George Harris KC Star Reader Advisory Panel 2008

In tonight's press conference, President Barack Obama emphasized the urgency of the stimulus package legislation on which the Senate voted today to end debate, essentially insuring passage tomorrow.

Sixty one Senators voted to end debate on the stimulus package, including three Republicans. Some critics point to the few Republican votes as a failure of the president to achieve bipartisanship despite considerable effort to include the opposition party in the development of the legislation.

But achieving bipartisanship is and always has been unnecessary to achieving a more civil tone in political debate, and President Obama has probably incorrectly implied that one is equivalent with the other in his choice of language about the issue.

It is unreasonable to expect that 75 or 80% of any group of people will ever agree on complicated issues such as taxation, abortion, education or the stimulus package.

Bipartisanship is not likely, expected, necessary or even desirable. Good debate reveals differences of opinions and brings clarity to positions about proposals.

The problem in government has not been the absence of bipartisanship but the absence of intelligent debate. Agree or disagree with him, in tonight’s press conference President Obama presented a forceful view of the need for the stimulus package, and he highlighted clear differences with some Republicans on the matter.

The president disagreed with Senators who recommend doing nothing about the economic crisis.

He rejected criticism of deficit spending to spur the economy by those who were in charge of trillions of dollars of deficit spending in prior administrations.

He firmly rejected continuing economic policies that have led to the current economic crisis.

He disputed criticism of proposals to spend money on energy production and conservation, pointing out that these expenditures stimulate the economy now and save money later.

But the president did not attack the character or motivations of political opponents who disagree with Democratic proposals. He maintained that continuing respectful discussion and debate will improve the climate in Washington D.C. and will lead to better overall legislative efforts.

But he also left no doubt that the urgency of the economic problems facing the country trumps the need for the appearance of unity.