Congressional Dems' "Stimulus" Spending Plan: $825 Billion ... and More to Come
GOP Leader: Congressional Dems' Plan Reflects "The Flawed Notion That We Can Borrow and Spend Our Way Back to Prosperity"
Washington,
Jan 15 -
Under the guise of economic stimulus, Democratic leaders in Congress are asking taxpayers to pay for more than a half a trillion dollars in spending on government programs and projects that won’t do anything to strengthen our ailing economy. And House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey (D-WI) has warned that there’s even more spending to come, saying, “I would not be surprised to see us go further on some of these programs down the line.” In other words: Taxpayers, watch your wallets.
While President-elect Obama has called for a plan that includes Republican ideas and lets Americans keep more of what they earn, congressional Democrats today offered their proposal – a blueprint that reflects no Republican involvement, includes hundreds of billions in new spending that would do little to spur economic growth and create new jobs, and shrinks the amount of tax relief proposed by the President-elect. ABC News reports:
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“‘There was no Republican input at all involved in what House Democrats outlined today,’ Boehner, R-Ohio, said at a news conference at the Capitol…”
“‘I just can’t tell you how shocked I am at what we’re seeing. You know it’s clear that they’re moving on this path along the flawed notion that we can borrow and spend our way back to prosperity.’”
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Republicans want to work with President-elect Obama and his Democratic colleagues on a plan that will strengthen the economy, let families and small businesses keep more of what they earn to get more money into the economy as quickly as possible, and create more good-paying jobs, but the plan introduced by Capitol Hill Democrats today accomplishes none of that. Rather, the blueprint is loaded with hundreds of billions in spending – very little of which will aid our struggling economy or create long-lasting private sector jobs. Here are just a few examples of how congressional Democrats plan to spend taxpayer dollars in this massive proposal:
- $600 million for new cars for the federal government
- $1 billion for the 2010 census
- $650 million more for digital television conversion coupons
- $400 million for NASA for global warming
- $400 million for “National Treasures”
- $6 billion for colleges/universities, many of which have massive billion dollar endowments
- $166 billion in direct aid to states, many of which have failed to budget wisely
Hundreds of millions for new cars for government bureaucrats? More than a half a billion for digital TV coupons? Is this really the “economic stimulus” that Americans need from Washington? Republicans don’t think so, and earlier today, a House GOP working group – led by Republican Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) – convened a hearing with several experts to discuss just what is needed to get the economy moving again.
With their advice in mind, Republicans will present their proposals to President-elect Obama soon, with the hope of continuing the type of bipartisan dialogue necessary to craft a plan for getting the economy back on track. Are congressional Democrats willing to consider these proposals, or will they demand passage of the massive spending plan they introduced earlier today – a plan that could get even bigger in the days and weeks to come?
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