The House has passed the pork-filled “stimulus bill” with no Republican votes and 12 Democrats voting no. It passed because the Democrats have a large majority just now. Those 12 Democrat no votes may believe that the majority will be less in 2010 if it passes and they may believe they are prime candidates to suffer the consequences.
Earlier, the House rejected a Republican substitute that would have emphasized tax cuts. Republicans said their version would have created twice as many jobs as the Democrats’ bill.
“The American people need a plan that works,” said House Republican Leader John Boehner of Ohio.
Tax cuts, like a payroll tax holiday, would immediately put money in working families pockets and would cost no more than the obscene pork laden wish list the Democrats just passed. I am proud of the Republicans for sticking together.
The next step is in the Senate but, hopefully, second thoughts about TARP II will derail the Pelosi-Reid express. Not everybody was convinced.
In testimony before the House Budget Committee yesterday, Alice M. Rivlin, who was President Bill Clinton’s budget director, suggested splitting the plan, implementing its immediate stimulus components now and taking more time to plan the longer-term transformative spending to make sure it is done right.
“Such a long-term investment program should not be put together hastily and lumped in with the anti-recession package. The elements of the investment program must be carefully planned and will not create many jobs right away,” said Rivlin, a fellow at the Brookings Institution. The risk, she said, is that “money will be wasted because the investment elements were not carefully crafted.”
Some of those Democrats have not lost their senses.
“Every penny of the $825 billion is borrowed against the future of our kids and grandkids, and so the question is: What benefit are we providing them? What are we doing for the country? It’s the difference between real investment that will serve the nation for 30, 50 years and tax cuts, and that’s a very poor tradeoff,” said Rep. Peter A. DeFazio (D-Ore.). “I go to my district and people say, ‘Yeah, I can use 10 extra bucks a week, but I would rather see more substantial investment.’ We’ve gone through a couple bubbles that were borrowing and consumer-driven. We want a recovery that’s solid and based in investment and productivity, and that points us at building things that will serve us decades to come.”
Then, they have to consider that TARP II, the funding for the “Bad Bank” is coming soon, if that program is adopted. That might be a real solution instead of the pork party the “stimulus bill” passed today has become.
The Obama administration is moving closer to setting up a so-called bad bank in its effort to break the back of the credit crisis and may use the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to manage it, two people familiar with the matter said.
U.S. stocks gained, extending a global rally, on optimism the bad-bank plan will help shore up the economy. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Stock Index rose 3.1 percent to 871.70 at 2:40 p.m. in New York. Bank of America Corp., down 54 percent this year before today, rose 84 cents, or 13 percent, to $7.34. Citigroup Inc., which had fallen 47 percent this year, climbed 17 percent.
The financial stock rally should show that this is a real stimulus, not a pork barrel project.
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I was talking to my 26 year old about this tonight. I told her about the pork stuffing in this so-called stimulus bill and she was shocked because NPR hadn’t reported that part… and then I apologized to her that she has now assumed a massive debt. The one good thing to come out of this might be that young people (like her) whose natural political inclination is still left of center, will move a bit right as the idiocy of this administration continues to reveal itself.
Dana, I find that my friends on the Left seem to move Rightwards as they begin to pay for things that are free to other people.
Especially when those other people are doing foolish things with the money.
There is always al limit to charity, and folks quickly discover that taxes are not charity…to the taxpayer.
Nothing shifts people to conservative opinions like marriage. I have two kids planning weddings this year. I think it would take a huge shift to get them across the divide but any progress is appreciated.
The Nobel winning economist Stiglitz came out strongly against the “bad bank” concept. I was looking at some of his writings from 2 and 8 years ago and they seemed pretty sensible. I don’t know what his rationale is now. I need to learn more about it.
A great post here reveals what you really feel about the current stature of the economy, Every single thing is coming back at the average american and hitting him back at the right chords.