A few days ago, Elizabeth Nolan Brown made a smart point about Obama’s decision to cut family planning funding from the stimulus package (I actually intended to comment on it, but didn’t have the time):
If reversing the Bush administration’s insistence that state Medicaid programs apply for contraception/family planning funding separate from overall funding is a worthwhile enough goal—and I think it is, for both the ideologically and the bureaucraticly offensive portions of this provision— than addressing it as an issue in its own right instead of trying to sneak it into the economic recovery bill just seems proper
As it turns out, it is a worthwhile goal for the Obama Administration, and according to the good folks at Talking Points Memo DC, “President Obama gave assurances that the family planning aid would be done soon — perhaps as soon as next week, when the House is set to take up a spending bill that would keep the government funded until October.”
Frankly, I wouldn’t be surprised this week’s “controversy” over birth control turned out to be a deliberate effort by the White House to discredit Republicans and box them in rhetorically. In all likelihood, Democratic leadership probably intended for the birth control portion of the stimulus to be removed; it’s a deliberate tactic to – in Mithras’ words – take away the Republicans’ “superficial, emotional hooks on non-core issues.” After all, it’s worth noting that in return for “sacrificing” birth control, Obama got virtually everything else he wanted in the stimulus bill.
At this point, I think it’s also worth noting that Obama is an incredibly skilled political actor. And more importantly, he is – on a whole host of issues – a reliable Democratic ally. While I hesitate to say that we should give Obama the benefit of the doubt, it is the case that Obama hasn’t tried to distance himself from liberals, or try some sort of “Sister Souljah” manuever. No, in his first two weeks as president, Obama has dutifully moved forward through liberal’s wishlist: he’s ended torture, began proceedings to close Gitmo, repealed the global gag rule, signed the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, and passed some pretty far reaching stimulus. Granted, this doesn’t make him immune to criticism (in fact, I fully expect him to screw up, or do something objectionable), but I do think that it might be worthwhile for liberals to take a “wait and see approach,” and pause a bit before jumping on Obama. Remember, this isn’t the 1990s and Obama isn’t Clinton. There is a chance – albeit a relatively small one – that we can trust this guy.
I agree with everything you said. We’ll see what happens.