Breaking Down Stimulus Bill's Opposition

(CBS)  The Republicans' biggest complaint about the stimulus bill is that it gives the Democrats an excuse to make government bigger. CBS News correspondent Wyatt Andrews reports that the examples are not hard to find.

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If you are one of those taxpayers that doesn't want to spend $25 million on trails for ATVs, or $150 million for agricultural repairs (like beehives after a storm), then you'll understand why no Republicans supported the stimulus in the House -- and why most Republicans are trashing it in the Senate.

"This is about spending money we don't have for things we don't need," said Senator Tom Coburn, R-Okla.

Despite the President's lobbying for bipartisan support, Republicans complain their ideas are being ignored. They say the bill is too much "goodie bag" and not enough "stimulus."

It includes $650 million to help people switch their old TV signals to digital and $335 million to prevent sexually transmitted disease - a program House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D- Calif., defends because disease education creates jobs, too.

As Pelosi said on The Early Show: "And we have jobs across the board, not just for construction workers."

But Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., says almost one-fourth of the one-time stimulus will never, ever get cut. Fifteen billion dollars for Pell grants to help young students with college, and $26 billion for special education. Maybe that's all worthwhile, Cantor says. It's just not temporary.

"How much of this gets rolled back in two years?" Andrews asked.

"That's the problem. Every time a new program starts in Washington, it's very, very difficult to stop it," Cantor said.

And remember this an emergency bill the economy needs right now. President Obama said: "What we can't do is drag our feet or delay much longer."

But emergency bills aren't paid for with higher taxes or budget cuts - the stimulus is all borrowed money. And so anything Congress couldn't afford before -- $50 million to support the arts, $70 million to help people stop smoking -- has found its way into the stimulus now.

"When you say to the members of Congress 'this has to get done and it has to get done quickly,' it's unfortunately an opportunity for a lot of things to get slipped in," said Maya MacGuineas of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.

Next week in the Senate, the size of the stimulus becomes the issue, with some Democrats wanting even more added to the package. And most Republican saying 'No, that if the President wants true bipartisan support, all that add-on spending has to go.'

[sagrey]

There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance-that concept is contempt prior to investigation." Herbert Spencer"
anyone who has heard a kid say that they hated Broccli when they had never even tried it can understand this concept. Kids love Candy, but too much of a good thing can give you a stomach-ache but too much Broccoli or something like it can give you a stomach-ache also. I voted for Clinton and later voted for Bush 1&2 Howeer I am not whishy-washy I am a realist . Nevertheless, too much of a good thing-Republican philosophical ideology or: "Candy" be bad for you, just as too much Democratis philisophical ideology or "Broccoli" can be equally bad for you as well. There is a balance that needs to be achieved, but we, as Americans, are tired of too much candy and now need a good plate of Democratic Broccoli to balance out all the Republican Candy we have been eating for the past 20 years or so and then we need to begin to moderate our eating habets to include some of each on a regular basis. Democrats and Republicans alike should at some point as congressman/Woman be mandated to reverse roles and argue for their oppositions viewpoint . that would help both parties benefit from seeing the other sides views from roll reversal perspectives and come together as Americans and stop fighting to be Top Dog trying to getting everything they want without fully investigating and accepting the repercusionsin taking that course of action.
Grey Austin

[loachy01]

"republican party was leading the country in the wrong direction the last 8 yrs . and the last 20 on derregulation of the financial system."

Karl Rove went before Congress in 2001 and told the Democrats that freddie and fannie were going to destroy the economy and Bush told them in the FY2002 budget freddie and fannie were to big and needed regulated. Democrats wouldn''t listen. Please look up the facts, check the actual video of the hearings.

Head over to the Wall Street Journel website and read up on the facts.

"If Democrats had granted the Bush administration the regulatory powers it sought, the housing crisis wouldn''t be nearly as severe and the economy as a whole would be better off."

[taxed01]

To morphndol9.
It looks like you may have something worthwhile to say, can you try saying it in English?
Thanks.

[libsnemesis]

"But emergency bills aren''t paid for with higher taxes or budget cuts - the stimulus is all borrowed money."

WHAT???

Question for the socialist idiot who wrote this article: Who the f#ck do you think must pay back that "borrowed money?"

Answer: THE TAXPAYERS! How? WITH HIGHER TAX RATES IN THE FUTURE!

Get a clue, *********!

[shuturpihole]

obama''''s big change has come Washington into Chicago.

Posted by popstom121 at 02:42 PM : Feb 01, 2009


Huh? Something about Washington and Chicago. I don''t know what though. I don''t know how you could have crafted this sentence any more poorly.

[johndevinejr]

Just because your man is half black doesn''''t and therefore historic, doesn''''t mean that we have to shelve our values or ideals.

You can''''t expect anything more from a party who just elected a man because of his skin color instead of his substance.

Oh well, I hope the Senate GOP''''s stay strong and all vote against this wellfare pork bill


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Posted by jedi23232 at 02:24 AM : Feb 01, 2009

VALUES AND IDEALS??? VALUES AND IDEALS???

Just because racist repulbicans can scare and manipulate conservatives doesn''t mean they can manipulate people of normal intelligence.

Values and Ideals indeed, this from the party that did the damage to the country to begin with.
The republican party of cowards who bent over and gave up our Constitutional rights faster than you could say Mission Accomplished.
What a bunch of incompetent morons. Wanting to use the same exact policies that caused the problem.

The problem is that Bush and the republicans made sure that their buddies in the top 10% got all the money. This is exactly the way the Depression was created.

IDEALS AND VALUES??? What a crock of S H I T

[clovisbuford]

Obama''''s porkuless bill is a joke. Where is the stimuless. Its all pet Dem projects and only 20 percent of the money will even get spent in the first two years

Posted by jedi23232 at 12:56 AM : Feb 01, 2009
You have to love it when the trolls post on here and it is the very same terminology Rush Limbaugh uses . I don''t know why republicans din''t just nominate Rush to be head of the RNC .There is not a member of congress on the conservative side that has the cojones , to ever pull his or her head out the relatively dark place rush''s ideas sprout from and where the sun don''t shine .When you post to a site like this parroting someone like Mr.Limbaugh word for word , and then talk about liberals "drinking the kool-aid " and following a a "messiah"it kind of rings hollow. The difffernce being one of them is in actual charge of the government,legitamately elected , the other is a thrice divorced, oxycontin using , viagra needing , blowhard , who is paid big bucks to be controversial and fan the flames while spouting "family values". The actual CBO reports show the bulk of the money will be spent in two yrs. It would have been so much better if you could have found your mouths when the republican party was leading the country in the wrong direction the last 8 yrs . and the last 20 on derregulation of the financial system.

[loachy01]

Federal Spending does nothing for the economy. Please do some research before you speak. Less then 10% of this bill will create jobs. It is just a very bloated prok bill that will do nothing, just like the unconstitional bank bailout did nothing.

People had better wake up, BOTH parties and thier untra-rich power buddies are pillaging this country before it is burned.

Obama is the latest puppet in the grand plan, just like Bush. Do people honostly believe Obama can go from a nobody to the Oval office in 4 years without help from (organization)?

[tincup356]

So now we go from corporate welfare bailouts,,,to the pork barrel giveaway?At the same time it appears no one in Washington pays taxes,,,but they want to load the people down with the costs of all this PORK? What congress needs to do is get a restraint on corporate Americas GREED....But instead they harlot out their representation to those same greedy people and ignore the citizens of this country..........Every single problem we face can be directly traced back to over 40 years of lobby dollar tainted legislation by BOTH parties. Congress and corporate America are committing TREASON.

[jedi23232]

I love how the Republicans who were against Bush''s over spending (aka all fiscally conservative people) are now being told they have to go along with OBama.

Here is a news flash for all you moronic Messiah supporters. Just because your man is half black doesn''t and therefore historic, doesn''t mean that we have to shelve our values or ideals.

Bush screwed the Economy because he didn''t act like a conservative. So this arguement that its ok to spend because Bush did it is plain dumb.

You can''t expect anything more from a party who just elected a man because of his skin color instead of his substance.

Oh well, I hope the Senate GOP''s stay strong and all vote against this wellfare pork bill