by G.R. Carter
*****
CAPITOL BUILDING CONFERENCE ROOM
FEDERAL DC – FREE ZONE
“I just don’t think my membership will go for that,” said Mary Matheny, the senior Senator from Ohio.
Speaker of the House Thomas Reed looked at the men and women gathered around the big conference room table. Most were political snakes, willing to do anything necessary to get another two or six years at the greatest public trough ever created. Some, on the other hand, were true believers. People who were willing to do whatever deemed necessary to accomplish goals they considered morally just. Reed wasn’t sure which group he distrusted more.
“What is there to go for, Mary?” Reed asked with a mixture of pleading and contempt, one of his favorite ploys. “I’m not sure there is anything to discuss. We have pretty much decided what has to be done. And the Pullback Bill is the only way to accomplish that.”
He rubbed his temples, wishing what he said wasn't the truth. The Solar Storms (not the proper name for what was happening with the sun, but that’s what The Times had dubbed it) were bleeding an already anemic country dry. If the government didn’t move quickly to find a solution, America was going to plunge into a deep recession or even depression. And his constituents, or more importantly his donors, didn’t want that to happen.
The blueprint for the Pullback had been outlined during the New Deal of the 1930s. Everyone learned from early elementary school that FDR had saved America with a diverse batch of legislative and executive orders that created massive public works projects. And then the ultimate public works project, World War II, catapulted the United States into the vanguard of the world’s economies. Though challenged for that pinnacle now by Greater China, the European Union, and the African Commonwealth, America was not going to give up the lead without a fight.
“Most of my voters still remember the Stimulus Bill of the early 2000s. They’re going to flip at the idea of adding more debt with this one bill than all other bills combined in the history of the country,” Senator Matheny continued.
“Mary, we have to make them understand that previous stimulus just wasn’t big enough. We got good traction with it, but it just ran out of steam. It should have been ten or twenty times bigger and then we would have grown our way right out of the hole.” For support, Reed looked over at Representative Maleka Connor–Williams, representing the west side of Chicago. Harvard educated, attached to three progressive think tanks, she was one of the true believers in her causes. She was also close friends with Senator Matheny, though supposedly from radically different sides of the aisle.
Reed spoke again, “We all have to make sure we’re on the same page here. With this bill we're going to make history this week. There has never been a coalition like Con–Pro since the creation of our beloved America. We’re going to pass this bill with almost 80% of all members in both houses. Imagine that! Conservatives and Progressives both agreeing the same thing needs to be done! If that doesn’t give you cover back home with voters, we’re all in big trouble anyway.”
I can see the heads nodding now. I've got them on the ropes, they're ready for the knockout blow, Reed thought.
Aloud to the room, he said: “The President will sign this tonight on national television and each one of you in this room will get to stand behind him while he does it. Plus we’ve arranged that the headlines on each one of your local news portals will read that you were the lead in ramrodding this through. Included is a list of local shovel-ready projects to start immediately.”
The whole room full of politicos lit up like a football stadium, with grins from ear to ear. The publicity from what he mentioned couldn’t be bought with tens of millions in advertising.
Not surprisingly, Rep. Connor–Williams was the only one not smiling.
“Do we have to use that shovel-ready terminology?” she asked. “We’re talking about technology here. Fibers and gigabytes…not bridges and eight-lane highways.”
“You’re right, of course, Maleka. Let me see if I can get that changed right away. Shall we say ‘connectivity restoration projects?’’ Reed asked ironically.
“I kind of like that, and it fits the three letter rule for communicating with the ill–informed,” Connor–Williams agreed. “We’ll call it the CRP Initiative. Sounds better than the Pullback.” Reed had been joking, knowing how that acronym would be pronounced by the few dissenting voices. Oh well, no such thing as bad publicity.
“And you promise the money will be distributed from the states, not from the Feds, correct?” asked Mark Jacobs, senator from Florida. “Because that’s the only way we’re signing on.”
“Of course, Mark. That was the original deal, and I stand behind it. You know I think the states are much better at handling this money than the Federal bureaucracy. They’ll be able to spend it on the projects they think will best return life to normal.
“Anyone have any other questions? No? It’s agreed, then,” Reed said in conclusion. “Go back to your members right now, get the vote done by 1 pm for the networks to start advertising the signing ceremony. Our goal is 400 million sets of eyeballs for this signing tonight. Con–Pro accomplishes the CRP Initiative. That’s epic!”