So Who's Blocking the "Change"?

President Obama ran on a platform of "hope" and "change" -- but when you look at the stimulus plan, it becomes clear that his own Democrat compatriots are the ones who are determined to carry on with business as usual.

Just a few points that every American voter should understand:

The bill provides a "worker tax credit" even for those without valid social security numbers, i.e. illegal immigrants.

More than 1/3 of a billion dollars -- $335 million, to be exact -- has been set aside for STD prevention efforts.  (See page 147.)

And that's just the beginning.  As this Wall Street Journal editorial points out:

There's $1 billion for Amtrak, the federal railroad that hasn't turned a profit in 40 years; $2 billion for child-care subsidies; $50 million for that great engine of job creation, the National Endowment for the Arts; $400 million for global-warming research and another $2.4 billion for carbon-capture demonstration projects. There's even $650 million on top of the billions already doled out to pay for digital TV conversion coupons.

This has nothing to do with stimulating the economy, and everything to do with paying off Democrat constituencies.  And apparently, President Obama is either unwilling or unable to stop it.

But this is hardly "change."  Rather, it's typical of what Democrats try to do when they simultaneously dominate Congress and the White House.

In fact, soon after the inauguration of Bill Clinton in 1993, congressional Democrats -- again, with the new president's acquiescence -- tried to ram through another "Christmas tree" package, allegedly to "stimulate" the economy.

The more things "change," the more they stay the same.  Are President Obama and congressional Democrats really ready to send a signal that business as usual is A-OK, so long as it's being conducted by them, rather than by Republicans?