Last updated on August 10th, 2014 at 11:56 pm
President Obama put out a statement tonight praising the House of Representatives for passing an $819 billion economic stimulus bill, but Republicans still oppose anything but more tax cuts.
Not a single House Republican voted for the bill, but that didn’t stop Obama from maintaining his bipartisan tone, “That is why I am grateful to the House of Representatives for moving the American Recovery and Reinvestment plan forward today. There are many numbers in this plan. It will double our capacity to generate renewable energy. It will lower the cost of health care by billions and improve its quality. It will modernize thousands of classrooms and send more kids to college. And it will put billions of dollars in immediate tax relief into the pockets of working families. But out of all these numbers, there is one that matters most to me: this recovery plan will save or create more than three million new jobs over the next few years.”
However, Republicans are pushing for less spending and more tax cuts. Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN), who has been all over the cable news networks opposing the bill for the past few days said, “The Democrat bill won’t stimulate anything but more government and more debt. The slow and wasteful spending in the House Democrat bill is a disservice to millions of Americans who want to see this Congress take immediate action to get this economy moving again. House Republicans have a better solution. By enacting the Republican plan for fast-acting tax relief for working families and small businesses the American people will see immediate results that will put our nation on the road to recovery.”
To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.
“Unnecessary government spending and increased debt are simply not the answer to our economic woes. If that were the case, then the current national deficit would be enough to ensure our economic strength for decades to come,” Blunt said. “The best way to stimulate the economy is to get the government out of your wallet by providing immediate tax relief. The government wildly spending a trillion dollars won’t create new jobs and only hurts our economy in the long run.”
Now the bill heads to the Senate where it is a certainty that it will be reshaped, and some of the fat that House Democrats added will be cut out. If House Republicans want to keep living the fantasy that tax cuts can cure everything that is their problem. By the time the final bill comes out of the conference committee, it will look much different than what was passed today. Government can’t limit their options to either spending or tax cuts, but a combination of both just might work.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
