The stimulus package has been released, and the price tag is $825 billion.  That's a lot of money, but to some Democrats, it isn't nearly enough.  House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey isn't thrilled with the amount and actually thinks we need more. 

“This represents the largest effort by any legislative body in the world to take government action to prevent economic catastrophe,” Obey said, “and even that may be insufficient alone.

Later in his briefing, he added, “This product may undershoot the mark.”


     The stimulus still includes tax cuts, but the amount is down to $275 billion, from the $300 billion Barack Obama proposed.  As you may have guessed from the title of this post, House Minority Leader John Boehner was not happy with the process or results of the proposed stimulus.  Here are some of Boehner's comments:

"There was no Republican input at all involved in what House Democrats outlined today," Boehner, R-Ohio, said at a news conference at the Capitol. "I just took a moment to look over the draft from Chairman [David] Obey and the draft or outline from Chairman [Charlie] Rangel. Oh, my God.

"I just can't tell you how shocked I am at what we're seeing. You know it's clear that they're moving on this path along the flawed notion that we can borrow and spend our way back to prosperity."


     I know there are going to be a lot of  Republicans who are upset about the reduced tax cuts, but for once, I'm not.  I don't think we should have tax cuts right now.  Actually, I don't think we should have the stimulus at all.  The country is showing a complete disregard for fiscal restraint, and after the questionable handling of TARP, I don't even want to think about how poorly the stimulus money will be handled.   Between TARP and the current stimulus package, we are looking at a bill of well over $1.5 trilllion, and David Obey seems to be priming the country for yet more borrowing.  When will it end?


http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2009/01/republicans-fin.html

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/rep.-obey-not-sure-825b-stimulus-is-enough-2009-01-15.html