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Conservative Democrats sour on spending
Two years ago, Kathy Dahlkemper,, a mother of five from Erie, Pa., won a seat in Congress on a pledge to do something about the national debt. Then she went to Washington -- and immediately voted to increase borrowing by nearly $1 trillion.Back home, Dahlkemper, a Democrat, has no trouble defending her support for the stimulus package, which economists say probably saved the nation from disaster. I've seen at least two other articles today with phrasing that's either identical to that "economists say probably saved the nation from disaster" or close enough to it that there's no difference. I didn't see the same phrasing yesterday or last week or last month. I'm guessing it just came out on the Dem talking points this morning. "I didn't think I could live with myself if we had gone into a depression," she said over iced Pepsi at the Eat'n Park diner. "We were on the right side of history with that vote." Now, however, the recession is over and people want the borrowing to stop. Although the jobless rate tops 10 percent in parts of this sprawling district of farmers and blue-collar workers north of Pittsburgh, Dahlkemper said there's no more sense of emergency about the economy. "The sense of emergency, at this point, is focused on the debt," she said. As President Obama presses for more spending to prevent a relapse into recession, Dahlkemper is one of dozens of moderate Democrats who are frustrating that effort, forcing Obama to downsize some proposals, pay for others and ditch some altogether. Although Obama blames Republicans for blocking legislation to extend emergency jobless benefits and other stimulus programs, conservatives in his own party were among the first to balk. Like Dahlkemper, many are new to Washington, part of a wave of more than 50 Democrats elected to Congress from conservative and swing districts since 2006. Swept into office on a tide of disillusionment with President George W. Bush, they have become ripe targets for by supporting Obama's economic policies, drawing criticism from Republicans who paint the president as a free-spending, big-government liberal out of touch with heartland values. Posted by: Fred 2010-07-21 |
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