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Obama and McCain Back at It, Over Stimulus

'Season of cooperation' short-lived as Mac rips 'comical' spending bill

By Gabriel Winant,  Newser User

Posted Feb 4, 2009 12:07 PM CST

(Newser) – How to spend hundreds of billions of dollars has a way of opening up old rivalries, the Washington Times reports, with John McCain—who recently pledged to cooperate with President Obama—spearheading the Senate effort to rewrite the stimulus package. “I cannot and do not support the package on the table from the Democrats and the Obama Administration,” McCain wrote to his email list yesterday.

McCain is leading conservative senators seeking to halve the size of the stimulus package, the Financial Times adds, and accusing Democrats of “trying to jam” their bill to passage. Displeased with money going to the Smithsonian and the National Endowment for the Arts, McCain says, “It would be comical if this weren’t such a serious issue.”

Sen John McCain, R-Ariz., right, talks with Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., as they arrive at the US Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2009 for the inauguration.
Sen John McCain, R-Ariz., right, talks with Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., as they arrive at the US Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2009 for the inauguration.   (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)
President Barack Obama greets his former opponent, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., as Cindy McCain looks on.
President Barack Obama greets his former opponent, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., as Cindy McCain looks on.   (AP Photo)
President-elect Barack Obama says goodbye to Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., at a dinner in Washington, Jan. 19, 2009.
President-elect Barack Obama says goodbye to Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., at a dinner in Washington, Jan. 19, 2009.   (AP Photo)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 5 comments
Guest
Feb 5, 2009 3:06 AM CST
Plus wasnt McCain the one that said that the 'fundamentals of our economy' are fine two days before Lehemann went down and the economy started spiraling downwards? Why would ANYONE listen to what he has to say about the economy?
cornelison
Feb 4, 2009 1:53 AM CST
President Obama seems to be the only one who wants Congress to work together. It's obvious that he is ahead of his time. The only thing I hear and read filtered to us is from the Republicans and they can't be trusted. Their arrogance is beyond belief. The House hasn't helped the President either. The problem is NOT Pres. Obama and his leadership style, it's the LACK of a bipartisan effort in Congress.
Snowleopard
Feb 4, 2009 1:07 AM CST
Here's a break down of what's actually in the bill. To me it doesn't seem unreasonable: http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/15/stimulus-pie-chart/ As far as the size goes, a lot of economists think that it is way to small. I'd rather take their advice than McCains, since he admitted that he doesn't know much about economics.
 

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