To the Editor:
Re “The Stimulus Advances” (editorial, Jan. 29):
There was not one single Republican vote for the stimulus package as conceived by President Obama. The Republicans voted on an ideological basis, with no thought for those who need help the most. This is not new for them.
One might have thought that they learned something from the election, but they haven’t. They might also want Mr. Obama to fail, which means America fails, with them included in the sinking ship.
They were presented with a stimulus package that did the most for those who needed it the most, but it is not the poor and middle class they want to help. At least they are consistent in their misunderstanding of the present situation and of the American people.
Stanley R. Bermann
Santa Fe, N.M., Jan. 29, 2009
Note from KBJ: I don't get it. The vote was almost perfectly partisan, with 244 of 255 Democrats (95.6%) voting in favor of the bill and all 177 Republicans voting against it. So why are only Republicans "ideological"? This letter typifies the progressive mindset. Progressives believe that benevolence is all that matters. Since Democrats are trying to do good (leave aside whether they are doing good), they're in the right. No other questions need be asked. Republicans are trying to do good, too, but they care about means as well as ends. (They reject the proposition that the end justifies the means. They believe that certain means are impermissible, no matter how good the end.) Republicans appear to understand, in a way that Democrats do not, that benevolence is only one virtue among many. Another important virtue (maybe the most important virtue) is justice, which consists in giving each person his or her due. By this measure, the bill is fundamentally unjust.
Note 2 from KBJ: Did you notice the letter writer's suggestion that Republicans "want Mr. Obama to fail"? How awful! Thank goodness no Democrat ever wanted President Bush to fail.
