I'm still trying to figure out if Senators Collins, Snowe, and Specter are evil geniuses or bumbling fools. 

Somehow, despite recent overwhelming Democrat success at the polls and near total Republican ineptitude and disarray,  the good ol' GOP miraculously found themselves in a position of power over the "stimulus" bill negotiation.  The Democrats needed to sway two Senators in order to prevent the legislation, in its then current form, from being killed.

In the name of moderation and bipartisanship, in step the "Pros from Dover":  Collins, Snowe, and Specter.  One would have suspected that given Obama's rhetoric on cross-party cooperation and the Republicans unexpected but ostensible veto power, that the resulting legislation would have been acceptable to a majority of each party.  Nope.  The Three Stooges managed to agree on something equally as bad as what came out of the House of Representatives.  Remarkable.

Their first mistake was attempting the negotiation in the first place.  Had Collins, Snow, and Specter stood firm with their colleagues, Obama and the Democrats would have had no recourse but to enter into a true bipartisan process, instead of the farce that they perpetrated.  Democrats and Republicans could have collectively crafted a bill from the ground up that would have had broad support—support that would have translated into a unified message and greatly bolstered confidence on Main Street and Wall Street.  Oh well.

What were Collins, Snowe, and Specter thinking?  Were they driven by ego, hubris, perceived political considerations at home, brain cramps....?  Whatever it was, it was certainly misguided, and probably damaging to each of them down the road.  Specter will likely pay the highest price.  Pennsylvania is not liable to be as forgiving as Maine.

One thing is clear, neither of these three ever took Negotiating 101 in college.  I'd bet at least one had an ancestor who represented the Indians on the Manhattan transaction, Napoleon on the Louisiana Purchase, or the Russians on the sale of Alaska. 

The biggest loser in all of this is the country.  We ended up with an inferior, potentially damaging piece of legislation, particularly in the long run, that will do little in the short run to lift us out of the doldrums.  Instead, we'll have to rely on our economy's natural resilience.  Opportunity lost.  The other losers very well could be Obama and the Democrats.  They had a real chance to build on the election and solidify Republican support for a new type of government.  Alternatively, they've galvanized the opposition and lost a tremendous amount of goodwill.

So, by shooting themselves and the country in the foot, Collins, Snow, and Specter may have markedly improved the Republican Party's chances in 2010 and 2012.  Personally, I'd rather see the country back on track.