Posted on 01/15/2009 5:24:27 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
The $825 billion economic stimulus package rolled out by Democrats on Thursday might not be enough to prevent an economic catastrophe, according to the chief architect of the package.
House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey (D-Wis.) also told reporters it may not be the last effort to use big government spending to spur the economy.
“This represents the largest effort by any legislative body in the world to take government action to prevent economic catastrophe,” Obey said, “and even that may be insufficient alone.”
Later in his briefing, he added, “This product may undershoot the mark.”
The bill could be voted on in committee next Wednesday. That’s the day after the inauguration of President-elect Obama — or, as Obey put it, “the day after the crown prince is sworn in.”
He’s hoping to get the bill to the floor by Jan. 28 in order to pass it by Feb. 13.
Among Democrats, liberals said they believe the massive package has enough for all different constituencies to win passage. Conservative Democrats, while alarmed at the spending, don’t want to pick a fight with Obama immediately after he takes office and are looking for ways to support the bill.
But key Republicans are protesting sharply.
“Oh my God,” House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) said of the Democratic proposal.
Boehner read portions of the Democratic draft and said he was “shocked” by what he saw.
“I just can't tell you how shocked I am at what we're seeing, that they’re moving on this path of the flawed notion that we can borrow and spend our way back to prosperity,” Boehner told reporters shortly after he reviewed drafts of the proposal.
The package, staggering in size, fails to meet the hopes of some members that it would rise over $1 trillion. Still, it has many times the spending that most Democrats were contemplating after Obama’s election.
It has $550 billion in spending on items like assistance for local government, public-works projects and green energy.
It also has $275 billion in tax cuts, $25 billion less than Obama had sought and a smaller part of the package than the 40 percent Obama had proposed.
It also leaves out the “patch” to prevent the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT), designed to ensure the very rich pay taxes, from hitting the middle class. Some hoped to cover the $70 billion tab in the stimulus, where it won’t be offset with spending cuts or tax hikes.
But House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) said he expects the Senate to put the AMT patch back in. “I know they will,” Rangel said.
House Democrats also included spending proposals that Obama hadn’t asked for, such as $30 billion to subsidize the so-called “COBRA” payments that people pay to keep health insurance after losing their jobs.
“That idea came from me based on personal experiences,” Obey said. “I felt there was a hole in our hearts if we weren’t taking care of that problem.”
The package would funnel tens of billions of dollars to state governments, including $87 billion for a temporary increase in the federal match for Medicaid. It also includes $90 billion for roads, bridges and other infrastructure works and $43 billion for increased unemployment benefits.
“It’s about modernizing our roads, bridges, et cetera, education for the 21st century, tax cuts that make work pay and create jobs and lower — as initiatives to lower healthcare costs and help workers who are hurt in this economy, and protect our vital services,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).
The $825B stimulus plan? Call it what it is. The largest pork project in the history of mankind.
You’re probably right but gold will always have a value. The challenge then will be to find a good way to hide it. Cash on the barrelhead and a safety deposit box or home safe. Foreign gold mining stocks are another alternative.
We already had the largest pork barrel project, via Bush’s bailout plan. This will just be the final straw for full disaster.
It’s $825 billion too much!!!
This package doesn’t include the massive amounts of pork that will be added to it.
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