ABC's Good Morning America Highlights Billions of Non-Economic Spending in Democrats' Trillion Dollar "Stimulus" Bill
Washington,
Jan 29 -
On ABC’s Good Morning America, White House Correspondent Jake Tapper highlighted the billions upon billions of spending in the congressional Democrats’ trillion dollar bill that has nothing to do with creating jobs and strengthening the economy. From $335 million for education on sexually transmitted diseases to $650 million for digital TV coupons, the package is loaded with spending that will be paid for by future generations – without providing any immediate benefit for families and small businesses that need help during the current economic crisis.
Republican Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) and Ways & Means Ranking Republican Member Dave Camp (R-MI) offered a House GOP economic recovery alternative to the Democrats’ trillion dollar spending plan during yesterday’s debate on the bill. The plan is rooted in the principle that fast-acting tax relief, not slow and wasteful government spending, is the most effective way to create jobs and spur economic growth. In spite of the fact that the GOP alternative would create twice as many jobs as the Democratic bill (6.2 million new jobs total) at half the cost, Democrats rejected the measure. Meanwhile, 244 Democrats supported the bloated and unfocused trillion dollar scheme, though 11 Democrats crossed party lines to join every Republican in voting against the bill. Full video and a transcript of the Good Morning America report follow:
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ROBIN ROBERTS: We begin with that $819 billion stimulus plan. The House passed it as you know on Wednesday, but not a single House Republican voted for it saying it is loaded with wasteful pork. Senior White House Correspondent Jake Tapper in Washington has the latest for us there. Good morning Jake.
ABC WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT JAKE TAPPER: Good morning, Robin. Well last night after the House of Representatives passed stimulus bill, President Obama had a cocktail party in the White House’s Blue Room. Guests included the Democratic and Republican Leadership of the House and Senate. A member of the Marine Corps band tickled the ivories playing classical music and House Minority Leader John Boehner told the President not to take the unanimous Republican rejection of the bill as a reflection on Obama’s visit to Republicans earlier in the week. They just have a problem with the bill, Boehner said, including what they said is too much pork.
The $819 billion House stimulus package includes $275 billion in tax cuts and credits which for most American workers translates into an immediate $12 or $13 extra dollars a week. For the unemployed, an additional $25 a week. The bill also includes stimulative spending - $32 billion to work on energy efficiency, $43 billion on transportation. But President Obama’s economic team set a “3-T” standard for this bill, saying items need to be temporary, targeted, and timely. And taxpayer watchdogs say that the bill the House passed last night and the one the Senate is working on this morning do not meet that goal.
LESLIE PAIGE, CITIZENS AGAINST GOVERNMENT WASTE: There’s $335 million in there for education related to sexually transmitted diseases, and we have yet to hear a reasonable rationale as to how this creates any jobs in the private sector.
TAPPER: Other items that are however worthy otherwise of questionable stimulus value include $650 million for coupons to help consumers make the switch to digital TV, $50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts, and in the Senate version there is $70 million for programs to help people quit smoking, $75 million for a super computer for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and on and on.
PAIGE: For budget hawks, not only the devil is going to be in the details, but Satan himself is going to be in the details if you start looking at where this money is going to be spent.
TAPPER: And of course now the bill goes onto the Senate. Diane?
DIANE SAWYER: Thanks a lot, Jake.
