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By Dylan Matthews
The Washington Post really knows how to screw up a pretty straightforward news piece, doesn't it?
House Democrats yesterday presented an $825 billion stimulus package that includes more government spending and less tax relief than President-elect Barack Obama had proposed, potentially weakening support among Republicans for a plan that congressional leaders hope to pass by mid-February.Emphasis mine. You've got to love the Post's questioning of the plan's political viability in the lede. More than being completely inappropriate in a news article, the political logic doesn't even make much sense. The Democrats have a 78-vote edge in the House, and will have a near filibuster-proof majority in the Senate once Franken's seated. Even if the Republicans mount a successful filibuster - which is doubtful, considering as they have Senators who want to be reelected come 2010 - Harry Reid could and would pass the stimulus anyway through the budget reconciliation process. The only way the bill will fail is if some substantial chunk of the Democratic caucus withdraws support. Given as the faction with the greatest risk of defection is the Harkin/Obey camp calling for a larger stimulus, the idea that a slight bump in the bill's sticker price will cause it to fail is laughable. As TAP's own Dean Baker would say, they're merging their editorial and news sections, and not even doing a very good job of it.
