Speed of Stimulus Most Important Factor

While economists remain divided on the role of government generally, an overwhelming number from both parties are saying that a government stimulus package -- even a flawed one -- is urgently needed to help prevent a steeper slide in the economy.

Many economists say the precise size and shape of the package developing in Congress matter less than the timing, and that any delay is damaging.
Economists Agree: Speed Matters More Than Size or Shape, Washinton Post, 02/08/08

On Face The Nation Sunday morning, Senator John McCain seemed to object to passage of the stimulus passage because its not bipartisan.

What rationale is that for rallying opposition to economic recovery? Republicans refuse to vote for the bill, and then object that it's a partisan solution? If Republicans supported economic recovery -- something they failed to do during the Bush years, it seems the least they could do at this point is to try to work with the new Administration to turn the economic disaster around.

I have been in bipartisan agreements, many. This [bill] is three Republican senators. Every Republican congressman voted against it in the House, plus eleven Democrats, and all but three Republicans stayed together [in opposition] on this. That's not bipartisanship; that’s just picking off a couple of Senators."

Republicans trotted out the one or two Democrats who supported their plans in recent years and loudly trumpeted the claim that the deal was bipartisan. Now that Democrats are doing the same with the three Republican Senators who have joined Democrats in supporting the stimulus package, McCain has a different definition for bipartisan.

McCain has done nothing but remind us how right the people were to elect President Obama.

He was a poor campaigner, and he now shows us how poorly he will lead the Republicans in the Senate.

If Republicans refuse to cooperate with President Obama and Democrats in the Senate and the House, there will never be bipartisan cooperation. If Republicans think that somehow enhances their standing in the eyes of the voters, I think they've made a terrible mistake.

Republicans should rethink their position. Action is needed now. To do anything other would be a terrible mistake, and one that Republicans will live to regret.