Getting the Ball Rolling

Without question the biggest challenge facing the new president is somehow trying to fix the economy. President Barack Obama (that sounds a little weird doesn't it?) and his Treasury team have recently laid out an $825 billion stimulus package. While most liberals and those with common sense have praised it or at least agreed to the idea, Republican leaders have raised numerous objections. Linking it to socialism or just too costly, GOP leaders in both houses of Congress have refused to support it and have spoken out against. I could go into an economic lesson as to why they are wrong, but Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman gives a much better lesson than I could (click here to read it).

Anyways, if the Republicans think they are doing there jobs by working tirelessly to stop this proposal, this belief deserves to be looked into. GOP members in Congress may represent conservative districts, but a member of Congress is not purely a delegate from wherever they were elected. The actions of those in Congress affect everyone in the country and therefore, it is important that those in Congress don't just vote purely based on their constituency. In the last election the voters declared that they were not only upset over how the country was being run, but that the party out of power for eight years deserved a shot at running things. Now that they have this chance, the Republicans should not go against the will not only its people, but what the party that isn't responsible for a laundry list of mistakes and mishandlings to have a shot.

The Democrats and President Obama should hardly pay attention to their Republican colleagues if all the GOP seeks to do is stop the Democrats whenever possible. The fact is the Democrats have nearly 60 Senators, a big majority in the House and a President who got nearly twice as much electoral votes as his opponent. The Republican time of rule is over, for now at least, and the Republican members of Congress owe it to their constituents, themselves and the entire country to give the Democrats their day. And that's the truth.