Democrat's Propose Massive $ Trillion Spending Bill

Democrats in Congress have been calling for a massive government spending bill ostensibly to stimulate the economy for almost a year now, but recently the proposed level of spending seems to be increasing on an almost weekly basis. Back in October, House Democrats passed a $61 billion spending bill, but not long thereafter House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said $150 billion was needed, and there was talk of $300 billion before the election. By Thanksgiving some Democrats were looking for at least $500 billion. Last Friday, Pelosi said that it would need to be “half a trillion, $600 billion, somewhere near that,” according to Politico.

The Wall Street Journal reported, “President-elect Barack Obama’s economic team is considering an economic-stimulus program that will be far larger than the two-year, half-trillion-dollar plan under consideration two weeks ago, according to people familiar with the team’s thinking. . . . Obama aides and advisers have set $600 billion over two years as ‘a very low-end estimate,’ one person familiar with the matter said. The final number is expected to be significantly higher, possibly between $700 billion and $1 trillion over two years.” Now, Roll Call reports that liberal House Democrats are “pushing Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to back a $1 trillion, two-year stimulus package . . . .”
The news of the Obama team considering $1 trillion in news spending-a third of last year’s budget-comes on the heels of New Jersey’s Democrat Governor Jon Corzine telling the House Appropriations Committee that a $1 trillion program would not be unreasonable.” Unfortunately, the steady increase in spending estimates seems to be inversely proportionate to discussions of the deficit.

The question of how is $1 Trillion (which is $1000 Billions or $1 Million Millions or $1,000,000,000,000) is going to be paid for isn’t one that should disappear from the debate. Is anybody concerned about the impact of such spending on the U.S. deficit? According to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, the public is. The poll finds that 86% of respondents are concerned about the current size of the deficit and 49% are “very” concerned. And the question didn’t even say how big the deficit is or will be. President-elect Barack Obama may be saying “we shouldn’t worry about the deficit next year,” but the people who elected him may think differently.

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