Senate GOP Raise Doubts on Current Stimulus Bill; Support Is Dropping
Update: From RedState.com:
Results from a new Rasmussen Reports survey released today shows that only 37% of those polled now favor the Democrat’s idea of stimulus, while 43% oppose it and 20% cannot make up their minds. …
Even though sixty-four percent (64%) of Democrats still support the plan, that figure is down from the 74% who favored it just a week ago. Only 13% of Republicans and 27% of independents like the stimulus. …
Opposition has risen from 34% two weeks ago to 39% last week and 43% today. …
Forty-six percent (46%) of [voters] fear that the government will overreach in trying to fix the country’s economic problems. …
For his part, the president is … making a desperate appeal to his most ardent supporters to help him out.
Could the Senate be the epicenter of a push for true bipartisanship? Here’s what Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) had to say this weekend:
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said Sunday the massive stimulus bill backed by President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats could go down to defeat if it’s not stripped of unnecessary spending and focused more on housing issues and tax cuts.
The Senate version of the bill, which topped out at nearly $900 billion, is headed to the floor for debate. The House bill totaled about $819 billion and earned no Republican votes, even though it easily passed the Democratic-controlled House. At some point lawmakers will need to compromise on the competing versions.
McConnell and other Republicans suggested that the bill needed an overhaul because it doesn’t pump enough into the private sector through tax cuts and allows Democrats to go on a spending spree unlikely to jolt the economy. The Republican leader also complained that Democrats had not been as bipartisan in writing the bill as Obama had said he wanted.
“I think it may be time … for the president to kind of get a hold of these Democrats in the Senate and the House, who have rather significant majorities, and shake them a little bit and say, ‘Look, let’s do this the right way,’” McConnell said. “I can’t believe that the president isn’t embarrassed about the products that have been produced so far.”
Better get shakin’, ’cause Senate Dem #2 seems to disagree:
“We cannot delay this,” said Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the Senate Democrats’ No. 2 leader. “We can’t engage in the old political rhetoric of saying, ‘Well, maybe it could be a little bit better here and a little bit better there.’ We’ve got to pull together.”
The New York Times is now reporting that dear ol’ Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) may be about to perform Suspend The Campaign(tm) Part 2:
Senator John McCain, the former Republican presidential nominee, offered a prelude to what might be heard from the Senate floor as lawmakers begin taking up proposals that could cost upward of $900 billion. On CBS’ “The Early Show,” Mr. McCain said: “Now’s the time to sit down and take into consideration the ideas that we have, particularly on things like tax cuts. We should have payroll tax cuts. We should be having taxes — incentives for people to stay in their homes. There’s a lot of other proposals we have. We think they–we need to eliminate a lot of the wasteful pork-barrel spending that’s been put in and have a real, meaningful stimulus package. We realize they need the package. We need the package, America needs the package. But we’re not there yet.”
He continued by calling “outrageous” some of the spending measures built into the package.
Meanwhile, USA Today reports that some GOP Senators are vowing opposition:
A group of conservative Senate Republicans vowed Thursday to vote against an $888 billion economic stimulus package when it comes up for a vote in the Senate.“A trillion dollars is a terrible thing to waste,” said Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., standing with Republican colleagues who said they feel shut out of the process of crafting the stimulus despite Democratic promises of bipartisan cooperation.
All of this leaves me wondering if the “F”-bomb — meaning, “filibuster” — won’t be dropped soon. Also, where’s the Majority Leader (Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV)) in all of this? We haven’t heard a word from him lately!
-Phil
To ALL US Senators:
Before you vote to spend another TRILLION of my money…
Assure me that none of the Wall Street Bailout money was used to pay for hookers.
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=6813806&page=1
ABC News breaks the story of Wall Street financial types using corporate cards to pay for sex. These are the same companies receiving bailout money.
Please tell me we are not using tax dollars to pay for Wall Street hookers BEFORE you send $5B to ACORN.
Is this why the government refuses to tell us how the bail out money is being spent?
Thanks for the number, Eric. I just called Spector’s office, got a busy signal the first time, but got through a minute later. I expressed my opposition to the bill as one of his constituents and said that no one I know is in favor of it.
I was able to get through to Senator Spector’s Harrisburg office this morning. The number is
717-782-3951
All other office numbers were busy or received a recording that the mailbox was full.
CALL, CALL, CALL
The aide I talked to said the Senator hasn’t made his mind up yet. LETS HELP HIM OUT.
Eric
I am going to keep trying Voinivich, though. We have to do everything we can. I called Snowe, Collins, Spector and Voinivich today. I got through to Spector very easily calling one of his PA offices. Are there any democrat senators that would possibly vote against it?? If so, please let me know and I will call them too.
Can’t believe Voinivich. He is worthless. He is retiring after his term is up so he does not care what his constituents say. He voted for the tax cheat Geitner too. Unbelievable.
Forget about calling Spector. I have been trying for days, called the capitol office and all of his state offices. Got a busy signal every time. I’ve made at least 2 dozen calls just this afternoon. His phone lines must be completely melted. Just wish he would melt away somewhere, Bongo Bongo would be good.
I vote, my wife votes, my daughter votes, my son in law votes and my son votes. If he screws us on this “Polosi theft bill” we will all be voting against him in the primary next year. If he wins the primary, we will all be voting for the democrat, whoever that may be. I’d rather have my enemies in front of me where I can see them.
Eric
From another Blog
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
THIS IS APPALLING! CONTACT THE FOLLOWING REP SENATORS OFFICE. TRAITORS!!!
Lead Story
Alert: Who are the Senate GOP wobblers?; Update: Reid says he has two Republicans; Collins is sold; Voino no?
By Michelle Malkin • February 5, 2009 01:01 PM
Scroll for updates…Collins falls; Voino a no?
Buzz on the Hill is that the Senate may vote today on the Generational Theft Act of 2009. Harry Reid and the Dems are desperate to end public debate.
And then there’s this oh-so-important consideration (hat tip: Rob Neppell):
“An analyst on Bloomberg just said the talk in Washington is that the Stimulus bill must pass today because many Senators are booked to a security “junket” to Munich tomorrow. Your govt. at work.”
Crikey.
The Senate GOP wobblers may be conspiring on a disastrous compromise as we speak. Who are they?
I’m told that the Squishy Four are (no surprises here):
Collins (202) 224-2523
Snowe (202) 224-5344
Voinovich (202) 224-3353
Specter (202) 224-4254
I was on a grassroots conference tonight with Americans for Prosperity. Jim DeMint spoke and answered questions. Someone brought up a great point…Republicans Senators should say no to this spending bill in ANY form. Even if the Democrats take a few things out of it, it will still be a tremendously bad bill filled with wasteful spending that will not do anything to stimulate the economy. Senate Republicans need to take a stand and send a message that Americans reject this kind of spending. PLEASE CALL your senators on Thursday and Friday and tell them not to compromise with democrats and vote no on the stimulus bill. DeMint said the phone calls are having an effect, but we need to keep it up. Spector, Snowe and Collins need to be persuaded to vote no with the other Republicans. Call your democratic senators too.
http://www.countryfirstpac.com/petition/economic.aspx
Copy/paste far and wide. STAND UP AMERICA
McCain is back, say no to the stimulus plan.
Yesterday, the Senate began debate on an economic stimulus package that is intended to get our economy back on track and help Americans who are suffering through these difficult times. Unfortunately, the proposal on the table is big on the giveaways for the special interests and corporate high rollers, yet short on help for ordinary working Americans. I cannot and do not support the package on the table from the Democrats and the Obama Administration. Our country does not need just another spending bill, particularly not one that will load future generations with the burden of massive debt. We need a short term stimulus bill that will directly help people, create jobs, and provide a jolt to our economy.
I believe we need to evaluate every bit of spending in this stimulus proposal with one important criteria – does it really stimulate the economy and help create jobs – if the answer is no, it does not belong in a so-called stimulus package. Furthermore, the stimulus must include significant direct relief to American workers in the form of payroll tax cuts and programs to help homeowners keep their homes. Finally, we need an end game to this stimulus so that when our economy recovers, these spending programs do not remain permanent and saddle our children with a skyrocketing national debt.
I appreciate the discussions President Obama is having with my Republican colleagues, but the time for talking has come to an end and we must now begin some serious negotiation. But as of yet, Republicans have not been given the opportunity to be involved. The House of Representatives passed a stimulus bill without a single Republican supporting it. In the Senate, the Democrat leadership is trying to jam the existing proposal through regardless of reservations from a number of members. With so much at stake, the last thing we need is partisanship driving our attempts to turn the economy around.
I have long been a fighter against wasteful spending in Washington and long an advocate for a balanced budget — that will never change. I realize we face extraordinary challenges with our economy today, but that is not an excuse for more irresponsibly from Washington. I hope you will join me in saying no to this stimulus package as it currently exists by signing this petition.
Sincerely,
John McCain
Chair, Country First PAC
I would draw this if I knew how to draw.
A postman delivers a package to a house. The husband and wife answer the door and say, “Oh, look. Our Stimulus Package has arrived.”
Package is opened by them and inside are 10 condoms. They look puzzled.
Wife says to husband, “Does this mean we are screwed?”
Obama is not the type to be embarrassed…he is morally bankrupt…so I can’t believe McConnell said this in regards to the stimulus package!
McConnell said. “I can’t believe that the president isn’t embarrassed about the products that have been produced so far.”
Obama borrow money from the Chinese to throw a party for himself and his friends…this isn’t exactly brains at work here. Taxpayers will pay this bill or give up something like (what have we left to let go that nobody wants?) Oh I know, New Orleans!
It is real simple, policy makers need to stop looking for a quick fix and just let the economy ajust and fix itself.
If President Obama wants change I think privatizing inefficient government businesses and infrastucture is a good start. Plus it is less money going into policy makers pockets over who gets money for what and how it should be spent. Government funded programs and regulations are what got us into this mess. And they want BIGGER GOVERNMENT. This so called Stimulus Plan is a Joke…
Glad to hear that the Senate Republicans are talking tough. We need to call our Senators and let them know that Americas are tired of the wasteful spending. Republicans need to hear that we appreciate there standing firm on conservative economic principles.
MR. ANTI-LINCOLN INSTALLS SLAVERY TO THE LEAST OF THESE”
YE,UR UNBORN GRANDCHILDREN, ALREADY, SHAKLEDED, WE CRY&CRY: PLEASE!
HIS FALSE PROMISES, HIS RUSE, TO RIP OUT GREED, BUT A SNOT SNEEZE!
AMASSING “YES MEN AND WOMEN”, HISTORY CORRUPTION LIES, HE HEEVES!!
NAY, BUT, EGOCENTRIC ADDICTED POPULIST, COMMITTED HIS OWN
IMAGE SUICIDE,
FOR THE HOLIGRAM: LIES-DIVES, AS EXPONENTIAL TRUTH WAVE WE RIDE!!
This is what a TRILLION dollars looks like.
If you spent $1 every second of every day 24/7 it would take you 31,407 years before you ran out of money.
If you spent $13.33 billion a year it would take you 75 years before you ran out.
If you keep $1 billion for yourself, you greedy bastard, you could still give away a million dollars to 999,000 people.
Your grandchild just got saddled with about $8,000.00 of additional debt if he or she was born today.
The majority leader is no where to be found. The reason is because he does not want to back a person who promised a bunch of stupid Americans something that he could not deliver anyway. ‘bama went on a rant promising all of this ridiculous free money to anybody who was stupid enough to believe it in order to get votes. That coupled with his vote registration efforts by having ACORN go through the phone book to “register” people got him enough votes in the key states that he needed to put him over the top. The actual reflection of his vote tally might be summed up more realistically if you were to look at his final percentage in Louisiana where I am from. Let’s take a moment to look at that final outcome. 59% McCain/Palin to 40% Biden/’bama. There were no mysterious “phone book ACORN” votes down here and he got a serious walloping. There were also no throngs of people lined up to see this crony as he only campaigned here twice and left knowing there was no way to fool the people of Louisiana. Stay tuned America and thank you very much Phil as we disseminate the truth to America.