| WASHINGTON
- October 24 - The following is a
statement by Joe Theissen, executive director, Taxpayers For Common
Sense on the economic stimulus package:
This $160 billion economic stimulus package is heavily skewed
toward long-term tax breaks for those who least need them and will
negatively impact the long-term fiscal health of our nation.
The bill that passed the U.S. House 216-214 late this afternoon
is thoroughly inconsistent with what experts consider effective
federal policies to increase economic activity. The initial call
for a highly targeted, short-term stimulus, and the bipartisan
understanding reached among the Budget Committees leaders earlier
this month was that any economic stimulus package should be
temporary. With so much of the revenue loss in this legislation
occurring in future years, budget surpluses -- and with them the
future of the economy -- are put at increased risk.
The bill passed today will do virtually nothing to stimulate the
economy. The debate today is less about economics and more about
payback for the big tax breaks that corporations did not get
earlier this year with President Bush's tax cut.
An effective stimulus package needs to do one thing -- leverage
and increase consumer spending and confidence. Unfortunately, this
bill fails to address those needs. Instead, lawmakers have decided
that it is more important to give some of the largest corporations
billions in new tax breaks.
Taxpayers for Common Sense (TCS) is a non-partisan voice for
American taxpayers. TCS is dedicated to cutting wasteful spending
and subsidies in order to achieve a responsible and efficient
government that lives within its means.
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