Having served on many Boards, and participating in numerous conference calls, today was a first. Late this afternoon I joined 10,600 concerned members of Americans for Prosperity as we participated in a one hour “special live tele-town hall with House Minority Whip (R-VA) Congressman Eric Cantor and economist Steve Moore of the Wall Street Journal for an up-to-the-minute intelligence and details on the eve of the Congress’s final vote on the Pelosi/Reid/Obama trillion dollar “Stimulus” boondoggle.”
Tim Phillips, President, Americans for Prosperity, made it possible for us to either listen in and/or ask questions on all aspects of this massive stimulus package for which no one can answer the $64,000 question. How do we pay for it?
Right out of the gate was a question from Ann Marie in Pennsylvania who questioned the “health care provision.” Steve Moore responded that they are receiving calls that are running 20-30 to one against the plan. As to health care Steve said “this plan is a giant lurch to nationalized health care.” He cited as an example the possibility that seniors requiring a hip replacement may find that they are not covered for this procedure. He also said that second opinions may not be covered.
Steve said this stimulus is “beyond pork” and suggested we watch NY Senator Chuck Schumer on You Tube where he admits that “the American people don’t care” about pork projects in stimulus that can be viewed at this link.
Another caller asked “how are we going to afford this” to which Mr. Moore responded that our “federal spending will go to 35% of GDP. We are approaching European style socialism.” He followed by reminding us that right behind this Bill is an Omnibus spending Bill that will trail by one week.
Congressman Cantor advised us that “the stimulus Bill has NOT been printed yet.”
Gilbert commentary. Around 435 members of the House and upwards of 100 in the Senate will be voting blindly tomorrow. Query. Would you sign on the dotted line to purchase anything for hundreds of thousands of dollars no less $789 billion without reading the document? Are these elected officials simply following their marching orders to support the president without seeing the Contract that “House Democrats had promised at least 48 hours of public review before a vote?” Is this a case of follow me, trust us, and don’t ask questions?
Congressman Cantor reminded us that the stimulus comes on the heel of (the) $750 billion (TARP), to be followed by another TARP Bill for around one trillion, an Omnibus Bill for a half trillion and a Housing Bill for a half trillion.
He even pointed out that Harry Reid has included “$8 billion for high speed rail from CA to Vegas.”
The Minority Whip told us that Republicans did create a 5 point Economic Recovery Plan to “create twice the jobs at half the cost” (The Plan is found at this link.
Later in the town hall the Congressman said “we are on a glide path to spend 40% of our GDP this year alone.” There is “no sense of accountability.”
Readers. There is still time to contact your elected officials inside the beltway before they vote and share your concerns.
The House switchboard number is (202) 225-3121
To reach the Senate switchboard call (202) 224-3121.
Let me also urge you to join with 497,000 Americans and sign our petition that is found on our home page. Here is the link.
Larry Gilbert, Member, AFP
It’s nice that you could talk with an economist from the Wall Street Journal and a Republican Congressman from Virginia and have them tell you what you wanted to hear!
anon,
You have become the definition of a troll.
Larry, didn’t ask “how do we pay for it?” when it came to Bush’s dirty little war in Iraq. But hey, what’s a few trillion when you’re killing people.
The Republican’s got us into this mess through their policies of tax cuts, war mongering and deregulation. If tax cuts were the answer we would be in fat city right now instead of looking at headlines like this; Some Large Banks on the Edge of Insolvency; Total Losses Estimated to Reach 3.6 Trillion.
Who are you going to believe, discredited ( the Republican “jobs” plan relies on fuzzy, phony math) party hacks or the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office? This from the director of the CBO; the “CBO estimates that the Senate legislation would raise output by between 1.4% and 4.1% by the 4th quarter of 2009; by between 1.2% and 3.6% by the 4th quarter of 2010; and by between 0.4% and 1.2% by the 4th quarter 2011. CBO estimates that the legislation would RAISE employment by 0.9 to 2.5 million at the end of 2009; 1.3 to 3.9 million at the end of 2010; and 0.6 to 1.9 million at the end of 2011.”
China is spending 600 billion on infrastructure projects to stimulate their economy, if the U.S. does nothing, who will come out of this recession/depression better prepared to lead the world economy?
Believe it or not….even $10 Trillion bucks is
simply a drop in the bucket. We owe: $163 Trillion in bad paper and lowered Real Estate Values. Deleveraging is the only way to right the ship of state. Which means: (1) Write OFF
ALL the bad loans and (2) Find a floor for, soon to be announced, stabilized Real Estate values…say we use 1993 rates and values! A Trillion bucks in this market…it pure “Chump Change”! It might have been better to “Bark at
the Moon!”
As I opined above. paraphrased: Would you buy a home for a few hundred thousand dollars without an opportunity to read the purchase documents? See below:
Democratic Senator Predicts None of His Colleagues ‘Will Have the Chance’ to Read Final Stimulus Bill Before Vote
Friday, February 13, 2009
By Ryan Byrnes and Edwin Mora
Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D.-N.J.)(CNSNews.com) – Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) predicted on Thursday that none of his Senate colleagues would “have the chance” to read the entire final version of the $790-billion stimulus bill before the bill comes up for a final vote in Congress.
“No, I don’t think anyone will have the chance to [read the entire bill],” Lautenberg told CNSNews.com.
Hey, Nancy Pelosi has other things to do and places to go this weekend. Vote for the stimulus package as is or I will remember your delay when your district needs some pork.
anonster. Pay for it?
Do you ever clear your rear view mirror? If not perhaps you should as you can only see president Bush yet avoid president Clinton as you question the cost of the war against terror.
If, and it is a big if, Bill Clinton had taken action against terrorists when US military was attacked at Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia, or two US Embassies in Africa during his tenure the tragedy of 9-11 may have been avoided. We would not have needed to spend the big bucks in fighting the war on terror that you reference above.
Let us not forget the USS Cole in Yemen which was also on Bill Clinton’s watch. And to think that president Obama is releasing the mastermind of that attack on an American warship killing US sailors is a slap in the face.
Don’t you dare “cherry pick” the culprit without painting the entire picture for all readers.
Right Larry, let’s blame this whole mess on Clinton.
Reality check; BUSH STARTED AN UNNECESSARY WAR and NOTHING YOU CAN CONJURE UP WILL CHANGE THAT FACT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! TRILLIONS WASTED, THOUSANDS DEAD,for NOTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
anonster. You are living in denial. The terrorist attacks against the USA began on Clinton’s watch.
CIA operatives had Obama in their sights in Afghanistan long before we spent the trillion dollars in this fight. Someone in the Clinton inner circle changed the green light to red and today we live with this protracted war.
anonster,
I think you are kind of right, but mostly wrong. Bush has spent a lot of money, and I only wish the Republicans would have acted like this for the previous 10 years (By like this I mean voting no on stupid spending) I have to disagree on the war, was it expensive….YES was it necessary…that is up to debate. After 9/11 we were in a bad place, and if I listen to the Tesimony from Clinton, Gore, Kerry, Hillay et all frombefore 9/11 they all seemed to think Saddam had the WMD’s. Now were they there? Who knows? But I think they badly mishandled the aftermath, they did not plan on the “You break it You buy it result”. My serious problem with Bush and the Republicans was all of the OTHER spending, no child, additional medicare entitlements, etc…
But if we are looking at the ongoing costs for conflict. How much have we spent in Kosovo? What did it cost to Bomb Serbia? Bosnia? for what? Didn’t Clinton tell us they would be home by Christmas? Dodn’t we still have US Troops there?
As far as this Spending bill is concerned I have $20 bucks that says your jobs numbers will not be met, by the end of the year. Will the tax cuts help, sure, will the Building projects help? A little…in a while, will we be WASTING BILLIONS and BILLIONS of Dollars. yes!
As for not reading the Bill, seriously what happpened there. How does that not make you sick to your stomach? I was at a meeting today where Councilmember Schlict and Larry went Line by Line in the Budget to keep an eye on wasteful spending, and these guys are spending 800 Billion without reading the Large Print, much less the Fine print. This can not be defended
Two words Larry; Tora Bora.