Today in Washington D. C. - Feb 13, 2009 - Porkulus Alive in Congress

The race is on in Congress between Senator Harry Reid and Speaker of the House Nancy Peloisi to see which one of them can get their Democrats to approve first the economic stimulus bill (H.R. 1 - conference report). The final text of the bill was posted online after 10 pm last night and can be found on the House Appropriations Committee website. I guess our Senators, Representatives and the American Public were expected to stay up all night to review the bill before it is voting on as early as the end of today. Insanity reigns not in the asylum but in the U.S. Capitol.

The Senate at around 3 pm is expected to begin a debate on the conference report for the economic stimulus legislation (H.R. 1). And then in the evening, a vote is expected on passage of the conference report. The vote could begin as early a 5 pm. It is expected the vote will be held open to allow senators coming back from out of town to vote. Any teenager, know that this is not a real debate. Democrats are acting like dictators and a two hour debate on a conference report posted at 10 pm last night that will put Americans into debt for another $790 billion excluding interest.

Despite the time crunch, it’s not hard to spot the flaws in this bloated jumble of legislation. And of course, the pet projects and dubious spending present in prior versions are back for a curtain call in the conference report. The Washington Post writes today, “The compromise stimulus bill adopted by House and Senate negotiators this week is not free of spending that benefits specific communities, industries or groups, despite vows by President Obama that the legislation would be kept clear of pet projects, according to lawmakers, legislative aides and anti-tax groups.” See this mornings prior post: Pet Projects, ACORN Funding Return in Stimulus Conference Report.

The Post points to other questionable spending priorities such as “$8 billion for high-speed rail projects . . . including money that could benefit a controversial proposal for a magnetic-levitation rail line between Disneyland, in California, and Las Vegas, a project favored by Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.).” The Post also points out, “One of the biggest targets of GOP complaints was a measure in the Senate version of the bill that did not name a recipient but would have provided $2 billion for ‘one or more near zero emissions power plant(s).’ Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) and other Republicans say the provision was clearly directed at reviving the FutureGen Alliance project, a proposed ‘clean coal’ plant in Illinois.”

With all this money being thrown around, another question is "Can the agencies tasked with distributing this money even spend it properly or quickly enough to boost economic activity?" The Wall Street Journal examines this issue focusing on bureaucratic bottlenecks in the Energy and Commerce Departments: “An obscure Commerce Department office with a $19 million budget and fewer than 20 grant officers could end up in charge of $7 billion in grants to expand Internet access in rural areas. A Congressional Budget Office report said it could take eight years for those grants to be issued because the amount of money would ‘far exceed’ the agency’s traditional budget and require the deployment of technology that is ‘not widely available today.’”

The main question throughout this whole process, though, has been, “Will this create jobs and help the economy?” McClatchy reports today, “The compromise economic stimulus plan agreed to by negotiators from the House of Representatives and the Senate is short on incentives to get consumers spending again and long on social goals that won’t stimulate economic activity, according to a range of respected economists . . . .Still, could this stimulus get the U.S. economy back on its feet? By itself, probably not.”

Sen. Mitch McConnell laid out the bottom line on this bill yesterday: “Democrats in Congress have said this plan will help ensure long-term economic growth. Yet, the CBO suggests that, over the long-term, this bill will result in an economy that either declines or remains flat. The only thing we know for sure is that this bill will lead to more debt for our children.”

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