Democrats v. Obama

Maybe it's a small kerfuffle, but Congressional Democrats had heretofore kept their impatience at the Obama transition to themselves. Now, Barney Frank, Carl Levin, and Chris Dodd have all publicly asked Mr. Obama to get more involved in the auto industry bailout negotiations.  Congressional Democrats seem to want Obama to either publicly endorse a specific set of conditions for the automakers to adhere to, or to more aggressively (and privately) bargain with the Bush White House.

This is the first public example of conflict between the political and institutional prerogatives of the Democratic congress and the Democratic president.

Obama wants THIS Congress and THIS administration to fund the bailout using already appropriated TARP funds; advisers reason that THIS Congress has fumbled a bit when it came to the politics and positioning.  He doesn't want to (a) have to deal with the problem in January, (b) divert money from his planned economic stimulus package to the bailout. Some Democrats are resigned to a bailout incorporated in the stimulus package; at the very least, it would be somewhat politically insulated by all of the other funding.

Congressional Democrats are frustrated that the Obama team seems to know that the interested parties here are punting and yet refuses to use the implied authority that Obama has as the person who would administer the bailout anyway. Both sides see the other as petulant.

In any event, it seems that the biggest obstacle to getting legislation passed is the group of Congressional Democrats who insist on putting in accountability measures. Doing so, as the New York Times reports, is virtually impossible given the short amount of time remaining before the new administration anyway.

And besides, no matter what Obama would say, the White House is not likely to yield its position. It's not as if he's in a position to bargain.