1,071 pages and 8 inches thick.
That's how big the Obama Stimulus Package--the so-called "American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009--is.
It's a bill that, according to the Associated Press, stands to combine "$281 billion in tax cuts for individuals and businesses with more than a half-trillion dollars in government spending. The money would go for infrastructure, health care and help for cash-starved state governments, among scores of programs. Seniors would get a $250 bonus Social Security check."
$787,000,000,000.00
Seven hundred eighty-seven BILLION dollars.
The bill passed the House of Representatives today by a vote of 246-183. No Republicans voted in favor of the bill and 7 Democrats actually voted against this legislation. As of this writing, the Senate stands to vote on the bill this evening.
There's only one problem, however.
Not a single one of these bastards in Washington has even read the damned "American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009."
$787,000,000,000.00
That's not their money. It's yours and it's mine. The United States Congress--our elected representation in Washington--can't even see their way clear to actually read legislation that will add mounds of debt to every American family.
In fact, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi wanted the House to hurry up and vote on the measure because she was on her way to Rome, Italy.
House Republican Leader John Boehner had plenty to say, though.
Republicans said the package won't work because it has too little in tax cuts and spreads too much money around to everyday projects like computer upgrades for federal agencies.
"This legislation falls woefully short," said House GOP Leader John Boehner of Ohio. "With a price tag of more than $1 trillion when you factor in interest, it costs every family almost $10,000 in added debt. This is an act of generational theft that our children and grandchildren will be paying for far into the future."
Boehner also took to the floor of the House today and didn't mince words:
(If you are unable to see the embedded video above, please click here.)
Boehner's right, too. There was indeed a promise to post legislation 48 hours before any vote so the American people can see what's in it---part of the "Hope & Change" brought by our new President. It was posted to Al Gore's InterWebs around midnight. Ten hours to read almost 1,100 pages--and still, no one did.
Obama's bringing transparency to Washington, alright. Sadly, it's in the form of classic liberal "tax and spend."
Leader Boehner is partially right---this bill does amount to generational theft, but it's also something far more ugly and nefarious in my opinion.
This, plain and simple, is the modern version of taxation without representation.
After interest, we're talking about more than a trillion dollars and it's done under the guise of a "worker-friendly stimulus plan." When they put it like that, it would be crazy for the American people to be against it, right?
Our Congress--this parliament of whores--has thoroughly abdicated its primary and only responsibility: representing the interests of the American people.
They're supposed to be our voice and they can't even be bothered to take the time to read the legislation around the largest spending boondoggle in our nation's history? How does that represent me? How does that help us people who actually work.
Congratulations, America. This is what our representative form of democracy has become. Instead of a legislative body, we've got 535 leeches that take your money from you at every turn so they can reallocate it as they see fit.
It's time to vote every single one of these leeches out of office.
It's time to enact term limits.
It's time to change the Constitution of the United States of America so that something like this never happens again.
Congress will never do it because the opportunists there don't want to relinquish the power we've given them, so we must.
Grab your torches and your pitchforks. You should be "mad as hell" about this and you shouldn't take it anymore. Republican, Democrat, Independent...it just doesn't matter anymore. They've all become the exact same thing.
Your rights and your ability to make decisions for your family are next. If they'll take your money without even so much as reading the bill they're voting on, what will we let them take from us next?
This is taxation without representation in its modern-day form and we cannot stand for it.
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