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‘A Random Dollar Amount’ Thursday, February 5, 2009 ‘Now is the time to act — but it’s not the time to act foolishly WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell made the following remarks on the Senate floor Thursday regarding the Democrats’ trillion-dollar spending bill: “The effects of the economic crisis are inescapable. Every day we hear about some of America’s most venerable companies slashing jobs. The longer we wait, the worse this crisis could become. “But action for the sake of action is almost always unwise. What’s needed is the right action. And the stimulus plan that Democrats in the House and Senate have proposed is not the right action. “First, it’s too costly. “Including interest, the proposal before us comes to a staggering $1.3 trillion — a figure that makes most peoples’ head spin. It includes billions in wasteful spending. And it increases permanent federal spending by nearly $300 billion — locking in bigger and bigger deficits every year. “Apparently, the authors of this bill just couldn’t resist inserting scores of long-cherished pet projects. That’s how you end up with $70 million for climate research, tens of millions to spruce up government office buildings here in Washington, and $20 million for the removal of fish passage barriers in a stimulus package that was supposed to be timely, targeted, and temporary. “The President said Sunday night that we need to, ‘trim out things that are not relevant to putting people back to work right now.’ It seems some in Congress weren’t listening. “The bill’s remaining defenders say it contains a number of projects essential to our long-term economic health. But with millions of struggling Americans learning to live with less, Congress needs to resist the temptation to load up this bill with unnecessary spending that doesn’t create jobs now, or which only touch on problems that demand long-term planning and serious thought. “So yes, now is the time to act — but it’s not the time to act foolishly. “This week, Republicans have tried to improve this bill in a number of ways. One goal was to cut out the waste and bring down the total cost. So far, Democrats have rejected those efforts. “Yesterday, they said no to cutting $25 billion from the bill. They said no to turning off spending on newly created programs. And they said no to turning off spending once the economy recovers. “In fact, throughout this entire debate the two parties seem to have been guided by two different philosophies. The Democrats, it seems, decided on a random dollar amount of $900 billion, and have spent most of their time either defending it or adding to it. “Republicans, on the other hand, have thought all along that what we really need to do is to identify the core problem first—and then see how much money it would cost to fix. “In our view, and in the view of most economists, the root problem of the current crisis, is housing. And it just so happens that fixing that problem would cost a lot less than $1 trillion. “In his op-ed in this morning’s Washington Post, the President wrote that in this debate, we can ‘place good ideas ahead of old ideological battles, and a sense of purpose above the same narrow partisanship.’ I agree. But this bill does neither. “Republicans remain committed to working with the President and with our friends on the other side to address this crisis. We agree something must be done. But it will require a lot more work. Today, Republicans will present in greater detail our ideas for making this stimulus work. “I look forward to getting to work.” ###
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