Public Wants Compromise, Not Shutdown

Bloomberg poll: Public wants compromise, not shutdown (and cut the military, not Medicare)

by DemFromCT for Daily Kos

Wed Mar 09, 2011 at 10:00 AM EST

A new national Bloomberg poll conducted by the respected pollster J. Ann Selzer has some bad news for Republicans:

Don’t shut down the federal government or slash spending on popular programs.Almost 8 in 10 people say Republicans and Democrats should reach a compromise on a plan to reduce the federal budget deficit to keep the government running, a Bloomberg National Poll shows. At the same time, lopsided margins oppose cuts to Medicare, education, environmental protection, medical research and community-renewal programs.

MORE HERE

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Obama Team And Congress Working On Stimulus Bill To Lift Economy

Obama team, Congress fleshing out stimulus bill

By ANDREW TAYLOR
Associated Press Writer

Dec 19, 7:56 PM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Barack Obama’s team and congressional staff are scrambling to come up with details of a plan to pump up the droopy economy with $650 billion or more in government spending over the next few years.

The aides met in the basement of the Capitol on Friday to devise ways to pump public money into science, energy, education, health care and infrastructure programs, as well as to help the poor and unemployed.

They hope unleashing a torrent of spending in the near term will create jobs and lift the economy.

But the amounts of money under consideration are so enormous – larger than either the Pentagon’s annual budget or the entire domestic budget passed each year by Congress – that it’s likely to prove challenging to spend so much without wasting taxpayer dollars.

Obama and his Democratic allies in Congress want to enact the still-emerging plan as soon as possible after he takes office on Jan. 20. They hope to agree on an outline by Christmas, said a House Democratic leadership aide, who requested anonymity to discuss the ongoing talks.

The plan, which some Obama aides think could swell to about $850 billion after negotiations with Congress, would be the largest investment in public infrastructure since the federal highway system was established in the 1950s. It also would provide tens of billions in dollars of aid to financially strapped states.

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