American Recovery And Reinvestment Act Of 2009 - Conference Report

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, across the country Americans are struggling with a very bad economy. Every day we hear more heartbreaking stories about foreclosures and lost jobs. The situation is serious. It appears to be getting worse. It was in the midst of this scenario that our new President took office. As did all of us, the President wanted to do all he could to help the economy. So he asked Congress to put together a stimulus bill aimed at preventing as much future damage as possible.

From the very start, Republicans supported the idea of a stimulus. All of us, Democrat and Republican, thought it was important and necessary. The question was, what kind of stimulus? What would it look like? What would it cost? Who would it help? Where would it go? Most importantly, would it work?

These are important questions, particularly when the economists tell us that a bad stimulus is worse than no stimulus at all. As the President's top economist, Larry Summers has written:

Poorly provided fiscal stimulus can have worse side effects than the disease that is to be cured.

These questions naturally lead to another: How do we measure whether a stimulus will work? Well, according to Summers, it is a fairly simple three-point test. First, in order to be effective, a fiscal stimulus must be timely; second, it must be targeted; and, third, it must be clearly and credibly temporary. So using the standard outlined by the President's own top economist, Republicans have asked: Is this bill timely? Is it targeted? Is it temporary?

The answer, I have regretfully concluded, is a resounding no. This bill fails on all three points. This means, in my view, that congressional Democrats have put together a stimulus that by Democrats' own standards is likely to fail. Yet, with interest, this bill is expected to cost taxpayers $1.1 trillion.

So the question now is, what can the taxpayers expect for their money? Well, at a time when millions are struggling to hold on to their homes and jobs, Democrats in the name of stimulus want taxpayers to cover the cost of golf carts, electric motorcycles, and ATVs; $300 million for new government cars; $1 billion for ACORN-eligible block grants; $50 million for out-of-work artists; $165 million to maintain and build fish hatcheries--$165 million for fish hatcheries; $1 billion for the Census. I defy anyone to explain to me how $1 billion for the Census will stimulate the U.S. economy.

So a stimulus bill that was supposed to be timely, targeted, and temporary is none of the above. This means Congress is about to approve a stimulus that is unlikely to have much stimulative effect.

That is why an analysis by the Congressional Budget Office actually predicted a potential sustained economic decline--decline--as a direct result of this bill. That is why I can't support it.

This is one of the most expensive pieces of legislation Congress has ever approved. Including interest, as I have said, it is expected to cost $1.1 trillion. To put that figure in perspective, consider this: If you spent $1 million a day every day since Jesus was born, you still wouldn't have spent $1 trillion. This is an extraordinary sum of money. It deserves an extraordinary level of scrutiny.

Yet even based on the ordinary standards of evaluation, it easily fails the test. Even if the bill were timely, targeted, and temporary, we would still have to look at the pricetag in the context of all the other spending we are all soon going to be asked to consider. The American people need to remember this stimulus is just one piece of the Democrats' overall spending plan.

Soon we will be asked to consider $50 billion for housing and unspecified hundreds of billions of dollars--possibly even another trillion--for troubled banks. We will also soon be voting on a $400 billion Omnibus appropriations bill that will bring the total discretionary spending for this fiscal year to $1 trillion for the first time in American history.

This isn't Monopoly money. It is real. It adds up. It has to be paid back by our children and their children, and the American people still don't have the facts about the total cost.

We need to tell the American people the whole story. If Americans can't be assured these programs they are paying for will work, they should at least be told what they are going to cost.

Even the Democrats admit this bill is a $1 trillion risk. Today--this very day--the Democratic majority leader of the House asked his members to pray: ``Pray that this bill works.'' Why? Because, as he said, he is not sure that it will. I can't take that big of a risk on this big of a commitment of the American people's money.

I know everyone believes their efforts will help strengthen the economy and create jobs. No one should doubt that. Everyone is trying to do the right thing. My concern is not the motivation behind these efforts but the wisdom--the wisdom--of these efforts.

This bill has been roundly criticized for being loaded with wasteful spending and hundreds of billions of dollars in permanent--permanent--Government expansion. Our plan would have reduced monthly mortgage payments and made it easier to buy a home. Workers would have been able to keep more of what they earn. It is also about half the cost of the Democratic plan.

Every Member of Congress, Republican and Democrat, wants the economy to recover. The question is, which plan would work? In my view, it is highly unlikely this one will. I can't take that big of a risk with other people's money. I will vote against it, and I urge my colleagues to do the same.

Mr. President, I yield the floor.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source