President Obama, Tell Me Why This Bill Is Essential
It isn’t pretty watching a president destroy his image with spin. When President Obama said that not passing the stimulus bill would lead to an economic catastrophe, President Obama’s ruined his image. Here’s what the AP is reporting:
Obama indicated he’s amenable to changes. “No plan is perfect, and we should work to make it stronger,” Obama said at the White House Wednesday. “Let’s not make the perfect the enemy of the essential. Let’s show people all over our country who are looking for leadership in this difficult time that we are equal to the task.”
Hearing President Obama admit that this bill isn’t perfect is barely worth noting. We KNOW that it isn’t perfect. Passing this bill is a disaster. President Obama saying that we shouldn’t make the essential the enemy of the good is irrelevant. This bill isn’t essential. Most of its provisions are taxpayer-funded payoffs to the Democrats’ political allies.
That’s certainly not essential. Those provisions should be dropped immediately. One time ‘tax cuts’ should be dropped immediately, too. If the goal is creatng jobs, those gimmicks should be immediately replaced with permanent tax cuts for small businesses and blue collar workers.
President Obama says that “people all over our country who are looking for leadership.” I agree that’s what we’re looking for. It’s time Democrats, starting with President Obama, led with policies that put small businesses and mainstreet America first instead of putting the Democrats’ special interest allies first.
The president rejected some criticisms of the plan: that tax cuts alone would solve the problem, or that longer-term goals such as energy independence and health care reform should wait until afterward.
Health care reform isn’t something that you just write into a bill like this. Policies must be weigheds, options must be examined, costs questioned and technology’s role identified. In short, reforming health care shouldn’t be done without extensive hearings. This isn’t something that’s best done flying by the seat of the Senate’s pants.
If President Obama is interested in energy independence and in setting a postpartisan example, he should tell Congress that they adopt the American Energy Act as the centerpiece of their energy policy. Here’s the provisions in the AEA:
To increase the supply American-made energy in environmentally sound ways, the legislation will:
- Open our deep water ocean resources, which will provide an additional three million barrels of oil per day, as well as 76 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, as proposed in H.R. 6108 by Rep. Sue Myrick (R-NC). Rep. John Peterson (R-PA) has also worked tirelessly on this issue.
- Open the Arctic coastal plain, which will provide an additional one million barrels of oil per day, as proposed in H.R. 6107 by Rep. Don Young (R-AK);
- Allow development of our nation’s shale oil resources, which could provide an additional 2.5 million barrels of oil per day, as proposed in H.R. 6138 by Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI); and
- Increase the supply of gas at the pump by cutting bureaucratic red tape that essentially blocks construction of new refineries, as proposed in H.R. 6139 by Reps. Heather Wilson (R-NM) and Joe Pitts (R-PA).
To improve energy conservation and efficiency, the legislation will:
- Provide tax incentives for businesses and families that purchase more fuel efficient vehicles, as proposed in H.R. 1618 and H.R. 765 by Reps. Dave Camp (R-MI) and Jerry Weller (R-IL);
- Provide a monetary prize for developing the first economically feasible, super-fuel-efficient vehicle reaching 100 miles-per-gallon, as proposed in H.R. 6384 by Rep. Rob Bishop (R-UT); and
- Provide tax incentives for businesses and homeowners who improve their energy efficiency, as proposed in H.R. 5984 by Reps. Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD), Phil English (R-PA), and Zach Wamp (R-TN), and in H.R. 778 by Rep. Jerry Weller (R-IL).
To promote renewable and alternative energy technologies, the legislation will:
- Spur the development of alternative fuels through government contracting by repealing the “Section 526” prohibition on government purchasing of alternative energy and promoting coal-to-liquids technology, as proposed in H.R. 5656 by Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), in H.R. 6384 by Rob Bishop (R-UT), and in H.R. 2208 by Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL);
- Establish a renewable energy trust fund using revenues generated by exploration in the deep ocean and on the Arctic coastal plain, as proposed by Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA);
- Permanently extend the tax credit for alternative energy production, including wind, solar and hydrogen, as proposed in H.R. 2652 by Rep. Phil English (R-PA) and in H.R. 5984 by Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD); and
- Eliminate barriers to the expansion of emission-free nuclear power production, as proposed in H.R. 6384 by Rep. Rob Bishop (R-UT).
In other words, the AEA will put us on the glidepath to energy independence because it’s a balanced, straightforward approach. Not only that but implementing it will create thousands of new jobs. Isn’t that exactly what’s desperately needed ASAP? After all, didn’t President Obama say that doing nothing while people are hurting will lead to catastrophe?
Obama has sought each day to ratchet up the pressure on lawmakers, bringing different supportive groups to the White House, scheduling a series of TV interviews, even traveling to a charter school to tout one portion of the bill.
“A failure to act, and act now, will turn crisis into a catastrophe and guarantee a longer recession, a less robust recovery, and a more uncertain future,” Obama said in his prepared remarks.
When billions of dollars are borrowed to spend on taxpayer-subsidized political payoffs, does President Obama think that inflation won’t spike? Does he think that that won’t have an effect? Doesn’t President Obama think that high inflation rates have the same effect as a tax increase on everyone? In fact, isn’t high inflation the most regressive tax increase?
It’s time that Senate Republicans stood up to President Obama and confronted him with these questions. In fact, Republicans should ask all Democrats, including President Obama, Sen. Reid and Speaker Pelosi, why it’s important to push through a bill that will cause interest rates and inflation to spike.
Secondly, Republicans should ask all Democrats, starting with President Obama but including Sen. Reid and Speaker Pelosi, why it’s important to push through a bill that doesn’t create jobs.
Thirdly, Republicans should ask all Democrats, starting with President Obama but including Sen. Reid and Speaker Pelosi, why it’s important to push a bill that’s filled with pork.
Finally, Republicans should ask all Democrats, starting with President Obama but including Sen. Reid and Speaker Pelosi, why it’s important to push a bill that does nothing to create jobs and make Americans prosperous.
If Democrats can’t answer those questions, Republicans should withold their support. If Democrats want to pass this bill, let them own it. PERIOD.
Republicans should let Democrats deal with the fallout in 2010.
Technorati Tags: Pork, President Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Inflation, Interest Rates, Recession, Stimulus Package, Political Payoffs, Special Interests, Election 2010
Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog
February 4th, 2009 at 9:45 pm
I know I’m just a country boy who gets confused relatively easily, but shouldn’t about 2/3 of this “stimulus” package properly go into regular appropriations bills? I mean, isn’t that the way it’s been done in the past? That way, the separate items can be examined, cussed and discussed, debated, included or rejected, and in the meantime a true stimulus package can be crafted that would actually stimulate the economy as projected by the most widely accepted principles of economics.
Am I missing something here, other than this “stimulus” package is nothing more than a power grab, payoff for services rendered by donk special interest groups (read: leftist lobbyists) and more welfare for the entitlement classes that don’t care about individual freedom and responsibility?
February 5th, 2009 at 12:07 am
You got it, Carlos! Of course, the Obamarons and their Communist anal buddies are betting you are stupid and wont realize that, for example, the taxes your now going to have to fork over to pay for healthcare for “the chidren” are going to subsidize the millions of children whose well paid parents all ready have health care for their kids.
You see thats the way Marxism works, by bankrupting the middle class to support the upper class, under the guise of helping the lower class.
Notice the loons from Moveon.org and media matters et al. that used to scream and yell all the time on here are all silent now. Probably still checking in to read what we are saying, and reporting back all the heresy and hate speech we are writing to their liberal teachers and gay mafia buddies.