Today in Washington D. C. - July 6, 2009 - Biden: Economic Stimulus is not Working!
The Senate reconvened today at 2 PM today and resumed consideration of the fiscal year 2010 Legislative Branch appropriations bill, H.R. 2918. At 5:30, the Senate will vote on an amendment to the bill from Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) to strip an earmark. Several other amendments will receive voice votes. A vote on final passage of the Legislative Branch appropriations bill is likely this evening. The Senate is then expected to begin consideration of the fiscal year 2010 Homeland Security appropriations bill, H.R. 2892.
VP Biden Speaks: Appearing on ABC’s “This Week” yesterday, Vice President Joe Biden was asked about the administration’s $787 billion stimulus package that was rushed through in February in light of the increasing unemployment rate. Biden said, “We misread how bad the economy was . . . .”
Except at the time the White House was pushing their massive spending bill, they were warning of catastrophic consequences if it wasn’t passed. On February 25th, Biden said on NBC’s “Today Show,” “[I]f we don’t do anything, every economist says we’re going to lose 4 to 5 million more jobs this year.” Speaking at a town hall meeting in Fort Meyers, Florida on February 10th, President Obama said, “[I]f we don’t act immediately, then millions more jobs will disappear; the national unemployment rates will approach double digits.” And a week earlier, Obama told House Democrats, “If we do not move swiftly to sign the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act into law, an economy that is already in crisis will be faced with catastrophe.”
Stimulus Fails: But, the AP points out, “Since Obama signed the $787 billion economic stimulus bill in February, the economy has shed more than 2 million jobs.” The unemployment rate has “approach[ed] double digits,” and now stands at 9.5%, the worst in 26 years.
When the stimulus bill was being debated, Republicans warned that it was not timely, targeted, or temporary. Yesterday, according to ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, Biden “argued more time is needed for the stimulus to work.” But if the stimulus was designed to prevent the problems we are now seeing, it clearly has not done its job, given that unemployment has already passed the level the administration predicted it would be at without a stimulus bill.
Now, some are already calling for a second stimulus package. The AP writes, “Economists and heavyweight Obama backers such as Warren Buffet already are calling for another stimulus, saying the recession proved to be deeper and more devastating than originally believed.” And of course the AFL-CIO’s policy director said, “We strongly believe we need another stimulus, and we need it now.” Stephanopoulos notes that Biden “didn’t rule out a second government stimulus package,” despite his reminder that much of the stimulus spending hasn’t yet taken affect.
Obama, Biden, and Democrats in Congress may or may not have misread “how bad the economy was.” However, they did issue an incorrect prescription for turning around the economy by spending nearly $1 trillion which was added to the debt.
Tags: economic stimulus, Joe Biden, unemployment, US Congress, US House, US Senate, vice president, Washington D.C. To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
VP Biden Speaks: Appearing on ABC’s “This Week” yesterday, Vice President Joe Biden was asked about the administration’s $787 billion stimulus package that was rushed through in February in light of the increasing unemployment rate. Biden said, “We misread how bad the economy was . . . .”Except at the time the White House was pushing their massive spending bill, they were warning of catastrophic consequences if it wasn’t passed. On February 25th, Biden said on NBC’s “Today Show,” “[I]f we don’t do anything, every economist says we’re going to lose 4 to 5 million more jobs this year.” Speaking at a town hall meeting in Fort Meyers, Florida on February 10th, President Obama said, “[I]f we don’t act immediately, then millions more jobs will disappear; the national unemployment rates will approach double digits.” And a week earlier, Obama told House Democrats, “If we do not move swiftly to sign the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act into law, an economy that is already in crisis will be faced with catastrophe.”
Stimulus Fails: But, the AP points out, “Since Obama signed the $787 billion economic stimulus bill in February, the economy has shed more than 2 million jobs.” The unemployment rate has “approach[ed] double digits,” and now stands at 9.5%, the worst in 26 years.
When the stimulus bill was being debated, Republicans warned that it was not timely, targeted, or temporary. Yesterday, according to ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, Biden “argued more time is needed for the stimulus to work.” But if the stimulus was designed to prevent the problems we are now seeing, it clearly has not done its job, given that unemployment has already passed the level the administration predicted it would be at without a stimulus bill.
Now, some are already calling for a second stimulus package. The AP writes, “Economists and heavyweight Obama backers such as Warren Buffet already are calling for another stimulus, saying the recession proved to be deeper and more devastating than originally believed.” And of course the AFL-CIO’s policy director said, “We strongly believe we need another stimulus, and we need it now.” Stephanopoulos notes that Biden “didn’t rule out a second government stimulus package,” despite his reminder that much of the stimulus spending hasn’t yet taken affect.
Obama, Biden, and Democrats in Congress may or may not have misread “how bad the economy was.” However, they did issue an incorrect prescription for turning around the economy by spending nearly $1 trillion which was added to the debt.
Tags: economic stimulus, Joe Biden, unemployment, US Congress, US House, US Senate, vice president, Washington D.C. To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Posted by Bill Smith at 3:00 PM - Post Link
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