reply from my democratic congresscritter on his vote against the stimulus - how do you read this?

[spanone]

Dear Mr. Spanone,


Thank you for contacting me about the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.



President Obama gets high marks for trying to bring change to Washington, but Congress isn't living up to its end of the bargain. In the face of millions of lost jobs and an economy that continues to shut down, the House passed a bill loaded with pet projects that won't provide the jobs Americans need.



Let me be clear: our economy needs immediate stimulus. That's why I called for Congress to pass President Obama's plan to cut regressive payroll taxes, invest in the nation's infrastructure and extend social insurance for Americans going through hard times. That plan would provide an immediate, much-needed jolt to our economy.



Unfortunately, some longtime House members saw the recovery plan as an opportunity to advance parochial political agendas. Some of these may have been good ideas, some may have been bad ideas-but we didn't get a chance to discuss them, and they weren't designed to help our economy recover in the short term. (Many of them contained new, long-term commitments.) President Obama delivered a bipartisan, win-win proposal, and Congress turned it into the rare lose-lose: a plan that may fail to stimulate the economy while saddling our children and grandchildren with unprecedented debt.



The Senate takes up this bill next, and already its price tag is growing. It will be a mistake to add more ornaments to this Christmas tree. Instead, we should pass the timely, targeted bill President Obama proposed: one that helps America start recovering from the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.


Sincerely,

Jim Cooper
Member of Congress

[northernlights]

1. so what are they?

what are these terrible "pet projects" that he claims turned Obama's plan into a "Christmas Tree?"

Sorry, but his answer isn't perfectly clear to me at all...

[spanone]

3. that's why i posted it. it's not all that clear to me. last paragraph..the senate should pass...

does he mean they should pass the original bill..NOT the bill the house passed? which means he really means they shouldn't pass it????

[patrice]

2. Good Idea! I'll post my blue dog's letter when I get it.

Excellent point, we should ask specifically what is pork and what is bread and butter, er . . . margarine.