The Stimulus Bill having passed both Houses of Congress and signed into law, now may be the time to turn from discussing the content of the bill. Instead, try looking at the Bill from the standpoint of a neutral observer with an eye to what the Bill will mean to the two major parties for the elections in November 2010.

From the neutral point of view, Republicans rolled the dice with none of their members voting for the package in the House and only 3 in the Senate. Republicans are betting (hoping) one of two things will happen. One, the bill will be inadequate to the task. The economy will continue to spiral downward. Republicans will then be able to say, "We told you so. You should have listened to us."

Or, two, the bill will be barely adequate to the task, but the pain will be so great the short term memories and other prejudices of the American voter can be exploited in an attempt to return Republicans to majority status. The message Republicans will use is, "Yes, the proposal worked, but just barely. If you had listened to us, then the recovery would have come faster and you would not have suffered nearly as much."

As a result of adopting this strategy, Republicans clung to the principles of their old philosophy. This is the same philosophy causing the difficulties, but the undiscerning wouldn’t know that to listen to Republicans. Observers heard no mea culpa from Republicans, only a repetition of their greatest hits.

A third thing could also happen, but Republicans are betting against this. The third thing is the Stimulus Bill will be wildly successful. Should this happen, Democrats will be clear winners. The Democratic message in 2010 will be, "We could have done even better if we hadn’t had to waste time accommodating Republicans in 2009. Won’t you give us even stronger majorities by sending more Democrats to Congress in 2011?"

If the Stimulus Bill has been barely adequate. . .

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