Can you see?

I agree with the general sentiment

Remember that hilarity about Obama passing a "bipartisan" stimulus plan? We snickered at the implausibility of Republicans voting for any such package, and once again, we're right. That's why it's best to pass the best bill, rather than water shit down to the point it's useless in order to try and get mass Republican support on anything. It'll always be a fools errand anyway.

However, I think the optics of this are pretty good for Obama and the Dems. If they had just tried to push through a Dems-only package it would be reported as a Dems-only package and the consequences of said package would be seen as Dems-only. By at least making the effort to appear bi-partisan, Obama can now say, "Hey, I tried to get them on board!"