Porkulus Maximus: GOP Turncoat Senators Exposed; Final Senate Passage 61-37; Conference Next
It looks like the Senate came up with a deal on the so-called stimulus bill:
Senate Democratic leaders struck a deal with a handful of moderate Republicans late Friday on a leaner economic-recovery package and pushed for a vote after five days of partisan deadlock over a plan that had swollen to $930 billion.
Senate leaders valued the compromise, struck on the same day as the government announced the loss of nearly 600,000 more jobs in January, at about $780 billion, although some aspects of the plan remained unclear late Friday. The deal’s proponents said the new plan would cut spending for an array of projects, such as $870 million for pandemic flu preparedness, included in the earlier House and Senate bills. …
White House aides refused to call [the] cuts a defeat for the president. Instead, one called it “a strategic retreat” to get the bill into House-Senate negotiations and off the Senate floor where it was being picked apart.
“Wait til conference,” another White House aide cautioned. The reference was to the House-Senate conference that will shape the final bill. …
Mr. Reid had to compromise to win the handful of Republicans he needs to swing behind the president’s plan and pass the bill. Democrats control the chamber with a 58-41 majority. But they need Republican support to achieve the 60 votes needed to ensure passage of any measure.
Two Republican senators — Susan Collins of Maine and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania — endorsed the package, Friday night.
Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy, who has been ill, was flying back to Washington Friday night to bolster the vote for the plan.
But Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, (R-Ky.) Friday night criticized the compromise plan, and said the plan is “not likely…to produce the results we desire.”
The tenacity of the Republicans’ opposition to the stimulus plan in the House and Senate has appeared to catch the Obama administration off balance.
RedState.com reports on the turncoat Republican Senators:
Multiple sources are reporting that Republican Senators Arlen Specter, Olympia Snowe, and Susan Collins have reached an agreement with Democrats on a final $780 billion version of the so-called “stimulus” package.
Way to sell out your team, folks.
Pamela Geller, Ms. Atlas Shrugs herself, is reporting:
Here are the GOP turncoats. Call now. Call back if it’s busy.
Collins (202) 224-2523
Snowe (202) 224-5344
Specter (202) 224-4254
Update: AtlasShrugs continues to report:
U.S. Senate Contact Information:
SENATOR SUSAN COLLINS
DC PHONE: (202) 224-2523
DC FAX: (202) 224-2693
AUGUSTA PHONE: (207) 622-8414
AUGUSTA FAX: (207) 622-5884
EMAILS TO CONTACT:
Steve_Abbott@collins.senate.gov
Holly_Nesbit@collins.senate.govSENATOR OLYMPIA SNOWE
DC PHONE: (202) 224-5344
DC FAX: (202) 224-1946
BOSTON PHONE: (207) 622-8292
BOSTON FAX: (207) 622-7295
EMAILS TO CONTACT:
John_Richter@snowe.senate.gov
Anna_Levin@snowe.senate.govSENATOR ARLEN SPECTER
DC PHONE: (202) 224-4254
DC FAX: (202) 228-1229
HARRISBURG PHONE: (717) 782-3951
HARRISBURG FAX: (717) 782-4920
EMAILS TO CONTACT:
Scott_Hoeflich@specter.senate.gov
Maria_Plakoudas@specter.senate.gov
Christopher_Bradish@specter.senate.gov
thomas_dower@specter.senate.gov
seema_singh@specter.senate.gov
corene_ashley@specter.senate.gov
regina_campbell@specter.senate.gov
gayle_mills@specter.senate.gov
Update: HumanEvents.com relates what’s happening now:
America’s future in freedom hangs in the balance as three RINO senators on Friday announced they will join Democrats in their scheme to move this country irretrievably down the path to socialism. Senators Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) have indicated they will vote for the $1.3 trillion “stimulus” spending bill that purposes none other than precisely that outcome. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office ruled that less than 20 percent of the bill could in any way be considered stimulative.
The vote for cloture in the Senate is scheduled for 5:30 pm today. If cloture is invoked, debate would end on the 778-page bill that was not released to the Senate until 11:00 pm Saturday.
At noon on Tuesday the bill will be subject to another 60 vote hurdle by either waiving a budget point of order or achieving 60 votes on final passage. This bill that will ground this country in socialism will have passed the “greatest deliberative body in the world” with only one small window of debate on the bill as actually written on Monday afternoon.
These three Republican senators should forever be held accountable for bringing unfettered socialism to bear on the American people. Remember their names — Specter, Collins, Snowe — and let this forever be their legacy.
Update: The GOP strikes back — Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN):
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ):
My question is, aren’t there any Democrats at all who are going to vote “Nay” on this bill?
At least in the House there are significantly more reasonable voices. This is what Rep. John Linder (R-GA) had to say in an email to opponents of the bill in the House:
It is evident that our nation is in the midst of an economic crisis. In order to provide our lethargic economy a much-needed boost, the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives introduced H.R. 1, an $825 billion stimulus proposal that attempts to spend our way out of the current recession. While I agree that the Federal government has a role in restoring the prosperity of our nation, it is naive to believe that spending $6 billion weatherizing private homes, $600 million to train physicians to prepare for universal healthcare, $400 million for NASA to study climate change, or $50 million to repair cemeteries -- all of which are included in this package, has the capacity to restore and grow our economy. I, along with every Republican Member of Congress, opposed H.R. 1, when it passed the House on January 28, 2009, by a 244-188 roll call vote.
While the terms “hope” and “change” are commonplace in Washington, D.C., these days, uncertainty is what envelops American taxpayers. In fact, the only certainty that exists is that compounded with our existing $10.6 trillion deficit, the long-term costs of this proposal will burden future generations. Even more alarming is the observation from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office that only 7 percent of the spending included in the proposal will be realized in 2009, while two-thirds of the spending will occur in 2011, the very year economists forecast the end of the recession. This fact certainly undermines the premise of a stimulus for a timely, temporary, and targeted economic recovery.
I fear that Depression-era spending of this nature will only encourage Depression-era conditions. The cornerstone of an effective stimulus must be jobs; not jobs artificially created by growing the government in both size and significance to individuals’ lives, but private sector jobs where innovation and accountability exist in practice, not solely in theory. Under the Democratic stimulus proposal, 4 million jobs are promised to be created; a noble goal. However, when questioned during consideration of the stimulus bill in the Ways and Means Committee, a representative from the Joint Committee on Taxation could not verify that even a single new job would be created. Even assuming 4 million jobs are created, at a cost of $206,000 per job, this figure is roughly four times the average earnings of private sector employees. This is yet another example of a government plan that offers low results at a high cost; a gamble our sick economy cannot afford.
Instead of taking a nearly trillion dollar gamble, I believe the path to our economic recovery can begin by implementing H.R. 470, the “Economic Recovery and Middle Class Tax Relief Act,” legislation I have co-sponsored which provides tax relief to families and encourages businesses to invest and innovate. Families will experience relief through a 5 percent reduction in income taxes, increased child tax credit, and protection from the Alternative Minimum Tax. Businesses will be able to make projections into the future and create new jobs knowing their tax rates will be stable, investments will be incentivized, and losses can be recovered. Providing individuals and businesses the ability to project for the future brings certainty to the forefront and calms fears. Americans deserve a stimulus that can provide long-term solutions, not just another excessive spending spree by Democratic leadership.
-Phil
These “leaders” showed they lack a Backbone. Conserving resources is everyone’s concern. The whining from Senator Collins still echoes. Pelosi’s pig pack reached across the whole country now!! Imagine! No wonder she is smiling so much.
Reality Check,
The point of the issue is that people such as myself see government as a necessary evil and the least imperfect way to maintain order in society. Further, since government should not be teaching morality but rather upholding moral standards (which is right for it to do), it is up to the church, in my opinion, to be the societal bulwark of what is right (despite its many flaws).
And remember, it’s not necessarily “dogma” to preach and/or believe in low taxes and an overbearing government.
-Phil
Phil
I have never heard quite that definition of science and I think it misses the point in an intentional way. Science is used all the time to make inferences about what is not directly observable. Did you ever read any quantum mechanics textbooks? We have never directly seen a black hole but the probability that a large one exists in the center of our galaxy is extremely high. It is certainly a better explanation than a old man in a white robe is there spinning it around like a top.
I do not really want to argue religion either as it is completely pointless to argue with believers since they can twist any set of circumstances to fit their belief. My favorite is when christian athletes praise almighty god for their victories but don’t seem to place equal blame when they lose. They don’t ever seem to wonder why god would take such interest in a silly sporting event when he must have more important things to do like stirring up wars all over the globe, allowing planes to crash, and letting earthquakes occur to kill innocents by the thousands.
My initial point was to make an an observation that people who seem to buy the conservative dogma on tax cuts and evil government without proof are very likely to be the same ones who buy into religious delusion. I believe there is a connection that is more than circumstantial.
any liberal who thinks taxing is the way out of the financial mess that their social welfare programs created only needs to look at the liberal state of California, right now.
42 billion in the red, and growing.
want more proof?
how about the fact that we are rapidly approaching 10 trillion in debt, that is $25,000 + in taxes for each tax paying American.
I say ENOUGH, more than ENOUGH. The libs can come up with the fake facts they want, the fact remains liberal socialism is a failed experiment. It is time to get the illegal aliens, the obamas, the 1960s kool aid drinking hippies off the dole, and get back to a free market based system which has proven to worked for past 250 years. Obama lies when he says tax cuts led us here, no, it was and remains (since it hasn’t been fixed yet) the social housing welfare program started by CARTER (easy loan programs), furthered by Reno/Clinton/Obamb red districting, ignored by Frank and Dodd, and pushed over the edge by George Saros on Sept 18, 2008 when he made massive credit derivative swap outs in the market tilting the election toward usurper obama. Saros is the same far left wing toon banned from trading in Europe for trying to bring down England with lopsided currency trading.
Everything I say here is the truth, check it out per google function.
Reality Check,
I realize that you appear to have some angst against those of us who believe in something more than The New York Times or one’s favorite statist dogma, and that’s fine. To be bitter against any and/or all segments of Christianity is certainly your prerogative, but you’re not hurting anyone else except yourself with such sentiments as you’ve just expressed.
While this posting has nothing to do with theology, I happen to have a passion for the subject, at least as much as I do with politics and technology. I think that the only thing that needs to be said RE: your insinuation that those of us who believe what the Bible says do not critically think about issues is that Darwinian evolution requires at least as much faith as does believing in Creationism.
Why is that? Quite simply: nobody can go about reproducing “the beginning,” and, hence, it takes faith either way to believe that everything’s completely random (which happens to go against certain laws of physics) or that there’s a purpose for everything. This is primarily due to the fact that science could be defined (this is my definition that I think is rather succinct) as “observing [primarily repeated] behaviors in the natural realm.” So, if we cannot reproduce the beginnings of things on the same scale as the universe, then all we’re left with is evidence and faith.
Again, I don’t want to sidetrack this commentary thread into a theologically-based discussion, and I’m not saying that certain aspects of evolution (such as micro evolution) don’t exist. I am simply attempting to push back on you that not all Christians are “Lemmings of the Church(tm);” some of us do, in fact, question things.
Thanks for the comment,
-Phil
Jackie Smith
The study on religion (that you failed to site) is not correct or is outdated. A recent Pew research study of 35,000 Americans found that the group that said they had no religion was the second largest group at 16%. The largest group was Catholic at 23.9%. Evangelical Baptist was 3rd at 10%.
From my anecdotal experience many Americans who identify themselves as Catholic or some other religious affiliation are not really believers but just say that to avoid the atheist or agnostic label for social reasons. I spent some time in Europe in recent years and religion is fading fast there. I think a recent study showed that in Sweden almost 70% were non-believers.
I think the trend in the US is toward secularism as people become more educated and as the social environment changes to be more tolerant of the questioning of unsupportable religious fantasy. The religious crowd realizes that critical thinking and science are their enemy so they are trying their best to pollute it with poppycock like Intelligent Design and regressive “politically correct” science that attempts to put fantasy (Creationism) on equal footing with science (Darwinian evolution). This movement is doomed to failure for, as they say, “The Emperor has no clothes”.
Jackie Smith
Not all Christians are Regressives. I think most of them from the South are though. In case you slept through the last election the Progressives won.
Linda, a new party is already forming, called America’s Independent Party. Google them, they have a website and you can even affiliate yourself there. Hopefully BO’s “stimulus” doesn’t affect them, also.
Reality Check–I agree with Jackie, which planet did you beam down from? What makes you think that there are more progressives than recessives (a term I loathe because of its negative connotation)? You think that just because BO won the presidential election that there are more of you now? You, who believe in abortion on demand, assisted suicide, and euthanasia? How could there possibly be more of you now than before, since you spend so much time murdering your young and helping the depressed and elderly die early?
I’ll tell you how…ACORN. Say what you want, ACORN stuffed the ballot box in many states. BO didn’t get elected because of his stance on the issues, he got elected because ACORN (and the MSM) cheated to get him elected.
FYI, the wealthy’s tax rate is already high…they find ways to shelter their money from taxes. The old mantra of “spread the wealth” really has no teeth, because wealthy people know how to manage their money with the greatest tax advantages.
Middle class people are the ones who make up the bulk of the tax revenue received, did you know that? Middle class people make good salaries, but spend almost all of it just raising their children and providing for their family.
Poor people don’t pay any tax. I am among what I call the working poor. The wage I make barely covers rent and utilities. Were it not for a wonderful hospital in my town that gives financial aid, we’d be bankrupt all the time trying to find money to pay medical bills, when every paycheck is consumed with just meeting the basic needs of food, shelter and clothing. And for us, clothing doesn’t get addressed very often because food, shelter and utilities get it all.
Despite all that, I can still tell you that BO is full of it when he tells you that the world is coming to an end if congress doesn’t pass this stimulus (aka porkulus) bill. Trust me, business leaders who drive their company into the ground need to be allowed to fail. They need that lesson, otherwise we just prop up the current dysfunctional system. CEOs who lead their companies into failure should not be allowed to pay themselves “performance bonuses” on the taxpayer’s dime. I just wish that Congress had the balls to ask for AIG’s money back, plus all the others who took bailout money without doling it out to ease the credit crisis.
Speaking of credit crisis, you can thank Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, ACORN and, yes, Barack Obama for the housing demise. They were the ones who pushed banks to make risky loans to poor people or people who were buying more house than they could afford. Good grief! This isn’t rocket science, risky loans lead to risky results in terms of payments and foreclosures.
Let me say this loud and clear: NO STIMULUS, PLEASE! Let them fail and learn a few of life’s lessons in the school of hard knocks. Of course, it doesn’t matter anymore what I think because of the turncoat republicans who voted with the dems to pass the pork laden stimulus package. Since the package was mostly pork, with the exception of a few tax cuts, we’ll still have the opportunity to see the stupid CEOs and their businesses fail. Even the Congressional Budget Office opined that there was only about 10-20% of that bill that could actually be considered stimulus.
I think BO is a highly educated idiot, and that he has surrounded himself with other highly educated idiots and criminal friends. Since the “progressives” seem to be in control for the next two years, we’ll just have to grit our teeth and bear it. Lord, I hope 2010 is a better year, and I hope that BO has made enough mistakes by that time that we get a republican/independent congress elected.
Something else they have in the stimulus package that they are trying to slip passed everyone is computerized national database of medical records. Can you imagine what someone could do with this information if they got their hands on it. It would have your name, ss#, address, phone number, insurance info, account info, diagnosis and medications, etc. I can see job discrimination, education discrimination, unconsented research privileges and much, much more. We need to contact our senators and representatives to make sure this is taken out of the stimulus package.
Arlen Spector has always been an evil little rat. This is nothing new from him–but he ditched his party and the people in Pa that voted to keep him in. Too bad for his cancer–maybe he will fall under the new healthcare system and his is too far gone for any more treatment–same as Kennedy–and they should be made to resign just on the principals that they don’t have all of their mental abilities–the chemo and the oxyicotton dictate control.
Maybe if someone brings his medical condition up to him and can convince him he is wrong–he will retract his vote.
I, too have tried to call him and the other two traitors but their lines are busy so emails work as well. I will send all 3 an email again tonight
Some #’s that don’t add up.
1st Bama says his stimulus bill will creat 3-4 million jobs. Sounds good except for that fact that there is 11.5 million on unemployment and rising. I evan have heard that 50 million jobs could be lost in 2009. Sounds like penuts now.
2 heard last knight that 200billion to be put aside for the states. Wow how thoughtfull. Except that California is $48 billion in debt. I am no math metician, or Eco guru. But 200 billion devided by all our states, well you get the picture.
3 california counties are suing California (in daily bulletin paper) as they don’t have enough money to servive. And San Bernardino county says they have enough money to go through March.