Obama's stimulus bill has passed in the House, with precisely zero Republican votes.
GOP congressmen has no immediate incentives to support the bill. The Limbaugh-fired base is screaming red murder about what they see as an outrageous expansion of government spending, and at some of the Dem pork that's packed around the edges. Congressmen also know that if it succeeds, Obama and the Dems will get the credit anyway.
The president's team won't be unduly worried by the lack of bipartisan support. If the bill comes to be seen as a failure the Republicans can play I-told-you-so. But then, if the bill comes to be seen as a failure Obama is screwed anyway. And in the meantime, he can suggest that the opposition is playing politics in America's hour of need. In the longer term, if the bill succeeds then the Republican Party's brand may come to be even more tarnished that it already is.
Next up: the Senate, where there's likely to be more play-nice.
If you needed any reminder of how much money is at stake here, it's more than the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan combined.
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