1115.org

I’ve scratched my head for a long time, but this still doesn’t make any sense to me. None whatsoever.

President-elect Barack Obama confirmed to CNBC Wednesday that he plans to lay out a roughly $775 billion economic stimulus plan but indicated that the amount could grow once it gets taken up by Congress.

“We’ve seen ranges from $800 (billion) to $1.3 trillion,” he said in an exclusive interview with CNBC’s chief Washington correspondent John Harwood. “And our attitude was that given the legislative process, if we start towards the low end of that, we’ll see how it develops.”

Right out of the starting gate, with the approval ratings he has, and with the enthusiastic support of Americans for addressing the economic crisis with bold measures, he’s unwilling to tell Congress exactly what he wants in the stimulus plan? Unwilling to lead, and ask them to follow?

If this is how he’s going to defer to Congress at the beginning of his honeymoon period on arguably the most important and pressing issue he faces, what lies ahead once the honeymoon is over?

Just earlier yesterday, at a news conference, he was saying “We expect that it will be on the high end of our estimates”. He thinks the way to get there is by starting towards the low end? He really thinks that as Congress weighs in on the size of the stimulus plan, the only possible change is upwards? So let’s see, he thinks Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi are going to step in and say: “Guys, you know what, let’s make the stimulus plan bigger than what President Obama asked for.” Or, wait, he must be counting on Mitch McConnell and John Boehner to come through for him.

Maybe Obama needs to switch to a different brand of crystal ball right away?