Jim Geraghty at National Review points out an interview John Murtha gave yesterday.
Rep. John Murtha (D., PMA Group), on the stimulus, yesterday: “We haven’t seen any results.”
According to the Washington (Pa.) Observer-Reporter, Murtha said he would not have created the stimulus package the way Pres. Barack Obama designed it. Perhaps he would have preferred the funds be given directly to his family members.
Tags: John Murtha
Apparently, if you want a chunk of the stimulus, you had to support Barack Obama. The Administration has doled out more than twice as much money to areas that backed Obama over Sen. John McCain. Once the stimulus made it through Congress, the Administration immediately started sending much of the money directly to supporters, according to a report in USA Today.
Billions of dollars in federal aid delivered directly to the local level to help revive the economy have gone overwhelmingly to places that supported President Obama in last year’s presidential election.
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Counties that supported Obama last year have reaped twice as much money per person from the administration’s $787 billion economic stimulus package as those that voted for his Republican rival, Sen. John McCain, a USA TODAY analysis of government disclosure and accounting records shows.
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The reports show the 872 counties that supported Obama received about $69 per person, on average. The 2,234 that supported McCain received about $34.
The Obama Administration is redistributing the nation’s wealth primarily to those who backed his candidacy, repaying supporters with taxpayer money. This makes John Murtha look like a small-timer. During the campaign, Obama vowed earmark reform, and he touted the stimulus bill as passing without pet projects. The distribution of stimulus dollars ultimately amounts to a $787 billion earmark. One would hope that Congress investigates this, but it’s unlikely the Democratic leadership will allow it.
Rather than take criticism from Republicans on the failure of the stimulus package passed earlier this year, the DNC is actively defending it.
In the last two days, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) has launched a cable ad buy against Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and a web ad against House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) for their criticism of the stimulus.
And the DNC isn’t stopping at leadership. It has also taken aim at some new Republican candidates who have criticized the package as they began their campaigns. In releases dubbed “Failure to Launch,” the DNC attacked former Ohio state Sen. Steve Stivers and Florida state Rep. Dorothy Hukill within a day of them entering the race.
Regardless of whether the stimulus package ever works how it was supposed to, Democrats will take all the credit or blame. Even if the public doesn’t buy their attempts to tout the plan as a success, Democrats aren’t really hurting their chances by claiming ownership of an issue that is clearly theirs.
The Hill reports the DNC released a new web video this morning accusing House Minority Leader John Boehner of “willfully misleading the public about the effect of the President’s economic recovery package to score political points.”
According to DNC Press Secretary Hari Sevugan:
“Either way, considering that the Republican ‘alternative’ included ZERO funding for construction projects, it’s the height of hypocrisy for Boehner to criticize the status of these projects at all,” Sevugan added. “I’d say it’s time for John Boehner to decide who he really represents — the people of Ohio or the ‘Party of NO’ — but he’s already made that clear through his false and irresponsible claims.”
Boehner spokesman Michael Steel responded:
Ohio was very nearly the last state to get the first 50 percent of its stimulus construction money obligated for construction projects, which is ridiculous. As of late May, approximately, no contracts had been signed. Since that time, some contracts have been belatedly set in motion, but the entire process has been absurdly slow-moving — just as Republicans warned it would be last winter when we called for an economic recovery bill based on fast-acting tax relief for small businesses and working families rather than spending on slow-moving government programs. It’s embarrassing that the DNC can’t defend its own indefensible trillion-dollar stimulus that isn’t working and resorts to desperate tactics like this.
Today’s news featured extensive coverage of Democrats’ failed stimulus package. President Obama yesterday told ABC News that “there’s nothing that we would have done differently” on the stimulus. If there is nothing to change, we must ask why this highly touted plan is not producing the jobs it was supposed to and why liberals want a second stimulus.
The Washington Post ran a front page article pointing out how long it is taking the $787 billion plan to take effect.
Leading economists agree that the most powerful effects of the stimulus package have yet to be felt. But even if the measure lives up to Obama’s expectations, it would barely offset the 433,000 jobs the nation lost last month alone, and the resulting employment would represent a drop in the bucket compared with the 6.5 million jobs lost since the recession began in December 2007.
And USA Today reports that states have failed to use the stimulus money as it was intended.
Under pressure to spend stimulus money quickly, many states are using the federal funds for short-term projects and to fill budget gaps rather than spending on long-term improvements, according to a report by congressional investigators.
Some top Democrats are asking for caution in their ranks on promoting another package, but others, like House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, are now open to another stimulus. Voters will likely not take well to Democrats throwing more money into wasteful projects. But as more liberals offer their support for a new plan, we are likely to see another package move in Congress.
Republicans are launching preemptive attacks to stop Democrats from even considering Stimulus II. When the first package passed earlier this year, the public was eager for a quick government fix from Obama. They now understand there is no such thing. Democrats promised what they could not deliver. Government spending is not the solution to our economic woes, and the GOP will be able to make that case successfully this time around.
“Down home, we used to say there’s no education in the second kick of a mule,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Tuesday. “Now, why in the world there would be any conclusion reached after looking at the results of the first stimulus that the way to deal with that is to pass yet another one — [it] is mind-boggling.”
The office of House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) has called talk of a second stimulus “a collective acknowledgement that Washington Democrats’ spending binge — which was supposed to create jobs “immediately” — isn’t working.”
Stimulus II is a chance for Republicans to shift the debate. Any talk of another stimulus needs to be addressed as a referendum on Democratic economic policies.
“This offers us an opportunity to realign ourselves with middle-class economic anxieties,” said Kevin Madden, who led Mitt Romney’s communication operation for the 2008 presidential campaign. “We have to make a very clear and convincing case to everyday Americans that we’ve tried it the Democrats’ way by pumping money into the public sector, and it hasn’t worked.” (Politico)
With many economists forecasting that the jobless rate will continue to climb — and is likely to stay above 10 percent through much of next year — Republicans vowed to make the 2010 midterm election a referendum on Obama’s stewardship of the economy. “I think they’re going to have some significant problems,” said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.), who leads the GOP campaign operation in the Senate, “and I view those as opportunities for us.” (Washington Post)
Yesterday, I recommended that Republicans take the initiative and push their own plan. The American people want Congress to do something to help the economy. Republicans can get the credit for any improvement if they actively pursue small business and middle class tax relief. Make a show of it. If Democrats will not consider Republican proposals, conservatives should hold demonstrations similar to last year’s energy protests on the House floor during August recess. Democrats have proven their plans are ineffective at reviving the economy. Voters will reward Republicans for offering real solutions.
From Reuters:
It was too soon to tell whether the $787 billion package approved in February had been successful, Hoyer told reporters, but “I think we need to be open to whether we need additional action.”
Tags: Steny Hoyer
As the economy continues to suffer from rising unemployment, liberals are calling for another stimulus, and the Administration has suggested it would be open to the idea. Democrats will have a tough time trying to push another package, though. When most of the money from the original stimulus remains unspent, it is challenging to explain how another would help. Gerald Seib in today’s Wall Street Journal explains:
The problem with that idea, though, is that the administration is boxed in, politically and rhetorically. If the White House is going to argue that the main problem with the existing stimulus plan is that it hasn’t had enough time to kick in, it’s hard to simultaneously argue that a second stimulus is needed.
Republicans, however, are now open to another stimulus. House Minority Whip Eric Cantor said yesterday that his party could accept a new bill if it was more focused on tax cuts for small businesses. Democrats failed to provide these in the original package. Because this could be more effective than the first stimulus, Republicans will support tax cuts despite the potential costs.
Seib thinks a compromise may be possible. With millions threatened by unemployment benefits expiring, Democrats could be eager to pass an extension. Republicans would be obliged to go along if the tax cuts are included.
Yet there may be room for a middle ground. Let’s say, for example, that the administration pushed later this year for a bill extending unemployment benefits that otherwise would expire. That would be a form of stimulus. And perhaps lawmakers would choose to attach a few additional doses of fiscal or tax stimulus to that bill. Whether that amounted to Stimulus II would be a question of labeling, but the effect would be pretty much the same.
This seems like a long shot. Roll Call reports today that leadership aides in both the House and Senate have indicated there is almost no interest in trying to pursue another stimulus. Not only will it be a tough battle, but it would admit the first stimulus was a failure.
Democrats recognize the political stakes are high for another stimulus — it would be tantamount to admitting that the first package failed to deliver and would provide ammunition to Republicans, who voted unanimously against it in the House. But it also could wreak havoc on the upcoming legislative calendar, which is already jam-packed with other priorities.
This raises an interesting possibility. What if Republicans pushed the next stimulus package (focusing on tax cuts)? The GOP could seize the debate, make it clear Democrats failed in their proposal, and clog the legislative agenda to slow healthcare, cap and trade, and other liberal bills. With Biden’s remarks about “misreading” the economy and continued calls from top Obama advisers for more stimulus spending, the talking points have been handed to them on a platter.
This would be a bold gamble but could pay off.
While there may be more calls for another stimulus package, polls indicate the public would not support one. A new Rasmussen poll out today shows the opposition Democrats will face if they push through another massive stimulus bill.
Sixty percent (60%) of U.S. voters now oppose the passage of a second economic stimulus plan this year, a five-point increase in opposition since the issue was first raised in March.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that just 27% of voters favor a new stimulus plan, unchanged from the earlier findings. Thirteen percent (13%) are not sure.
Pollster Doug Schoen has similar findings that suggest a second stimulus would be unpopular.
He finds opposition, 37 percent to 56 percent, to the notion that the government “should spend money to stimulate the national economy, even if it means increasing the budget deficit.”
The problem remains that Democrats are still more trusted to handle the economy than Republicans. Eventually, if the GOP keeps sounding the alarm to stop unprecedented spending, the public may begin to realize the Democratic Party is out-of-step with most Americans.
On ABC’s “This Week,” Vice President Joe Biden had this to say about the economy:
“We misread how bad the economy was, but we are now only about 120 days into the recovery package,” he said. “The truth of the matter was, no one anticipated, no one expected that that recovery package would in fact be in a position at this point of having to distribute the bulk of money.”
Oddly enough, though, it was the Administration that predicted unemployment numbers to rise into the double digits if the stimulus didn’t pass. So is the problem whether they misread the economy or passed a worthless stimulus plan?
It may be a relief to many that Biden is not yet openly calling for a second stimulus.
“So, no second stimulus?” [Stephanopoulos] asked.
“No, I didn’t say that,” Biden said, “I think it’s premature to make that judgment. This was set up to spend out over 18 months. There are going to be major programs that are going to take effect in September, $7.5 billion for broadband, new money for high-speed rail, the implementation of the grid — the new electric grid. And so this is just starting, the pace of the ball is now going to increase.”
Now we’re waiting until September? We have already rolled back projections for stimulus success several times. Soon, we’ll be expecting it to start working by January.
Tags: Biden
It is looking more and more like another stimulus plan is on the way. Today, Paul Krugman and liberals in Congress are actively pushing for action. We still have yet to see any jobs created from the $787 billion package that passed earlier this year. The Administration promised we would soon be shrinking the jobless rolls, but Americans are still waiting, as seen in yesterday’s new unemployment record.
Jonathan Weisman, in the Wall Street Journal, analyzes the possibility of a new stimulus.
Yet pressure is growing to do more to reverse job losses. In January, during the Obama transition, Council of Economic Advisers Chairman-designee Christina Romer and Obama economic adviser Jared Bernstein predicted in a report that with an $800 billion stimulus, the unemployment rate would be just about 7% by this time. Without the stimulus, the rate would be at 9%.
The jobless rate, of course, is at 9.5%. Now, because the White House economists are so talented at predicting the jobless rate, they want more money.
On CNBC Thursday, Ms. Romer was pressed on the possibility of a second stimulus. “We’ll do whatever it takes,” she said.
And leading Democrats will likely follow suit.
The chairman of the Senate appropriations committee, Daniel Inouye (D., Hawaii), said in February, on the same day that President Obama signed the stimulus plan into law, that a second package might be necessary. Mr. Inouye’s counterpart in the House, Rep. David Obey (D., Wis.), hasn’t made a similar call, but has said that he wanted the first package to be bigger.
House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman James Oberstar (D., Minn.) also backs more infrastructure spending, and thinks it is “the best way to stimulate the economy, create jobs, reduce transportation costs, and get the country moving again,” his spokesman Jim Berard said Thursday.
Americans are already frustrated with the failure of the stimulus. If Democrats pile on more debt for taxpayers, expect outrage.
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