... and a Kentucky Ping.
Posted on 02/08/2009 7:48:01 PM PST by GVnana
McConnell Statement on Proposed $820 Billion Spending Bill
‘But as near as we can tell, even after those efforts, it is roughly the same size as the House bill. The Senate bill, under the compromise, we believe, would be about $827 billion.’
WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell made the following remarks on the Senate floor Friday regarding the Democrats’ agreement on the trillion-dollar spending bill:
“The question of whether or not the economy needs help is really not in debate. I don't think there's a single member of the Senate that believes that no action is the appropriate course for us to take.
“But one of the good things about reading history is you learn a good deal. And, we know for sure that the big spending programs of the New Deal did not work.
“In 1940, unemployment was still 15%. And, it's widely agreed among economists, that what got us out of the doldrums that we were in during the Depression was the beginning of World War II.
“We have another example.
“What is called in Japan the Lost Decade of the 1990's, where stimulus packages similar to the one we're considering tonight were tried again, and again, and again. And, at the end of the 1990's, Japan, looked very much like it did at the beginning of the 1990's, except that it had a much larger debt.
“Now, we've not seen the compromise proposal, which has been discussed here tonight. And, I know there's been a good faith effort on the part of those involved to pare down the size of the underlying Senate measure.
“But as near as we can tell, even after those efforts, it is roughly the same size as the House bill.
“According to the figures I’ve been given, the House bill is about $820 billion. The Senate bill, under the compromise, we believe, would be about $827 billion. Bear in mind the interest costs on either of those proposals would be $348 billion. So we're really talking about a $1.1 trillion pending measure.
“A $1.1 trillion spending measure. We're looking at a $1 trillion deficit for this fiscal year.
“We believe that the Secretary of the Treasury and the President will suggest to us as early as next week that we need to do -- what has commonly become referred to as a TARP round – some kind of additional assistance for the financial system as early as next week. We're talking about an extraordinarily large amount of money and a crushing debt for our grandchildren.
“Now, if most Republicans were convinced that this would work, there might be a greater willingness to support it. But all the historical evidence suggests that it's highly unlikely to work. And so, you have to balance the likelihood of success versus the crushing debt that we're levying on the backs of our children, our grandchildren, and, yes, their children.
“And the need to finance all of this debt which many suspect would lead to ever higher and higher interest rates which could create a new round of problems for our economy.
“So let me just sum it up by saying no action is not what any of my Republican colleagues are advocating. But most of us are deeply skeptical that this will work. And that level of skepticism leads us to believe that this course of action should not be chosen.
“We had an opportunity to do this in a truly bipartisan basis and the President said originally he had hoped to get 80 votes. It appears that, the way this has developed, there will be some bipartisan support, but not a lot. And it's not likely, in the judgment of most of us, to produce the result that we all desire.
“So, I will not be in a position to recommend support for this product as it has developed in spite, again, of the best efforts of those who worked on the compromise. I commend them for their willingness to try to work this out. It seems to me that it falls far short of the kind of measure that we should be passing.
McConnell is Bob Dole without the pizzazz, flair and excitement...lol
Some would say since World Savings was a portfolio lender (NOT Fannie/Freddie) Wachovia created their own mess.
... and a Kentucky Ping.
Wasn’t a Soros group waiting in the wings to take over IndyMac after Chuck Schumer “just happened” to mention they were in trouble and tanked.
Exactly!
Harry reed gets his people to vote his way along with 3 of ours. Fire Mitch get someone who can control his party.
Harry Reed gets his people to vote his way along with 3 of ours. Fire Mitch get someone who can control his party.
Democrats are easy to control.
Good point. They have been lying in wait and are coming at us from all directions now.
Depends on how you define "green jobs." Are they counting the jobs to weather proof government buildings?
“Green” investments are the new dot-com bubble, funded with “stimulus” money.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10158505-38.html
One of Obama’s appointees, Doerr, has argued in favor of a massive diversion of taxpayer dollars to green tech. In March 2007, Doerr gave a speech at the TED conference approvingly citing Al Gore’s views on global warming. “I’m really scared—I don’t think we’re going to make it,” Doerr said. “There is a time when panic is the appropriate response. And we’ve reached that time.”
Three years ago, Kleiner Perkins created a $100 million green tech fund, which has invested in technologies including solar cells, fuel cells, smart grid, ethanol, and synthetic fuels. Not-so-coincidentally, Doerr has lobbied for laws at the state level—and, more recently, as part of the “stimulus” proposal—that would benefit his portfolio by moving toward smart grid, solar, and other technology.
Didn't you get the memo? They won.
Sadly, we couldn’t make this nightmare up.
You're wrong. Mitch believes inaction is not the solution, but cutting taxes is the solution. How is that a problem? Are you a liberal too?
Soros with two huge hudge fund managers Flowers and John Paulson (no relation). Flowers made mega money shorting mortgages secs. They killed it with Schumers help then got it free from Uncle Sam with tax loss carry forwards forever.
Doerr is buddies with Gore. They manipulated the dot bomb explosion with the help of investment banks like Goldman Sachs and John Corzine at the time. They did it on the IPO date.
It is one scam after another.
Yes - check out comment #22 here where I connected some disturbing dots back in October '08: Bill gives Paulson unprecedented power
9. Warren Buffet = major investor in Goldman Sachs for $5 billion (he said to Maria Bartiromo on CNBC that he would only have made investment if he knew a taxpayer bailout would be approved). He took perpetual preferred shares with a dividend yield of 10%, or $500 million a year. Those dividends take precedence over other payments to common shareholders. Seems like a sweet deal. Why didn’t Paulson consider this approach? Maybe because it doesn’t provide a door for his investment buddies to get their preferred shares, it only helps the taxpayer…?
10. Warren Buffet = insurance company investor (GEICO, General RE, etc.)
and... none of that was illegal... IMHO there is no difference, however, than insider trading.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.