Citing a need for the government and private sector to work together in order to grow our economy once more, Representative Smith discussed the merits of the recently signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and how the US - and Washingtonians - will benefit from the bill.
"We're trying to prevent a 10 year recession," Representative Smith said.
The 1071 page stimulus bill encompasses details for tax cuts (including stimulus checks), a surge of aid to the states to help with the increasing dependency on their social services, an increase in unemployment benefits, an increase in Cobra health benefits for the recently unemployed, money to improve our transportation infrastructure, money to "green" our energy infrastructure, assured availability of money for university students and the sciences, and miscellaneous projects.
A bill that is the answer to what Herbert Hoover could have done in 1929 and parallel to what Franklin D Roosevelt did during his first term in office, this bill has the ability to soften the blow of the country's largest recession since 1945 and help the country bounce back on to its feet.
However, economists such as Seattle University Professor Russell Lindman cautions we won't feel the effects of the stimulus bill right away. According to recent numbers released, the US economy may level out by 2011 and may see a gain by 2013.
Professor Lindman stressed to the same crowd addressed by Representative Smith that no jobs means no consumer consumption; no consumer consumption means a bad economy. And in an economy that is 70% dependent on consumer spending, the stimulus bill is probably the only answer we have to balancing out our economy.
But try telling that to the Republicans.
Serving as a major road block to every form the stimulus bill has taken over the past few weeks, the Republican Party has been stomping like a little spoilt child and screaming that the stimulus bill is all "spend, spend, spend" and offers no immediate relief to the tax payers. (since when have they ever cared about the little guy?) In an appearance on Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer on 08 February, Senator John McCain (AZ) said the bill was going to do nothing but increase our national debt.
- Read the entire transcript of McCain's interview -
"We're going to amass the largest debt in the history of this country, by any measurement. And we're going to ask our kids and grandkids to pay for it," he said.
Apparently Senator McCain forgot we're already paying for the largest debt in American history before the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act even begins appropriating money. And he conveniently forgot the pre-stimulus debt is due to the party politics and selfish deeds of the Republican Party from the past eight years. Not to mention, he has failed to realize the reason we need a stimulus package is because his party helped put the US economy in the toilet! How convenient he is running in the opposite direction of the disaster zone he helped create.
Representative Smith recognized this himself. "We need to make McCain and the Republican Party responsible for their failure," he said.
Even though the stimulus bill has passed and President Obama signed it into action today during his visit in Denver, Republicans are still upset with the bill. It doesn't serve their personal interest - which is to cut taxes, lessen the amount of money the government is taking in, and not help out the economy.
The Republicans are also failing to see how the stimulus bill will create jobs. Maybe they skipped that day in economics class? Or the class of life? Projects funded by the government (or the private sector) creates a new pool of jobs. And projects like building highways take several years; thus, a person will have their job for awhile and give them a steady income. I don't know how they don't see this.
While the Republicans - save three smart moderate Republican members in the Senate - continue to deny the stimulus bill will create jobs and help get our economy back into shape, they've now chosen to jump on the band-wagon belief that the stimulus package will not work and count on the fact they'll all soon be able to join together in a chorus of evil laughter of "I told you so."
"They've got nothing but criticism," Representative Smith said to his audience with a grin of confidence when he spoke about the Republican's negativity.
And if the Republicans want to try blaming the Democrats for the ills of the economy and the supposed negative impact the stimulus bill will have on our country, Represenative Smith says "bring it on." He, along with every other Democrat in the country, are ready to talk the Republicans into a corner about why their misconceptions are well, misconceptions.
With a reassuring look and a belief that this historic legislation is in the best interest of the country, Represenative Smith said: "I'm proud of the process, actually."
Relative links:
To find out more information about the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and how the money is being spent in your state, go to its dedicated website: Recovery.gov
MSNBC: What's in the stimulus bill for you? (re-print from the Everett Herald)
MSNBC: Obama signs stimulus into law
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