11 Voted No...

Democrats, that is. In the House of Representatives, 11 Democrats joined all 177 of the Republicans in voting against HR 1, The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (the Stimulus package). The bill still passed, and it's likely to get bigger in the Senate, but that doesn't change the fact that opposition is the only thing that ends up being bipartisan. See the roll call vote here.

In addition, Rush Limbaugh turns out to be every bit as good at political theater as ever. Read his "Bipartisan Stimulus" plan, and then have a look at the interview he gave on CNBC. It's delightfully entertaining (as always), but also takes an interesting tactical (and perhaps instructive) approach.

Rush proposes in the editorial:

Fifty-three percent of American voters voted for Barack Obama; 46% voted for John McCain, and 1% voted for wackos. Give that 1% to President Obama. Let's say the vote was 54% to 46%. As a way to bring the country together and at the same time determine the most effective way to deal with recessions, under the Obama-Limbaugh Stimulus Plan of 2009: 54% of the $900 billion -- $486 billion -- will be spent on infrastructure and pork as defined by Mr. Obama and the Democrats; 46% -- $414 billion -- will be directed toward tax cuts, as determined by me.

Then we compare. We see which stimulus actually works. This is bipartisanship! It would satisfy the American people's wishes, as polls currently note; and it would also serve as a measurable test as to which approach best stimulates job growth.

The results of such a test would be much less measurable than Rush claims, I think, because if things continued to go badly, the tax-cut portion of the "stimulus" could always be blamed (and certainly would be, by some), while if it succeeded, the spending side could get the credit. Plus, we all know this is just too transparent and simple to have a chance of surviving even 10 seconds in Congress.

Leaving that aside, however, Rush's approach offers a glimpse of the kind of daring that a minority can leverage to its advantage. After all, when there's nothing to lose, why not use a 'both-and' proposal like this to conduct public relations and take some of the wind out of the "bi-partisan" sails Obama carefully rigged during the campaign? Genuinely bi-partisan governance involves a lot more than lofty and inspiring rhetoric hoisted up the mast; often, it involves a good bit of rowing.

Frankly, I'd like to see Obama break a little bit of a sweat on the galley bench. If he wants the support of Congressional Republicans, there are sacrifices he will have to make.

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