The rules in this new “post-partisan†era are pretty simple: If the Democratic party wants it, it’s “stimulus.†If the Republican party opposes it, it’s “politicsâ€â€”as in headlines like this: “Obama Urges GOP To Keep Politics To A Minimum On Stimulus.†These are serious times: As the president says, it’s the worst economic crisis since the Thirties. So politicians need to put politics behind them and immediately lavish $4.19 billion on his community-organizing pals at the highly inventive “voter registration†group ACORN for “neighborhood stabilization activities.â€Posted by dan at February 2, 2009 3:44 PM“Neighborhood stabilization activities.†That sounds like a line item from the Baath-party budget when Saddam sends the lads in to gas the Kurds. What does it mean in a non-totalitarian sense? Do you need a federally subsidized condom to do it? If so, will a pathetic $4.19 billion be enough?
“Stimulus†comes from the verb stimulare, which is Latin for “transfer massive sums of money from what remains of the dynamic sector of the economy to the special interests of the Democratic party.†No, hang on, my mistake. Stimulare means “to goad.†And, on that front, the Democrats are doing an excellent job. They’ve managed to goad 58 percent of the American people into opposing the “stimulus†package. They’ve managed to goad all 177 Republicans in the House into unpacking their mothballed cojones and voting against the bill. And they’ve managed to goad the rest of the world into ending the Obama honeymoon in nothing flat. Headline from the London Daily Telegraph: “US-EU Trade War Looms As Barack Obama Bill Urges ‘Buy American.’ â€