Do No Harm
Rep. McClintock gave the following floor speech on Februrary 12, 2009.
M. Speaker:
I rise again to urge the majority to consider very carefully the damage they are doing to our nation’s economy by passing this unprecedented spending measure.
There is still time to heed the warnings from economists across the nation that this bill will do long-term damage to the growth of our nation’s economy for many years to come.
This is not mere economic theory: it is the consistent effect every time and everywhere that governments have tried to spend their way to prosperity.
History is shouting its warning at us: never has a nation spent its way to prosperity – although many nations have spent their way to ruin and collapse.
If government bailouts and handouts and loan guarantees actually worked, we should today be enjoying a period of unprecedented economic expansion.
After all, we began down this road more than a year ago with the failed Bush stimulus plan and have now squandered or placed at risk some $9.7 trillion – enough to buy up 90 percent of all the mortgages in America.
We’ve been told not to "come to the table with the same tired arguments and worn ideas that helped to create this crisis," – and yet that’s exactly what this administration and this Congress are doing. This is exactly the same worn and tired policy that the Bush administration pursued for a year to no avail – and we’re even hearing the same worn and tired rhetoric to justify it.
Different singer. Same tired and worn out song.
At best they are trading a fleeting economic surge for a sustained, chronic and long term reduction in economic growth.
There’s a simple reason for that: the $800 billion that they must borrow to finance this plan comes from the same capital pool that would otherwise have been available to loan to employers seeking to add jobs, to homebuyers seeking to buy homes and to consumers seeking to buy consumer goods.
They are literally taking $800 billion from loans that could have been made to expand the economy and shifting it to loans that are largely merely expanding government.
And that $800 billion – plus interest – will have to be repaid from the future earnings of American families – directly sapping the future economic growth of this nation. On average, this single bill will reduce the disposable income of a taxpaying family by more than $7,000.
Instead, why don’t we increase the disposable income of that taxpaying family by reducing their tax burden NOW.
That’s what the Republican alternative proposes – a plan economists say will produce twice the jobs as the President’s plan at only half the cost.
And to those who doubt that, listen to the President’s own numbers.
He has repeatedly promised that the $800 billion in this bill will create or save as many as four million jobs. That comes to $200,000 per job. We could save half of what he has proposed spending and still be able to send $100,000 checks to each of those four million lucky families. And that’s by the President’s own numbers.
Nobody here suggests the government should do nothing in the face of this recession. But this plan is actually worse than doing nothing, because it robs us of our economic future.
Perhaps we need to add the Hippocratic Oath to the oaths of office for the President and Congress: “First, do no harm.”
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I didn't vote for Obama
I didn't vote for Obama because I thought he was an ego maniac that talked a big game with no real plan to follow it up with. I seems that I was right. How I wish we could throw that clown out of the Whitehouse and back onto the Chicago streets. He was effective there, in his small, self-righteous world.
I, for one, am in favor of a
I, for one, am in favor of a universal health plan. I am on a fixed income, under SSA age, disabled due to arthritis and a spinal cord injury, and am paying a huge amount of my retirement income (1/2) on health coverage. I also am a former Canadian and the horrific talks about "socialized medicine" simply are not true.
I, for one, am in favor of withdrawing troops, fighting global warming with "clean technology", cleaning up the public school system by holding students accountable, extending thhe jobless benefits, fixing roads and the infrastructure, and re-building American manufacturing and encouraging others to support local businesses and farmers.
Everyone is concerned about the tax burden for future generations. The current generation of SSA recipients are drawing the contributions of my generation. No one seemed concerned as the contributions increased. I think it is the responsibility of society to care for its weakest members. So I am not in favor of secure tax shelters for 401 K plans hinted at in Obama's speech. Keep SSA and Medicare secure by reducing the profits to the health care and drug industries.
I believe that Obama is
I believe that Obama is suffering from depression due to the early deaths of his parents, recent death of his grandmother and extreme stress of changing the nature of his job. Some people when they are experiencing depression in my family and elsewhere can exhibit symptoms of excessive spending or compulsive spending. He seems to blame a lack of government help for the lack of help to save his mother from cancer by early diagnosis. He seems to be trying to use the spending to fix the past and to cope with his lack of a feeling of safety in the present. I believe we are all in for a bumpy ride until his mood stabalizes in a few weeks or months.
Thank you for standing strong
Thank you for standing strong against the stimulus. More than that, thank you for being vocal against it. I always appreciate the math you offer - it breaks these sorts of things down to such an easy to grasp level and makes your position sound (as it is) unbelievably sensible.
Query: Since the Congressman
Query: Since the Congressman voted against the stimulus, does he intend to refuse funds for 4th District projects on principal, or does he intend to fight for the 4th District's share of funds, and hence 4th District jobs. ??????
1. let's reduce the
1. let's reduce the corporate tax
2. let's reduce minimum wage
3. let's reduce income tax
4. let's reduce payroll tax
5. let's enact the 10th amendment.
Rep. McClintock, thank you
Rep. McClintock, thank you very much for the sanity you bring to us all. Sacramento is out of control with the latest propossed tax increases. Please keep up the fight.
Vet
Thank you, Representative
Thank you, Representative McClintock! I agree with your every word. How can we make the nation understand that this money isn't in a "rainy day" account waiting to be spent for such a purpose. We continue to mortgage the future of our children, spending money we don't have. We are fiscally irresponsible has a nation, and it's time to tighten the belt. Go get 'em!
Tom speaks from years of
Tom speaks from years of experience. President Obama's ears stick out for a reason, it's wet back there. A leader is only as good as the people he surrounds himself/herself with. Great speach Tom, too bad no one listened.
Your humble servant.
Dianna
Thank you, Congressman! You
Thank you, Congressman! You are one of the few sane voices in Washington these days. I'm proud that I voted for you.
"cleaning up the public
"cleaning up the public school system by holding students accountable"
How about letting the money that should be going to schools not stop at superintendents' pockets? How about allowing money to go to schools rather than schools being shafted and having to fire teachers and go without new school supplies? We need good teachers and good supplies. The distribution of money to schools is ridiculous. Take some of that money that gets spent on state workers' plane fare to vacation destinations and send it to the classrooms.
And healthcare in Canada was crap. I have plenty of family in Canada that can still back that today. Difficulty getting doctor's appointments is the tip of the damn iceberg.
Reply to Lavala: As to
Reply to Lavala:
As to Universal Health Care, check the English papers (I think it was the Daily Mail). Their government has decided not to fund life-extending drugs for those having cancer etc. because of cost. So some have to die earlier than they thought and will not see any benefits from research to cure them of their diseases if it comes. Euthanasia anyone? When govenments decide that some lives are not to be saved, does it remind you of the 1930's and 1940's or abortion?
One group showing a connection between abortion and our economic problems is "The Movement for a Better America" - here's the link:
http://www.movementforabetteramerica.org/
Read Dennis Howard's "Reap the Whirlwind" article especially.
If he is right, then this is just the beginning. The DOW is up today, but for how long?