Presidents Day May Never Have Been So Important

Today is Presidents Day and although it's not the birthday of any president that I know of, President Barack Obama (born Aug. 4, 1961) certainly received a nice present from Congress.

Lawmakers late Friday night tied the bow on a $787 billion, 1,071-page stimulus bill that was supported by no Republican House members and only 3 GOP senators.

Maybe they were wary in the wake of the $350 billion bank bailout pushed through in the final days of the Bush administration. That money has apparently evaporated without leaving so much as a drop on the troubled mortgage-holders it was designed to help.

In any case it was a big win for the neophyte Obama presidency and represents a pretty big risk for the minority party. If the bill works as Democrats say, it will save or create 3.5 million jobs and restart the stalled economy. That would leave minority leader John Boehner and the GOP looking like petulant obstructionists.

But if the bill turns out to be good money after bad and the slide continues or, heaven forbid, worsens, Republicans will go into mid-term elections in 2010 with the political life raft they need to rescue their flagging fortunes.

That's the political reality of Washington -- even when they all agree that something needs to be done they can't seem to separate themselves from partisan posturing. That goes for both parties.

According to Sen. Patrick Leahy's office, Vermont will receive:

$130 million for infrastructure repair;

$60 million in education funding;

more than $100 million to preserve public safety, education and other government programs;

$250 million over two years to help address the Medicaid shortfall;

$190 million in operating loans to farmers;

Page=002 Column=002 OK,0003.00 more than $34 million in food stamp services;

$56 million for environmental safety and weatherization programs;

$11 million for law enforcement and more.

Is this what Vermont needs to ease the crisis of mounting job losses? Or will it simply defer tough budget-cutting choices for the Vermont Legislature?

I certainly hope the Republicans are wrong and this is not another pork-packed, business-as-usual Capitol Hill exercise in self-interest. Your job, my job and your neighbors' jobs are riding on the success of this historic measure.

by Tom Brown for the Burlington Free Press