“Let me bring in a Republican senator, a man known for fiscal responsibility; in fact, has a great record. A lot of young people, including my kids, know all about this guy.” - Chris Matthews
Yes, THAT Chris Matthews.
Someone on Twitter, I forget who, said that he would sign off on the crap sandwich the kids are calling the Great Fiscal Suicide Act of 2009…as long as there was $1 Billion earmark to clone twenty copies of Tom Coburn. That was the best idea I’ve heard all day this side of my boss sending us home early because of the snow.
For fiscal conservatives, they don’t grow them much better than Dr. Coburn. I consider him and Jim DeMint to be the fis-con Legion of Doom, and with DeMint landing a seat on the Banking Committee, the appointment of soon to be former Sen. Gregg to the Commerce Department has left a seat on the Appropriations Committee that would be perfect for Sen. Coburn.
Here’s the good doctor playing Dr. Kevorkian to FSA09…
“Instead of delivering change, this bill celebrates the politics of the past. The bill represents both the mindless partisanship of recent decades, and the failed interventionist policies of the 1930’s. The Senate can, and must, do much better. As currently written, this bill represents the worst act of generation theft in our nation’s history. The fundamental problem with this bill is that it fails to address the root problem, which continues to be toxic assets in the mortgage market. The bill also includes a reckless bailout to states that would effectively nationalize state governments. A state bailout would remove any incentive for states to make hard choices and balance their budgets.
“This misguided step could fundamentally and permanently alter the relationship between state and local governments. I intend to address this problem with an amendment that would turn the bailout to states into a temporary emergency loan program that would allow struggling states to borrow money at a low-interest rate. The bill also contains numerous provisions that are about stimulating long-frustrated ideological agendas rather than the economy. Using an economic crisis to extend government’s reach into health care, for example, is not a way to build bridges between the parties.”
He has the crazy idea that the “stimulus” plan should create jobs and “stimulate” the economy, as opposed to the current plan that, to paraphrase Dick Morris, is like giving methadone to drug addicts hoping they change their behavior. We did that with the first $700 Billion, and are now acting all outraged and stuff over irresponsible bankers acting like irresponsible bankers after we handed them a check.
His prescription to make it better? A few simple amendments.
Actually, more like fifteen of them…
Require that all money in the bill given to states be a loan that must be repaid.
Strike $246 million “Hollywood earmark” for the purchase of motion picture film. Done.
Strike “biggest earmark of all time” – $2 billion for FutureGen clean coal power plant.
Sense of the Senate that the Congress should support President Obama’s “Plan for Restoring Fiscal Discipline.” (Specifically relating to cutting costs and inefficiencies of government.)
No funds shall be used for casinos, aquariums, zoos, museums, golf courses, or swimming pools (mirror House language).
No more than $1 billion may be spent on projects for federal agencies inside the beltway.
Require that any contract that is awarded must be competitively bid.Convert $9 billion for broadband into loans for internet service providers/telecom companies to build infrastructure in market-sustainable areas.
Prohibit any Corps construction funds appropriated in this Act from being used for initial construction projects until all unfinished Corps projects have been completed.
No funds from the Federal Building Fund may be used to construct new federal buildings until the government reduces its inventory of surplus/excess real property by 50 percent as of the date of bill passage.
None of the funds made available for the National Park Service may be expended unless such funding directly reduces the deferred maintenance backlog.
Strike authority for the Director of Indian Health Service to spend all health information technology funds ($85 million) at his discretion, regardless of current law (competitive awards, bidding, etc).
Cut $3.25 billion in funding for Workforce Investment Act programs since WIA has not been reauthorized and GAO has found duplicative job-training programs across 8 different federal agencies.
No funds in the Act may go to a public or private institution of high education that has an endowment of more than $15 billion and/or spends more than $100,000 on lobbying annually.
Make the “making work pay” tax credit non-refundable (the plan to give $500 or $1,000 checks of every family).
Simple enough, right?
Like what you read? Join Citizens for Brodigan to get all the latest updates!
