The OpenLeft community is well aware that of all the front page writers on our team, I have been the one most enthusiastic and hopeful about the incoming Obama administration. Of course, having a role in the transition for two months meant that I wasn't going to be criticizing Obamaland much regardless, but I really did come out of the experience still feeling pretty hopeful that some good things are afoot.
However, as positive as I am to the new regime, I see no downside for progressives, inside Congress and out, to push as hard as they can for the best possible economic recovery package. If Obama for whatever reason feels like he should bend too far to the Republicans on tax cuts, but Democrats in the House, along with Democrats and a couple of moderate Republicans in the Senate, can pass something better than what Obama proposes, I see no problem for any of us, including the Obama administration, in getting that done. It's not like Obama would veto a better bill, and putting pressure on Congress and the Administration from the left is nothing but helpful in getting the strongest possible thing passed.
There will be times when I will argue that now is not the time to criticize Obama, or push too hard from the left in fear that some good thing might be blown up (that old "perfect being the enemy of the good" argument). But for now, I think progressives should be united in pushing as hard as we can for an economic recovery bill with less Republican-inspired tax cuts and more spending on really important things. Keeping the pressure on for a better bill is a constructive way to make sure we get an economic recovery package that actually works to simulate the economy.
