Now that President Obama is proposing yet another economic stimulus program – this one a $50 billion “infrastructure bank” to build roads and bridges using nothing but high-priced union labor – Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Tx, is circulating a draft Dear Colleague letter that will go to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi when Congress returns from the August recess next week.
Hensarling’s letter makes clear why Obama’s latest stimulus scheme won’t work any better than that last stimulus scheme, the $862 billion boondoggle approved by Congress in 2009. That was the one that Obama promised would keep unemployment below 8 percent. It’s now 9.6 percent, and has been as high as 10 percent.
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In his letter, Hensarling … wait a minute, instead of me paraphrasing the Texas Republican’s letter, how about I just provide the entire text so you can read it for yourself. Sort of a “I report, you decide” kind of thing. Where have I heard that before? Anyway, here’s the Hensarling letter to Pelosi:
“Dear Speaker Pelosi:
“Although the economy has returned to positive growth, this growth has not been robust enough to spur job creation on the scale needed to bring our unemployment rate down from its near-double digit level.
“Based on feedback from small business owners and other employers in our districts over August, the number one issue the American people want us to work on is jobs.
“What we did not hear was a call for yet another government program to attempt to stimulate the economy. Despite this, President Obama recently unveiled yet another government program costing taxpayers $50 billion in an attempt to stimulate the economy through spending on highways, railways, and airports.
“As you well know, since President Obama took office, transportation spending is projected to have increased by approximately 37%, and over 3 million Americans have lost their jobs.
“Clearly, this approach to job creation does not work. Instead of paving the way to jobs and a robust economic recovery, all President Obama’s plan will do is pave our way into national bankruptcy.
“The solution for job creation we heard from the American people was to remove the uncertainty in the economy stemming from policies created in Washington, such as failure to prevent the largest tax increase in American history at the end of this year, the government take-over of health care, a threatened national energy tax, and a financial regulatory bill that will make credit even more difficult for small businesses to come by.
“Simply spending $50 billion more in taxpayer money will not lead to the sustained economic growth and job creation the American people are demanding. Therefore, should legislation containing the President’s new spending program be brought before the House of Representatives for a vote, we will oppose it.
“Madam Speaker, under your leadership, non-defense discretionary spending has increased by 84% since President Obama took office.
“The American people know that we cannot spend, borrow, and bailout our way to economic prosperity. We respectfully request that you bring legislation to the floor that will freeze tax rates at their current levels for two years and cut non-security spending to its 2008 levels.”
