Democrat discord on spending plans

Reuters - Mar 15, 2009
By Thomas Ferraro

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans are not the only ones in the U.S. Congress squawking about President Barack Obama's record $3.55 trillion budget plan.
Some of the president's fellow top Democrats also are upset with certain provisions -- including ones dealing with farm subsidies, tax deductions and industrial emissions -- setting up hurdles within his own party that Obama must overcome.
"Everyone is starting to wake up to the fact that the all-Democratic controlled Washington doesn't mean pure liberalism. It means more centrist, more moderate," said Ethan Siegal of The Washington Exchange, a private firm that tracks the federal government for institutional investors.
Republicans see Obama's proposed record spending, much of it aimed at helping to lift the U.S. economy out of a deepening recession, as too costly.
Opposition from Democrats and Republicans is likely to grab headlines again in the weeks ahead as committees get down to complete their work in drafting details.
Democrats, who expanded their hold on Congress in the November election that brought Obama to power, are proving to be a contentious bunch.
"Democrats also have more moderate and more conservatives in their ranks and more issues that will divide them," said Andrew Taylor, a political science professor at North Carolina State University. "It's the cost of doing business." (continues...)