Reid rushes to pass $1,000,000,000,000 stimulus
Examiner Editorial
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February 5, 2009
There was more than a trace of desperation in Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s decision to hurry up voting on the Senate’s $900 billion economic stimulus package. Chalk that up to the growing realization beyond the Beltway that the Washington politicians are pulling another fast one – telling taxpayers economic catastrophe is right around the corner if Congress doesn’t quickly approve the largest single federal spending bill in American history. Officially, the Senate version would spend $900 billion, but the actual total is in excess of $1 trillion – that is, $1,000,000,000,000 – when interest costs are included. More than 300 amendments have been offered, but only 20 were debated. No hearings were held, no expert testimony heard. Reid is like the white rabbit, pitifully moaning, “I’m late, I’m late,” as public opposition grows.
The pensive Reid is not alone. Just as President George W. Bush predicted economic collapse if Congress failed to approve the $700 billion Wall Street bailout last fall, President Barack Obama now warns that failure to pass the bill “will turn a crisis into a catastrophe,” with a deep recession stretching for years into the future. But plummeting public support suggests that people are beginning to see such “sky is falling” rhetoric for what it is – cover for an explosion of pork barrel spending, monumental expenditures to expand government’s reach into daily American life, and a flood of new bureaucracies. This is not change, this is a con job on behalf of fattening up Leviathan. Unfortunately, Reid will probably get his way, thanks in part to liberal Republicans. Maine’s Susan Collins said yesterday she will vote for the stimulus bill, and Reid claimed to have another GOP vote in his pocket.
As usual, Sen. Tom Coburn, R-OK, put it best during an impassioned Senate floor speech Tuesday evening, saying: “When the American people learn what this bill contains they will reject it. This bill is about spending money we don’t have on things we don’t need. We got into this mess by spending and investing money that didn’t exist. We won’t get out of this mess by doing more of the same.” In a mere two weeks, public approval for the stimulus has dropped from 45 percent to 37 percent, according to the latest Rasmussen survey. Support is even dropping among Democrats, from 72 percent a week ago to 64 percent this week. And at least half of those surveyed say the final result of the economic stimulus spending will be to make things worse.
