Well, it's Groundhog Day... again.
If anyone in Hollywood has plans for a sequel to the 1993 Bill Murray movie, I think the script could write itself. Because last week it felt like Washington had fallen back into the same endless cycle of partisan gridlock when not a single Republican member of Congress voted in favor of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
At a time when our economy is in crisis and families across the state are hurting, this bill will create over 150,000 jobs here in Michigan, help fix our crumbling roads, bridges and schools, and invest in advanced battery technology to help the auto industry compete.
While not perfect, the stimulus package was developed through an open and transparent process, and I believe it is a well-honed plan that will help jump-start our economy and put people back to work. The bill contained no earmarks, it included a number of Republican proposals, and it has been praised by economists across the political spectrum.
Unfortunately, for all the talk of bipartisanship and cooperation we've heard since last November's election, it is now clear that House Republicans are more interested in repeating the same failed economic policies that created this mess in the first place. Last week they offered amendment after amendment that would've gutted the bill of its critical infrastructure investments and added more tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.
We've seen this movie before.
The good news for us is that the movie Groundhog Day had a happy ending. After repeating his mistakes over and over, Bill Murray eventually breaks the cycle by doing the right thing and helping the people around him.
Don't you wish they all said things like that?
Paging Harry Reid...