Someone needs to remind the media that when Obama says he wants to change the tone in Washington and relieve some of the bickering, that doesn’t mean he’s going to change his own ideas about policy, and give the Republicans what they want just because they stamp their little feet.

He has said, clearly and more than once, that he wants ideas that will work. And he will make the judgment about what works based on his own criteria. The reason the Republicans don’t have a lot of input into this stimulus bill is that they have no good, workable ideas. The results of their thinking is right in front of us, played out over the past four years. It has been a tremendous, complete, failure.

I don’t think this bill is perfect – I’d like more emphasis on mass transit, for one thing – but I do believe it will be the best that can be had on such short notice. Perhaps the Republicans can control their urge to be obstructionist, though after what I’ve seen the past couple of years, I am not hopeful.