Senate Democrats don't have votes for stimulus

Washington Post:

Senate Democratic leaders conceded yesterday that they do not have the votes to pass the stimulus bill as currently written and said that to gain bipartisan support, they will seek to cut provisions that would not provide an immediate boost to the economy.

The legislation represents the first major test for President Obama and an expanded Democratic Congress, both of which have made economic recovery the cornerstone of their new political mandate. The stimulus package has now tripled from its post-election estimate of about $300 billion, and in recent days lawmakers in both parties have grown wary of the swelling cost.

Moderate Republicans are trying to trim the bill by as much as $200 billion, although Democrats working with those GOP senators have not agreed to a specific figure.

The Senate's first vote on a stimulus amendment, a failed effort yesterday to add more infrastructure spending to the package, signaled the change in course. For weeks, the measure has grown to meet a worsening economic crisis with the largest possible infusion of government cash. Despite warnings of dire consequences if Congress does not act boldly, Republicans have become resolute in their opposition to what they view as runaway and unnecessary spending in the legislation. And as the total in the Senate version climbs to $900 billion, unease also is stirring among moderate Democrats.

Extensive Senate revisions would force lawmakers to work at a frantic pace to meet a self-imposed Feb. 13 deadline for completing a compromise bill with the House, which passed an $819 billion version last week. Obama reiterated his call for urgent action in a meeting Monday night with Democratic leaders and by letter yesterday to Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.).

For now, the Senate bill remains a work in progress. "We're trying to find a way to reach 60" votes, Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.), the Senate's chief vote counter, told reporters. "A number of Democrats have said they want to see changes to the bill before they can vote for it."

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Their problem is that there is too much in the bill. With so much in there, there is something for many to oppose. If they strip out the non stimulus items, they could probably quickly pass it, but too many Democrats have looked at the package as a opportunity to throw in every program they have wanted for the last 15 years. That is what they mean in not wasting a crisis.

Clearly many of the items in the bill having nothing to do with the economic crisis. Spending on STD research or family planning is not a crisis matter. Much of the infrastructure spending will not stimulate the economy.

In the last 70 years there have been two proven ways to stimulate the economy and neither is adequately addressed by the Democrat bill. Those two things are tax cuts and military spending. Both give you more bang for the buck than any other alternative. The tax cuts should be oriented toward business taxes and not the wealth transfer "cuts" Obama is pushing.

You could transfer all wealth in this country to the poor and in a short period of time, they would be poor again. It is not just lack of money that makes them poor. If you look at the lives of lottery winners you can see the point. But if you give a business more of its own money to grow, it will create jobs and be much better at spreading wealth through real opportunity to be productive.