Those Who Do Not Remember Bad FDR Policies....

An interesting drama is playing out in Washington, DC. It started two and a half weeks ago when Obama was inaugurated and is heading toward the climax as we speak. In this play, we've seen a beaten group--the GOP--rise up and assert their collective power against an overwhelming majority led by a man who rode into the White House on the crest of an enormous wave.

It started in the House of Representatives where the GOP formed a cohesive union and voted en banc to not support a bill that is rife with pork and hand-outs to Democrat-supporting groups. The bill still passed but the GOP base became emboldened by the stand even though it was in a losing cause. The stand called into question once again the Speaker of the House and her lack of leadership and turned her into an incoherent Chicken Little.

We also saw a sitting president attack a civilian radio talk show host by name and has galvanized his supporters and brought him new ones. Obama's attack on Rush Limbaugh--just as Sen. Reid's attack previously resulted in making both elected officials look petty and far from statesman-like.

Now we approach the climactic final scene where Majority Leader Reid in the Senate is determined to push through essentially the same bill and we are now seeing Democrats defect. Add to that the fact that the public is paying more attention to this bill than most and you have the perfect storm of anti-wasteful spending coming together. Support has nose-dived and the new president looks unsure of himself.

Now comes a report by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office that shows the "stimulus" bill will not be the medicine the economy needs and will in fact make things worse:

President Obama's economic recovery package will actually hurt the economy more in the long run than if he were to do nothing, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said Wednesday.

CBO, the official scorekeepers for legislation, said the House and Senate bills will help in the short term but result in so much government debt that within a few years they would crowd out private investment, actually leading to a lower Gross Domestic Product over the next 10 years than if the government had done nothing.

CBO estimates that by 2019 the Senate legislation would reduce GDP by 0.1 percent to 0.3 percent on net. [The House bill] would have similar long-run effects, CBO said in a letter to Sen. Judd Gregg, New Hampshire Republican, who was tapped by Mr. Obama on Tuesday to be Commerce Secretary.

The people of the US have a major stake in this. As one in the business world, I have watched great hope and expectation about this legislation turn to despair as people realize exactly what's in it and what's not. The idea of providing infrastructure stimulus had given way to money for birth control, the NEA, ACORN, dog parks and other ridiculous funding requests.

Furthermore, the liberal media has actually hurt themselves severely in this case by not properly vetting Obama and getting him ready to defend his actions. He's on his heels and it's not reassuring to the average American citizen who's paying even an iota of attention. The MSM has been nearly relegated to the sidelines as people like Rush, Glenn Beck and the right-wing blogosphere have hammered the message home that this bill is horrid. In fact, the MSM is actually attacking the Obama administration on a daily basis as they flounder about in a brave new world of lost messages, dirty nominees and infighting.

So who will win and who will lose? Tough to say but this is an important time for the Republic. I'm of a mind that we will recover without doing anything, yet a bill will be passed. The key question is what will be in it. So to answer the question: Obama has been weakened faster than any incoming president in history; The GOP minority has found strength in unity and conservatism and Dem congressional leadership has been shown to be inept at best. If things continue as they are it will be a GOP win and a win for America, should the Dems gain back the momentum, the nation will suffer.