The Road To Recovery By Dr. Paul Broun

Source: http://broun.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=115374

March 5, 2009

A steamroller of socialism is being shoved down our throats in the form of bloated bailouts, so-called stimulus packages and record tax increases. If this steamroller does not soon hit a speed bump, it will crush our economy.

Congress recently passed a $1 trillion dollar “stimulus” package that simply stimulates more government and more spending. If you really want to try to wrap your mind around a trillion dollars, imagine spending a million dollars, each day, from the birth of Jesus, until today. You still wouldn’t have spent a trillion dollars.

Is Congress so fiscally jaded that that the “T” in trillion no longer sounds alarms?

Now, the President is offering a budget that increases our national debt by more than three trillion dollars over the next five years– an amount unprecedented in our nation’s history. It raises taxes on almost every American and small business. As President Obama promised during the campaign, we must “go through our federal budget -- page by page, line by line -- eliminating those programs we don't need, and insisting that those we do operate in a sensible cost-effective way.” As someone who is concerned about transparency with your tax dollars, I want to work with the President to help him fulfill his promise to reduce wasteful spending and increase transparency. But I’m afraid that promises made are not being kept.

A responsible debate over this trend of big government spending is worth every penny. Let us not forget that more government has never been a solution. Government actions were actually the stimulus that contributed to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s distension, easy money made available following relaxed interest rates, and ultimately the push on American lenders to make loans regardless of the borrower’s ability to pay.

As a result, the credit crisis reared its ugly head, and Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson made his first of many negligent promises to the American taxpayers: that a bailout of Bear Stearns on the taxpayers’dime will stabilize the markets; that a taxpayer rescue of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would turn around the housing markets; and that a $700 billion dollar bailout of Wall Street was the “only” way to prevent an historic depression.

Yet, here we are today, with some duped and dizzied by failed promises as our economy continues to plummet. We must wake up and recognize that the smorgasbord of costly government interventions have not been successful. In fact, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) just released a report estimating that the recently passed, $800 billion stimulus plan, will have a long term, NEGATIVE impact on the economy.

It’s true that our economy needs a significant jolt that requires immediate attention. I believe that Congress must come together promptly to create jobs, restore faith in markets, and again unleash America’s entrepreneurial spirit.

CBO Director Douglas Elmendorf highlighted what America’s economic engine truly needs when he noted that direct payments to individuals and cutting taxes would have the fastest impact on our economy. Two alternatives that I supported would have done just that.

The economic recovery plan I cosponsored included NO bailouts and NO pork-laden projects. It creates twice the jobs at half the cost through permanent tax relief for families and American businesses. This plan creates 73,000 more jobs in Georgia alone. Unfortunately, Democrats snubbed this plan and never even considered it.

I also offered an amendment to the stimulus bill, giving every American who files a tax return approximately $9K -- their share of the trillion dollar spending bill. Clearly, not spending a trillion dollars would have been a better option, but since Congress was bound and determined to spend the money, wouldn’t it have been best to put the money back in the pockets of taxpayers and immediately see economic results? Imagine if you’re part of a two-parent, middle class family, and all of the sudden you receive $18,000 in the mail. You could buy a new car, go on vacation, or make a down payment on a house. Now that’s stimulating. Once again though, my common-sense amendment was not even considered.

Putting America’s economy on the road to recovery will require tax relief for working families and small businesses, and fiscal responsibility in Washington. These are the basic principles that allowed our nation to prosper, and are the principles I will continue to fight for in Washington.