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Published February 06, 2009, 12:00 AM

Letter: Package has flaws

By the time this hits the Star-Observer editorial page, we will know if the $819 billion ($1 trillion with interest) stimulus package (or pork-ulus package) has passed in the Senate. Here are just a few of the non-job-creating expenditures Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s spending bill has been weighted down with:

By: Dick Pearson, Hudson, Hudson Star-Observer

Dear Editor,

By the time this hits the Star-Observer editorial page, we will know if the $819 billion ($1 trillion with interest) stimulus package (or pork-ulus package) has passed in the Senate.

Here are just a few of the non-job-creating expenditures Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s spending bill has been weighted down with:

  • $650 million for new government cars for government employees;

  • $150 million for honey bee insurance;

  • $400 million to Acorn & Community Organizing Groups;

  • $21 million to re-sod the Washington, D.C., National Mall;

  • $75 million to assist people with quitting smoking;

  • $46 million to help educate people about sexually transmitted diseases;

  • $500 per illegal immigrant with a tax ID number, but no legal Social Security number;

  • $28 billion to bail out California and New York for overspending.

    Other than additional government employees, what jobs would be created from this irresponsible spending spree?

    Please keep in mind that 100 percent of the Republicans in the House and 11 very brave Democrats were intelligent enough to say “thanks, but no thanks.” However the bill still passed 244-188 in the House.

    Nancy Pelosi held no committee meetings prior to the House vote, she refused to listen to the House Republicans’ version of a stimulus package (focused more on tax relief) and she didn’t require any debate or discussion before the House bill was voted on. Hopefully the Senate will insist on debate and discussion and ultimately cut all the fat out of this bill.

    President Obama has admitted that he has yet to have read the 650-page bill in its entirety, so one could assume his campaign promise of “single line item accountability” has yet to become a reality.

    What has been successful in the past to stimulate the U.S. economy is to lower payroll taxes for working Americans. Within two weeks, additional money would remain in the hands of the American worker instead of disappearing in the government cesspool.

    Let’s face it, government doesn’t run things effectively (i.e. Medicare, Social Security, the United States post office lost $9 billion last year alone).

    If we must put a stimulus package together, let’s make sure its sole purpose is to create jobs and jump-start the economy and not to feed the Democrats’ pork-belly projects.

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