Do nothings

One doesn't have to be particularly politically astute, nor am I likely the first to come to the conclusion, but it's obvious that there is absolutely no upside for most GOP members of the House to support the stimulus bill. Congress hasn't been very popular with voters in recent years. Democrats now control Congress. People want Congress to do something about the economy. Congress is doing something. If Congress's popularity improves, Democrats' hold on Congress will grow stronger and Obama's popularity will rise or, at least, stay very high.

So it is no surprise that Republicans were everywhere yesterday, making very silly arguments opposing the stimulus bill.

By extension, there's no upside for Republicans if the various levers of the stimulus bills actually work and the economy improves while they are a minority. In fact, if the economy improves Democrats will be the solid majority party for a very long time to come, just as they were following the Great Depression. To wit:

Altogether, the economic recovery bill would speed $127 billion over the next two and a half years to individuals and states for health care alone, a fact that has Republicans fuming that the stimulus package is a back door to universal health coverage.

“It’s raining money,” said Representative Michael C. Burgess, Republican of Texas.

Universal health care would pretty much seal the deal.

For Republicans, failure is not just an option, it's the only option.

And for all of President Obama's gracious trips to the Hill to meet with Republicans on their turf, he, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid understand this.