No Republicans voted for the legislation

Well - speaking of a country very divided.

Seems the House definitely found the isle, and did not cross it either.

The sad part is, we, the people, will end up finding out the hard way who is correct in their party's opinion.

Stay tuned for what it becomes.


from the Baltimore Business Journal

Friday, February 13, 2009, 2:37pm EST

House passes $787 billion stimulus

Baltimore Business Journal - by Kent Hoover Washington Bureau Chief

The House passed a $787 billion economic stimulus bill Friday by a 246-183 margin.

No Republicans voted for the legislation.

Senate passage of the 1,071-page American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (H.R. 1) is expected later Friday.

The legislation includes billions of dollars in spending on items including infrastructure, education, tax breaks for individuals and businesses, help for unemployed workers and aid for state governments.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said the the bill can be “summed up in one word: jobs.” The White House estimates the legislation will save or create 3.5 million jobs over the next two years.

Republicans contended the bill will do little to help the economy and will hurt the country in the long run because of the debt burden it will add to taxpayers.

“This legislation will not put people to work right away,” said House Whip Eric Cantor, R-Va. “Nor does it contain the time-honored incentives for work, investment, innovation and job creation that are proven to stimulate growth.”

Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., who chairs the House Appropriations Committee, conceded the bill is not perfect but said no legislation is. If anything, he said, the legislation is not large enough because of cuts made to win Senate approval.

“You show me a smaller problem we have to confront, and I’ll be happy to produce a smaller bill,” Obey said.

No Earmarks was the Presidential Promise

Let's see if he keeps his word - If not - I expect everyone who voted for him because of that promise to raise all kinds of fuss - because they were fooled again.

from one of my news release sources, Financial E News:

"STIMULUS" BILL PASSES – Under the guise of "stimulus" and a Presidential promise of no earmarks, the House has passed President Obama's "emergency" bill that includes the following. The expectation is that the Senate will remove a number of these appropriations, but time will tell.

• $200 million to rehabilitate the National Mall.
• $276 million to fix the computer systems at the State Department.
• $650 million to repair dilapidated Forest Service facilities.
• $50 million outlay for the National Endowment for the Arts.
• $44 million for repairs at the Agriculture Department headquarters.
• $336 million for sexually transmitted disease efforts.
• $360 million for new child care centers at military bases.
• $1.8 billion to repair National Park Service facilities.
• $276 million to update technology at the State Department.
• $500 million for the Transportation Security Administration to install bomb detectors at airports.
• $1.5 billion for a "carbon-capturing contest."
• $600 million for General Services Administration to replace older vehicles with alternative fuel vehicles.
• $2.5 billion to upgrade low-income housing.
• $400 million for NASA scientists to conduct climate change research.
• $426 million to construct facilities at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
• $4.1 billion for "neighborhood stabilization activities"...groups like ACORN.
• $572 million for the Coast Guard for "acquisition, construction, & improvements."
• $800 million to clean up Superfund sites.
• $150 million for the Coast Guard to repair or remove bridges deemed a hazard to navigation.
• $6.7 billion to renovate and improve energy efficiency at federal buildings.
• $400 million to replace the Social Security Administration's 30-year-old National Computer Center.

One could argue the value to society of any or all of the above. One could also argue that some of them will result in job creation. The question, however, is to what degree in the shorter term this spending package will help the tens of thousands of Americans who have lost their private-sector jobs, including the 100,000 plus just last week.