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What They're Saying: Republicans Have A "Legitimate" Objection To Democrat "Stimulus" Plan

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FEBRUARY 3, 2009

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"... the economic measures racing through Congress would devote tens of billions of dollars to causes that have little to do with jolting the country out of a recession."
"Republican Senators vow to dramatically change Democrats' economic-stimulus package -- or defeat it. Good for them."

Associated Press: "They call it 'stimulus' legislation, but the economic measures racing through Congress would devote tens of billions of dollars to causes that have little to do with jolting the country out of recession. There's $345 million for Agriculture Department computers, $650 million for TV converter boxes, $15 billion for college scholarships - worthy, perhaps, but not likely to put many Americans back to work quickly. Yes, there are many billions of dollars in 'ready-to-go' job-creating projects in President Barack Obama's economic stimulus bill. But there are also plenty of items that are just unfinished business for Congress' old bulls." (1/30/2009)

Editorials from various papers across the country:

The Columbus Dispatch: "Republican Senators vow to dramatically change Democrats' economic-stimulus package -- or defeat it. Good for them. In the House, majority Democratic leaders failed to gain a single Republican vote, even though President Barack Obama sought bipartisan support. Clearly, Republicans believe the plan wasn't fully vetted in the House debate. The package is heavily loaded with giveaways to various Democratic constituencies. Any plan that plunges the nation so much further into debt should be the product of the best ideas of both parties and should generate a broad consensus that the money will be spent effectively. This plan fails both of those tests. In fact, it would do more to expand federal benefits than it would to stimulate the economy." (2/3/2009)

Washington Post: "President Obama says he wants a new era of bipartisanship. Among the areas where he is sure to need bipartisan help are foreign aid and fixing the nation's credit system. So why is the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee taking cheap shots at Republicans for their votes in those two areas?" (2/3/2009)

Los Angeles Times: "The outlook is so dim, the Democrats who control Congress and the White House could have crafted the largest stimulus package since World War II and still garnered some Republican support. Instead, the House of Representatives approved the $819-billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act on a party-line vote, with all 177 Republicans in the chamber opposing and all but 11 of the 255 Democrats supporting it. GOP lawmakers dissented in part because it didn't meet their predictable demand for more tax cuts. They also complained, however, that too many of the bill's provisions would advance the Democrats' agenda, not address the country's need for jobs. And on that point, they had a legitimate objection." (2/2/2009)

Washington Post: "Now the president should make the same demand on those in Congress, including leaders of his own party, who are cluttering his fiscal stimulus plan with extraneous and counterproductive provisions. The United States faces an economic emergency, and economists generally agree that a big package of federal spending and tax cuts could help. But experts are voicing skepticism about the composition of the $825 billion measure that emerged from the Democratic-controlled House last week -- and which the Senate is now increasing. The concern: Instead of giving the economy a 'targeted, timely and temporary' injection, the plan has been larded with spending on existing social programs or hastily designed new ones, much of it permanent or probably permanent -- and not enough of it likely to create new jobs." (2/1/2009)

Newark Advocate: "It's only been two weeks, but the current version of President Obama's economic stimulus bills shows just how difficult it will be for our new president to bring real 'change' to Washington. The $800 billion plan, which we think is necessary in some form to help revive the economy, has been filled with a long list of projects and funding needs that are questionable, at least in this critical bill... How would those expenditures create jobs in Ohio or elsewhere?" (2/3/2009)

Union Leader: "President Obama's astounding, near-trillion-dollar emergency spending plan isn't likely to 'stimulate' the economy so much as it is likely to cause its death when our grandchildren inherit it along with other federal debt. Instead of addressing the very real and looming entitlement crises in Social Security and Medicare, the Obama plan adds to entitlement expectations in new and dangerous ways in everything from health care to education to unemployment aid for parttime workers. Separately, the Democrats keep right on spending. Witness last week's expensive expansion of children's health programs. Leave it to the Democrats to engage in social engineering and government meddling while they are ostensibly trying to save the economy." (2/1/2009)

News Herald: "Let's at least be honest about the effects of that gazillion-dollar bill the House passed Wednesday: About the only thing it's going to stimulate is liberal Democrats' libido for government spending. Supporters should stop trying to fool the public, or themselves, into thinking that the $819 billion orgy is an 'economic stimulus' that's going to pull the nation out of the current recession." (2/1/2009)

Review Journal: "President Obama hailed the House last week for passing the $825 billion 'stimulus' package. He has been outspoken in urging Congress to move quickly on the issue... Not a single House Republican supported the package, which passed the lower chamber 244-188, with 11 Democrats joining their GOP colleagues. Senate Republicans should -- at the very least -- insist that this spending free-for-all be stripped of the out-and-out pork and include more than a nod to the idea that tax cuts are a better means of reviving the economy than returning to the Keynesian prescription popular in the 1930s." (2/2/2009)

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "There's a growing body of evidence that the latest economic stimulus plan, passed with Democrat votes only in the House and now before the Senate, will be another exercise in spitting in the wind. Financial guru Martin Feldstein calls it 'an $800 billion mistake.' Worse, however, are indications that Democrats are using the measure to bolster some of the very people who helped create the crisis and common lawbreakers. And no, we're not talking about Wall Street titans... This isn't a stimulus bill; this is a bill designed to reward illegality and thuggery, which just happens to be a very large part of the Democratic Party's base." (2/1/2009)

San Diego Union-Tribune: "When President Barack Obama's $819 billion economic stimulus bill passed the House without a single Republican vote, much of the media reaction treated GOP lawmakers as if they were partisan stick-in-the-muds who would rather undercut America's new Democratic president than do what's right for the country. Rubbish. Republicans were right to oppose the measure, even if it included some worthwhile tax cuts. In public policy terms, the bill is a grab bag of favors to liberal special interests, costly new federal programs and a variety of other unnecessary extravagances." (2/2/2009)

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What They're Saying: Republicans Have A "Legitimate" Objection To Democrat "Stimulus" Plan

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