Obama Exaggerates His Influence on Stimulus Plan

"In January, I outlined a plan to help revive our faltering economy, which formed the basis for a bipartisan stimulus package that passed the Congress."

Sen. Barack Obama, Golden, Colo., Sept. 16

Sen. John McCain's campaign is ridiculing Obama's assertion that his economic stimulus plan was the basis for the compromise package that was adopted by Congress and the Bush administration this year. McCain partisans point out that the Illinois senator did not even vote on the final package, which passed the Senate on Feb. 7.

THE FACTS

Like his fellow Democratic presidential candidates, Barack Obama did come up with his own stimulus package to jump-start the faltering economy. Announced in January, the $75 billion Obama plan included a proposed $250 tax cut for "workers and their families" and a $250 bonus for seniors, to be distributed via their Social Security checks. It called for an additional round of tax cuts and bonuses "if the economy continues to falter."

The Obama plan certainly bears a passing resemblance to one that was eventually adopted by Congress on Feb. 7 after negotiations between the Democratic leadership in Congress and the White House. The final $152 billion package turned out to be even more generous than the one proposed by Obama, including $600 payments for individuals ($1,200 for couples) and $300 for low-income seniors and disabled veterans. By contrast, McCain initially opposed individual rebates and preferred a cut in the corporate tax rate.

Despite the superficial similarities between the two plans, it is a big stretch for Obama to say that his proposal "formed the basis" for the package that eventually passed. Many different plans were floating around. According to contemporaneous news reports, the final package was hammered out in negotiations with the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), with input from Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.).

The final version of the plan was based on the House version, HR 5140, not the Senate version. In last-minute bargaining, Senate leaders succeeded in inserting the provision for $300 payouts for seniors into the House-crafted bill.

My colleague Jonathan Weisman, who covered the congressional negotiations for The Washington Post, notes that other Democratic presidential candidates, including Hillary Clinton, also came up with stimulus plans. "At the time Obama put out his plan, Hillary put out hers. They were somewhat similar, and Pelosi and Reid did not want to take sides in the primary fight. They consciously said they were going their own way."

McCain is correct in saying that Obama did not show up for the final Senate vote on the economic stimulus package on Feb. 7. Obama and Clinton were out on the campaign trail that day. However, McCain himself missed an important Senate vote on the bill the previous day, drawing criticism from the Democrats for missing an opportunity "to stand up for America's working families." The truth is that all the candidates were distracted from their Senate duties.

THE PINOCCHIO TEST

Barack Obama can fairly claim to have outlined an economic stimulus plan in January, parts of which were similar to the package eventually adopted by Congress and signed into law by President Bush. But the junior senator from Illinois is exaggerating his influence, and his role in the process of legislative give-and-take, to say that his ideas "formed the basis" of the final package.

ONE PINOCCHIO: Some shading of the facts; TWO PINOCCHIOS: Significant omissions or exaggerations; THREE PINOCCHIOS: Significant factual errors; FOUR PINOCCHIOS: Real whoppers; THE GEPPETTO CHECK MARK: Statements and claims contain the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth