No Stimulus Petition

Today hot search in the internet are for Americans for Prosperity and No Stimulus Petition, which links you to the anti-Obama stimulus package movement and an online petition. Evidence enough that Barack Obama faces an uphill battle for the hearts and minds, as his White House has allowed the anti-stimulus package forces to define the legislation and the terms of battle. Classic framing theory, and surprising to see just how rookie the Obama Administration handled it.

The economic stimulus package working its way through the Senate has sparked strong reactions, and if Web traffic is any indication the backlash against the plan is sizeable.

One reason is likely that he won’t/can’t stand up publicly to the self-destructive House Democrats. Sure, less than 1 percent of the House bill was really pork. But it was pork that was indefensible, and at a total tab of more than 800 billion, it was pork that individually ran into the tens of millions of dollars.

Out in Real America, that kind of cash is still big money and can’t be p’shawed away so easily. For the past week, my email inbox has been stuffed with pointed, funny and (mostly) successful anti-stimulus propaganda: The Libertarian Party, “America’s third largest party tonight urged Senate Republicans and Democrats to scrap plans their joint plans for a $780 billion package of wealth transfers and expanded government spending;” the National Black Republicans, “The fierce urgency of pork;” and the new House Republican plan website that “details the smarter, simpler stimulus plan proposed by House Republicans that will create twice the jobs at half the price “

Americans for Prosperity, a right-wing political advocacy group, has started a petition against the stimulus bill. Both the Web site of the group and its petition site nostimulus.com have been overwhelmed by traffic and are currently unavailable.

The Americans for Prosperity group is objecting to the stimulus plan as an excuse for excessive government spending. “Congress should not enact an expensive spending bill under the pretense of stimulus or recovery. We cannot spend our way to prosperity, and such an expansion of the federal government will put a crushing burden on taxpayers in the long-term,” the petition states. The petition is similar to one backed by Sen. John McCain. That petition still is up and running, but doesn’t list the names or number of people who have signed.

Recent polls from Rasmussen , Gallup and Pew Rezearch show a nation divided by the stimulus package. In the Gallup poll, 51% of respondent said the economic stimulus was critically important. Meanwhile, Rasmussen finds that 44% of people agree with President Obama’s statement: “If we do not move swiftly to pass the stimulus package in Congress, an economy that is already in crisis will be faced with catastrophe,” while 41% disagree.

In Pew Research polling from Feb. 4-8, 51% of Americans who have heard about the $800 billion plan said it is a good idea, while 34% said it is a bad idea. That compares to 57% support and 22% opposition last month.

The backlash has prompted President Barack Obama to make a campaign-style pitch for the package. “We can’t afford to wait. We can’t wait to see and hope for the best,” Mr. Obama said during a town-hall meeting in Elkhart, Ind. “We can’t posture and bicker and resort to the same failed ideas that got us in into this mess in the first place.” He also plans a prime-time press conference tonight, and will tout the plan in Florida tomorrow.

The split seems to stem most from the characterization of stimulus package primarily as government spending. That’s the way Rasmussen framed a second question, which asked: “President Obama recently said that stimulus means government spending. In his words, “It’s spending–that’s the whole point.” Do you agree or disagree with President Obama’s statement that increased government spending is the whole point of the stimulus plan?” Respondents were evenly split 43%-43%, with 13% unsure. The question takes the president’s comments out of context. He was giving a speech, arguing that spending is an important part of a balanced plan that also includes some tax cuts. (Watch the speech. Comment comes at 14:30)

By equating the stimulus plan with spending, critics align themselves with prominent economists opposed to the proposal in its current form. They also tap into public anger over “bailouts,” as the distinction between the financial rescue plan and the stimulus plan become more blurred