it. They're popular enough (and Maine is turning liberal enough) that it won't hurt their reelections.
