Today, Congressman Frank Lucas will take a stand against government waste by voting against the Pelosi-Obama economic “stimulus” package. The bill has an estimated cost of $825 billion, which is almost as much as the annual discretionary budget for the entire federal government. This piece of legislation is in addition to the $700 billion bailout Congress passed last year.
“The federal government does not create wealth. It simply takes money from one person’s pocket and transfers it to another person’s pocket,” stated Lucas. “Spending hundreds of billions of dollars this country does not have on government projects that are unnecessary will not stimulate the economy and does not help my constituents.”
The package, developed by Speaker Pelosi and the majority party leadership, promises to create 3 million jobs and have an immediate boost in the American economy, however economists have agreed that there is no guarantee of creating even one job. Even if all 3 million jobs are created, it would be at a cost of $275,000 per job, while the average American income is $50,000.
“Instead of adding $6,700 to each American household’s share of the debt, which will be passed on to our children and grandchildren, Speaker Pelosi, could have used this money to give each American man, woman and child $2,700 or give each American living in poverty $22,000,” stated Lucas. “There are portions of this bill that I support, such as infrastructure spending. But the spirit of a stimulus packaged is to pump money into the economy as quickly as possible, not to grant the wish list of every Democrat donor and special interest group.”
The bill passed the House by a vote of 244-188. It will now be considered by the Senate, most likely some time early next week.
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