Do you support the economic stimulus bill?  Do you think it includes several items that will not stimulate the economy and are a waste of taxpayer dollars?  Well, maybe it's just because you're not patriotic.  Here's an excerpt from today's New York Times:

Mr. Obama called Ms. Collins and Mr. Specter, as well as Senator Olympia J. Snowe of Maine, another Republican expected to support the deal, to acknowledge they were acting against pressure from their party and, one official said, to thank them for their patriotism in helping advance the bill at a critical time.


     Barack Obama called Susan Collins, Arlen Specter, and Olympia Snowe to thank them for their patriotism.  To me, this implies that supporting the stimulus bill makes you patriotic, while opposing it makes you unpatriotic.  I don't think spending millions of dollars to build ATV trails will stimulate the economy.  I also think such massive spending is harmful and will set a dangerous precedent.  Does this mean I'm not patriotic?   

     I'm also assuming that Mr. Obama expects every member of Congress to rubber stamp every bill he supports, without proper consideration.  It seems to appear that way:

Earlier in the day, Mr. Obama urged Congress to act expeditiously. “It is inexcusable and irresponsible for any of us to get bogged down in distraction, delay or politics as usual while millions of Americans are being put out of work,” said Mr. Obama, who has recently shown less patience for Republican resistance to the bill.

      Yes, by all means, let's rush into spending nearly $1 trillion without questioning whether the expenditures will stimulate the economy, or whether the tax cuts are appropriate,  not to mention the bill's effect on our massive levels of debt.  By "distraction", I assume Mr. Obama is referring to questions about particular items in the stimulus bill.  I might be wrong, but I thought that reading and questioning bills was part of a legislator's job.  I wasn't aware that disagreements were a "distraction".  President Bush and Congress rushed into approving TARP, and look how well that is turning out.

     If there is any impediment to a bipartisan bill, it is Barack Obama himself.  If Congress didn't have such overwhelming majorities in the House and Senate, this bill would look much different.  He knew he would only need to pick off two or three Republicans, and that's just what he did.  Any attempt at bipartisanship on Barack Obama's part was simply for show.


http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/07/us/politics/07stimulus.html?hp