Stimulus passes House 244-188

[Kazmarov]

No Republicans voted on the measure, despite courting by the President- though in Obama's meeting with them it was established that ideological differences would make this no surprise.

President Obama won his first legislative victory as the House passed a $819 billion economic stimulus package Wednesday night, but his bid to woo Republicans failed to convince even a single GOP member to join Democrats to back the bill.

If he was upset with the outcome, Obama didn't show it. After the vote, he invited top House and Senate leaders of both parties to the White House for cocktails, hoping a little wine and schmoozing could grease the path for his signature economic initiative in the Senate.

Eleven Democrats joined the entire 177-member House GOP caucus in voting "no" - mostly conservative Democrats from swing districts that often tilt toward Republicans, where a vote for the costly package could prove a liability with voters already upset with the government's bailout of Wall Street firms.

House passes Stimulus without GOP help

 

[pro2A]

Great way to waste more money. It didn't work the last time, it's not going to work now. It's like squirting lighter fluid on amber coals. You'll get a flame for a bit, then it will die again.

If you want to see the economy boom, lower the income tax, get rid of the capital gains tax and cut Government spending. It's really not that hard.

I am happy to see that the Republicans grew a spine and voted against this. When it fails (again) the blood wont be on their hands.

 

[Mirage]

As if our national debt wasn't high enough. Here we go again, spending money we don't have.

I have a feeling this is just the beginning of our economic troubles.

 

[MenInTights]

People are tuned out right now. This is a great time to spend an extra trillion on who knows what?!? Most of this spending won't come online for years. Its got to go before the Senate and I think the American public will wake up when it hits the Senate. I write and call my Senators and I plan on melting the phones over this one. America stopped the amnesty bill and that had overwhelming support in the Senate.

 

[Stab-o-Matic5000]

Great way to waste more money. It didn't work the last time, it's not going to work now. It's like squirting lighter fluid on amber coals. You'll get a flame for a bit, then it will die again.

If you want to see the economy boom, lower the income tax, get rid of the capital gains tax and cut Government spending. It's really not that hard.

I am happy to see that the Republicans grew a spine and voted against this. When it fails (again) the blood wont be on their hands.

As if our national debt wasn't high enough. Here we go again, spending money we don't have.

I have a feeling this is just the beginning of our economic troubles.

While I agree that the stimulus checks given out to individual people don't really have an effect, however, government spending on necessary things is good for the economy, even if it is deficit spending. As long as the money is spent in America on American goods and services, it can have a positive effect.

All that said, as the bill was written, I really don't blame Republicans for voting against it. There was a bunch of stuff in there that was just was just completely worthless. Here's my FAVORITE:

Michelle Malkin Stimulus stupidity alert: $75 million for smoking cessation

Fuck you, Nancy Pelosi.

 

[MenInTights]

While I agree that the stimulus checks given out to individual people don't really have an effect, however, government spending on necessary things is good for the economy, even if it is deficit spending. As long as the money is spent in America on American goods and services, it can have a positive effect.

All that said, as the bill was written, I really don't blame Republicans for voting against it. There was a bunch of stuff in there that was just was just completely worthless. Here's my FAVORITE:

Michelle Malkin Stimulus stupidity alert: $75 million for smoking cessation

Fuck you, Nancy Pelosi.

Thank you Stab-O! If in 4 years Obama is out and a conservative is in power, I'm not going to support their "emergency stimulus" packed full of stuff that I probably agree with either. It's good to see people that realize this is a lot bigger than Obama.


About the actual stimulus package. This is the best idea I've ever read. Adopting something similar to this would make Obama the most popular President in 100 years:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123318906638926749.html

Fifty-three percent of American voters voted for Barack Obama; 46% voted for John McCain, and 1% voted for wackos. Give that 1% to President Obama. Let's say the vote was 54% to 46%. As a way to bring the country together and at the same time determine the most effective way to deal with recessions, under the Obama-Limbaugh Stimulus Plan of 2009: 54% of the $900 billion -- $486 billion -- will be spent on infrastructure and pork as defined by Mr. Obama and the Democrats; 46% -- $414 billion -- will be directed toward tax cuts, as determined by me.
.......

I say, cut the U.S. corporate tax rate -- at 35%, among the highest of all industrialized nations -- in half. Suspend the capital gains tax for a year to incentivize new investment, after which it would be reimposed at 10%. Then get out of the way! Once Wall Street starts ticking up 500 points a day, the rest of the private sector will follow. There's no reason to tell the American people their future is bleak. There's no reason, as the administration is doing, to depress their hopes. There's no reason to insist that recovery can't happen quickly, because it can.
In this new era of responsibility, let's use both Keynesians and supply-siders to responsibly determine which theory best stimulates our economy -- and if elements of both work, so much the better. The American people are made up of Republicans, Democrats, independents and moderates, but our economy doesn't know the difference. This is about jobs now.
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[Kazmarov]

Great way to waste more money. It didn't work the last time, it's not going to work now. It's like squirting lighter fluid on amber coals. You'll get a flame for a bit, then it will die again.

If you want to see the economy boom, lower the income tax, get rid of the capital gains tax and cut Government spending. It's really not that hard.

Or you could do a Keynesian stimulus, raise taxes, and enjoy the longest peacetime economic expansion in human history in the 1990's.

Let's see what all those people we cut taxes for six years ago did with their money:



Oh yeah! They put it mortgage securities and undermined the whole financial system. Or they kept it for themselves. Because cutting taxes and reducing regulations will of course create healthy markets.

/uber sarcasm
------

As if our national debt wasn't high enough. Here we go again, spending money we don't have.

Clinton did a stimulus in '93 in the face of a big defecit left by his predecessor, and within five years the budget was balanced, something no Republican in 25 years has come close to doing.

Nobody ever, ever mentions the national debt unless it's to score political brownie points. I'd rather spend a trillion dollars on the American people than on getting them and civilians killed in a Middle Eastern hellhole.

 

[ExpectantlyIronic]

I think the Democrats need to play some tit-for-tat here and not jack up the cost of the bill more by adding the stuff the GOP is asking for without public promises by a few Senators that they'll sign it. The entire Republican party has apparently decided to play a Ron Paul, and ask for changes to a bill, and then not vote on it when it happens. That shit annoys me.

 

[MenInTights]

This isn't just Republicans.

Democrats that voted against it:
Boyd - Florida
Bright - Alabama
Cooper - Tennessee
Ellsworth - Indiana
Griffith - Alabama
Kanjorski - PA
Kratovil - Maryland
Minnick - Idaho
Peterson - Minnesota
Shuler - North Carolina
Taylor - Mississippi

You can't discount these guys. That's a brave move to oppose Pelosi and Obama right now. Being a Republican is easy. These 11 guys are really laying it on the line.

 

[Stab-o-Matic5000]

This isn't just Republicans.

Democrats that voted against it:
Boyd - Florida
Bright - Alabama
Cooper - Tennessee
Ellsworth - Indiana
Griffith - Alabama
Kanjorski - PA
Kratovil - Maryland
Minnick - Idaho
Peterson - Minnesota
Shuler - North Carolina
Taylor - Mississippi

You can't discount these guys. That's a brave move to oppose Pelosi and Obama right now. Being a Republican is easy. These 11 guys are really laying it on the line.

Arguably, though, they're not, considering that nearly all of those representatives come from states that usually vote Republican. They'd probably be in more trouble if they did vote for the package.

I do really wish, however, that legislation wouldn't fall right down the party lines like this. I'd prefer representatives to vote based on their own beliefs on what is best rather than just go with the rest of the party. That's politics, though.