House ‘Stimulus’ Plan Spreads Pork

The Gazette ^ | February 1, 2009 | Congressman Doug Lamborn Guest Columnist

[Red Steel]

The so-called stimulus package that just passed the U.S. House will not only fail to accomplish its stated purpose, it will damage the economic health of our country for decades to come.

President Barack Obama at least tried to reach out to House Republicans, meeting with us earlier in the week. His best attempts fell flat, however, as not a single Republican voted for the package. Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her liberal chairmen did not even attempt to reach out.

To be sure, everyone agrees that whatever help the federal government can constructively and legitimately give should be given. There is even widespread agreement in both parties that some business tax breaks and some shovel-ready road and bridge projects would provide jobs quickly.

The problem started when Democrats began dusting off proposals rejected during years of Republican control and festooned the package with pork-like projects that would never pass muster in a stand-alone bill. They then rushed it through on an artificial deadline with little debate or consideration. Even worse, most of the bill no longer has anything to do with creating jobs and creating them quickly.

Weatherization for houses, for example, was increased from $300 million in committee 31 times and ended up at $6.2 billion. How do billions of dollars for weatherization create good paying jobs? I attempted to strike this provision and transfer the entire $6.2 billion to defense acquisition projects that are ready to go, such as air transport, fighter and Humvee production lines. Because this did not pass, the package now has almost nothing for the military and our nation's defense.

Other egregious examples include $50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts, $335 million for sexually transmitted disease prevention, $200 million for spiffing up the National Mall, including sod, $650 million for digital TV coupons, $44 million for repairs to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Headquarters, $1.1 billion for Amtrak, $300 million for the AmeriCorps "volunteer" program, and $400 million for NASA to research climate change. About 30 percent of the bill, or $229 billion, is for Medicaid and education funding for the states, especially the most mismanaged states. This is a roundabout way of evading states' constitutional balanced budget limits at the expense of all Americans.

Although Democrats backed off of their initial plan to pump millions of stimulus dollars into family planning and abortion services, they are holding to their funding of the notorious and fraud-ridden ACORN group.

When Obama says he wants to create or save 3 million jobs, and allows congressional Democrats to put together a package where it costs approximately $275,000 to produce a single $50,000-a-year-job, something is wrong with his and their grasp of economic reality. Even worse, only 8 percent of the appropriations in the bill, not including the rebates, are spent within the first year and just 40 percent within the first two years. Is the real goal a rapid recovery or growing government?

The huge growth of our national debt this package produces disturbs me most of all. Our debt is already more than $10 trillion and growing, and adding almost another trillion puts us on a collision course with insolvency as a nation. We simply cannot sustain ever-increasing debt loads. The inevitable long-term problems - inflation, high commodity prices, slow growth, and a weak dollar - far outweigh any short-term benefits.

House Republicans have a much more prudent alternative, focusing on business and individual tax incentives that would not only pump money immediately into the economy, but unlike one-time rebates, actually give businesses the ability to make long-term plans. This is what creates permanent job growth. HR 470, the positive alternative I co-sponsored, can be viewed online at my Web site, Lamborn.house.gov under "taxes and economic issues."

Whenever politicians take private sector dollars for stimulus, whether by taxing or borrowing, those dollars are directed into highly visible and publicized public work projects. At least the same amount of jobs would have been created in the private sector, more if you account for government inefficiency, but no one would ever reads about that.

The jobs that politicians really want to preserve by using the dollars you and your descendants have to repay are their own. This bill now goes to the Senate. Please contact our two U.S. senators to make your views known.

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Lamborn, of Colorado Springs, represents Colorado's 5th district in the U.S. House of Representatives. He sits on the House Armed Services Committee, the House Committee on Veterans Affairs and the House Committee on Natural Resources.

[Choose Ye This Day]

only 8 percent of the appropriations in the bill, not including the rebates, are spent within the first year and just 40 percent within the first two years. Is the real goal a rapid recovery or growing government?

This needs to be repeated over and over, shouted from the rooftops. It is a bald-faced LIE to call this a "stimulus" bill.

[capydick]

I'll believe the Pub's have a set when they call out the pork that Pelosi targeted for her husband and Sunkist.

If you dont hear or see that - they wont be playing to win for the next four years.

[Cindy]

[CowboyJay]

WE know the stimulus bill is a dud, Doug. The ones you have to convince are our senators. Concentrate on that.