The House voted today to pass the $26 billion state bailout bill nearly that brought them back to town from August recess, nearly 18 months to the day after Democrats passed the first trillion-dollar “stimulus” bill.
The 247-161 vote came down along near party lines with three Democrats (Bright, Cooper, Taylor) and two Republicans (Castle, Cao) crossing party lines and 25 not voting.
Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.) noted from the House floor that the bill includes tax increases on business that will further stifle job growth.
“According to the methodology of Dr. Christina Romer, the President’s chief economic advisor, the tax increases in this bill will destroy over 140,000 American jobs,” Camp said. “In an open letter to Congress this week, the National Association of Manufacturers warned that ‘imposing $9.6 billion in tax increases on these companies will jeopardize the jobs of American manufacturing employees and stifle our fragile economy.’”
Republican Study Committee Chairman Tom Price (R-Ga.) warned the focus is wrong.
“When these billions of dollars taken from American taxpayers run out once more, Democrats will be right back here clamoring for even more failed stimulus spending,” Price said after the vote. “The only real solution must focus on encouraging private sector job growth and responsible budgeting at every level of government.”
Price also noted that Democrats couldn’t last two weeks without feeding their spending addiction.
“Less than two weeks into the August recess, Democrats have scrambled back to Washington to satisfy their thirst for spending taxpayer dollars,” Price said. “The permanent tax increases in this bill will continue to weigh on American job creators long after this latest well of so-called stimulus spending goes dry. Everyone knows this bailout will not solve states' long-term budget imbalances or help create the private sector jobs needed to fuel a real recovery. It just kicks the can down the road one more time."
Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi said the legislation will force his state to re-write its FY11 state budget.
“Preliminary estimates of the Mississippi Department of Finance and Administration show that we will now have to spend between $50-100 million of state funds - funds that must be taken away from public safety, human services, mental health and other state priorities and given to education - in order for an additional $98 million of federal funds to be granted to education,” Barbour said. “There is no justification for the federal government hijacking state budgets, but that is exactly what Congress has done.”
House Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence (Ind.) spoke from the House floor giving voice to the millions of Americans nationwide who are searching for jobs as Democrats continue their special interest bailouts.
“Americans are fed up with more taxes, more bailouts, more wasteful stimulus, yet here we go again,” Pence said in his remarks. “More spending, more bailouts and more taxes won’t mean more jobs. Millions of Americans are asking, ‘Where will it all end? When will this Congress come together to make the hard choices to put our fiscal house in order and to preserve and promote the kind of tax policies that will release the trapped inherent power of the American economy?'”
You can view Pence's full remarks here:
Read more about the contents of this latest bailout on House Republican Leader John Boehner’s blog here.
