Despite the criticisms and "rifts", Obama stimulus bill amazingly on schedule

Barack Obama is actually committed to an open and constructive dialog with Congress, including the Republicans. It is only natural that such an open dialog would lead to criticisms and even disputes, and that the media will gleefully label even the most minor of molehills with such impressive terms as "rifts." The goal of the stimulus bill was never to be something crafted only by the White House and shoved down the throats of members of Congress. Maybe the perception problem is that the media acted during the campaign as if Barack was being elected as a god ("The One") and is now acting confused when he insists on practicing his consummate community organizing skills in Washington. Barack is right on track. The media is behind the curve, obsessing on its own misguided narratives. Meanwhile, Barack and his economic team have presented Congress with a credible starting point, met with the various constituencies in Congress, gotten plenty of frank and constructive feedback, and is already at work modifying their proposal. And all of this is in a single week and Barack is not even in charge yet. That is amazing progress, but you would not know it from the media coverage.

Seeing where the discussions were at the end of this week, it is still very possible that a completed bill could be passed and signed by the end of the month.

Barack and his team and Congress still have all of next week, parts of inauguration week, and the entire following week to pull it all together. That is a dog's age in Barack Obama community organizing time. The media refuses to acknowledge that reality, but they may begin to catch on in a few weeks.

This is by all means a real test of Barack's abilities and organizing skills, but I strongly suspect that he really is up to the challenge.

-- Jack Krupansky