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Do Our Representatives Know What’s in the “Stimulus”?

Posted by GayPatriotWest at 12:31 pm - February 13, 2009.
Filed under: 111th Congress, Big Government Follies, Liberal Hypocrisy

Congress is about to vote on the most expensive piece of legislation in U.S. history and they don’t even have twenty-four hours to review it. According to Allahpundit:

When CNSNews.com asked members of both parties on Capitol Hill on Thursday whether they had read the full, final bill, not one member could say, “Yes.”…

UPDATE: “Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) predicted on Thursday that none of his Senate colleagues would “have the chance” to read the entire final version of the $790-billion stimulus bill before the bill comes up for a final vote in Congress.“

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24 Comments »

  1. No, of course they won’t be allowed time to read it. Speaker Nanny Rictus Botox is in a hurry to get it passed so she can take off on her European vacation and get away from “those dreadful peasants.”

    Comment by V the K — February 13, 2009 @ 12:35 pm - February 13, 2009

  2. According to Congressman Tom Price, unless you’re name is Evelyn Wood, you won’t.
    Hear him out on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A68eWFAbClA

    Comment by Sharp Right Turn — February 13, 2009 @ 12:50 pm - February 13, 2009

  3. The thing is, the Democrat boobs out there don’t care if the porkulus is a fiscal disaster for the country; all they care about is that the Dear Leader wins.

    Comment by V the K — February 13, 2009 @ 1:09 pm - February 13, 2009

  4. Congress passed a bill almost as large — the $700,000,000,000 TARP bailout requested by President George W. Bush.

    The Bush Administration left office in January unable to tell taxpayers with any degree of certainty what happened to the first half of the money, which amounted to $350,000,000.

    Comment by Lee — February 13, 2009 @ 2:11 pm - February 13, 2009

  5. Don’t worry, Lee. Obama’s handing out the 2nd half of that bailout and I’m sure he’ll know exactly where it’s going. And he’ll be sure to tell us. Maybe he’ll put up another official web site where we can watch each dollar being spent.

    I wonder if they’ll be allowed to spend it on lawyers, defending against ACORN’s lawsuits demanding MORE loans to people without money, a.k.a, toxic loans.

    Comment by polly — February 13, 2009 @ 2:16 pm - February 13, 2009

  6. No one needs to read the whole bill. The only thing that matter is that their own states’ pork projects are in there. If it’s there for each of them, all’s well.

    Comment by polly — February 13, 2009 @ 2:17 pm - February 13, 2009

  7. Breaking news – the House passed the porkulus package without a SINGLE GOP vote. Also, 7 Dems crossed the aisle to vote against it.

    At least 7 of the lefties showed they had some brains. Too bad we can’t say that about the rest of the socialists in the DNC.

    Regards,
    Peter H.

    Comment by Peter Hughes — February 13, 2009 @ 3:03 pm - February 13, 2009

  8. Dan, you know that most Senators and Representatives never really read the bills from start to finish. They rely upon committee staff, chamber briefing memo, internal caucus analysis, their own staff’s assessments and other sources (like lobbying contacts and constituent mail) to determine whether or not they’ll vote yeah or nay on a bill.

    It’s bogus to argue that they don’t know what’s in the bill beacuse they didn’t read the bill or any bill, for that matter. These bills are written by teams of lawyers, overseen by teams of political operatives… the Democrat 2009 Spending Bill will likely be 1,800+ pages when it’s finished.

    BTW, if anyone here wants to peruse the bill it can be found here:

    http://appropriations.house.gov/

    Should they read it all? I don’t expect them to… I expect them to get the best advice and vote appropriately on legislation. If we expected Congressmen to read even the major bills, my hunch is they’d never come home, never eat, never make committee, never sleep.

    On the flipside, we do expect voters to enter the booth well informed and able to articulate a Congressional member’s stand on a bill or issue? Heck, most elections I’m happy that the voters care enough to show up. How many voters vote for a candidate because his name is Irish or sounds familar? How many times do voters vote No on a ballot initiative because the language was too long to read?

    I don’t mean to pad the kneelers of Congress, but knocking ‘em because they didn’t read the bill like a Sears catalogue is bogus. And feeds into the ready, willingly eager hands of the cynics.

    Comment by Michigan-Matt — February 13, 2009 @ 3:13 pm - February 13, 2009

  9. Not bogus at all, really. This is is a serious amount of money that’s being ramrodded through the Congress. They ought to at least be given more than 14 hours to read it. (Or, more exactly, to have the public read it an object to its contents.)

    Most of this money isn’t even going to be spent this year, so why rush? Answer: There’s a hell-load of pork and special favors in this bill. They don’t want the public to know about it until it’s too late.

    Comment by V the K — February 13, 2009 @ 3:24 pm - February 13, 2009

  10. How is this any different, ethically or morally, from the rapacious Wall Street-types running the credit system into the ground, or Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme? The Federal Budget and deficit isn’t any better than the red-ink bleeding from the balance sheets of the Big Banks. And the biggest Ponzi-scheme on the planet is the US Social Security system…and the US House and Senate are it’s Board of Directors.

    Every member who votes “yes” without personally-reading the “Porculus Bill” should be impeached for conduct unbecoming their Constitutional duties. And that should be true of ANY spending bill….

    Comment by Ted B. (Charging Rhino) — February 13, 2009 @ 3:49 pm - February 13, 2009

  11. the final bill that incorporates the reconciling between the original house and senate bills isn’t very different from the originals. the changes made have been made very public. to argue that they only have 14 hours to read the bill is a bit ridiculous considering the thing’s been batted around for weeks now and little has changed since it went through the senate a week ago.

    Comment by bob — February 13, 2009 @ 4:56 pm - February 13, 2009

  12. Well, whaddya know? Henrietta Hughes isn’t quite what she appears to be. I honestly do not understand how someone either has the gall or the lack of shame and scruples allowing herself to appear on national television to beg the President for money and possessions as well as the ignorance that the presidency is head of a welfare organization. Oh, wait…never mind.

    Get a load of http://www.henriettahughes.com.

    Comment by Ignatius — February 13, 2009 @ 5:11 pm - February 13, 2009

  13. boobie,

    How do you know? how do they know? The house voted to give it the 48 hours REQUIRED to read before passage, then broke that rule so Speaker Pelosi could catch her jet.

    NO ONE KNOWS what’s in the damn bill.

    Comment by The Livewire — February 13, 2009 @ 5:45 pm - February 13, 2009

  14. why do i get the feeling that none of the conservatives commenting on this blog have ever gotten laid?

    Comment by bob — February 13, 2009 @ 6:28 pm - February 13, 2009

  15. Because when dumb leftists lose an argument, they resort to puerile insults.

    Comment by V the K — February 13, 2009 @ 6:39 pm - February 13, 2009

  16. What you see boob are conservatives who are upset when they see the producers in their country being raped.

    Comment by Gene in Pennsylvania — February 13, 2009 @ 8:20 pm - February 13, 2009

  17. I like the leftists who say ” hey no one read the TARP bill, no one reads the bills”….thought we were gonna get change, thought we were gonna get transparency, thought there was a new post partisianship. hehe LIES. Obama and his administration are bunglers tax cheats, boobs and liars. I noted not too many leftists were commenting when the threads addressed all the tax cheats discussed last week. Come boys, man up, defend your commrads. hmm

    Comment by Gene in Pennsylvania — February 13, 2009 @ 8:23 pm - February 13, 2009

  18. #15: i could never lose an argument to you because you have the logic skills of a hamster.

    i’ve resorted to insults because one of the great pieces of advice i was given as a kid went something like this:

    “always wear clean underwear and never argue with a crazy man.”

    Comment by bob — February 13, 2009 @ 8:29 pm - February 13, 2009

  19. [...] Do Our Representatives Know What’s in the “Stimulus”? [...]

    Pingback by GayPatriot » “Stimulus” passage: “not the change Obama promised” — February 13, 2009 @ 9:15 pm - February 13, 2009

  20. Technically, bob, you’ve never answered a single argument or criticism. Most of us were given advice as children, but unlike you, that isn’t where our intellectual development ended.

    Comment by V the K — February 13, 2009 @ 9:32 pm - February 13, 2009

  21. How is this any different, ethically or morally, from the rapacious Wall Street-types running the credit system into the ground,

    Wrong villain, Ted. “Wall Street types” are supposed to try to make money, by whatever means is both legal and available. That’s their job. The villains in the credit crisis are:

    1) Federal regulators, for pushing the banks / Wall Street to change lending standards and make subprime loans

    2) Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae and the Federal Reserve for providing the vast quantities of money that made it not only possible, but almost (in a sense) necessary. Provide vast gobs of money to companies whose job is to use it, and it will be used.

    Comment by ILoveCapitalism — February 14, 2009 @ 11:39 am - February 14, 2009

  22. why do i get the feeling that none of the conservatives commenting on this blog have ever gotten laid?

    Given that your mom still wipes your ass, I’m not surprised you don’t even know what that means.

    Comment by ThatGayConservative — February 15, 2009 @ 6:29 am - February 15, 2009

  23. “Technically, bob, you’ve never answered a single argument or criticism. Most of us were given advice as children, but unlike you, that isn’t where our intellectual development ended.”

    Comment by V the K — February 13, 2009 @ 9:32 pm – February 13, 2009

    well, i promise you, V the K, i was more intellectually developed at 11 than you are today.

    Comment by bob — February 16, 2009 @ 6:28 pm - February 16, 2009

  24. Back O/T and off the invectives for a second, the point made was that it’s bogus to argue that Congressional members should read, page for page, line for line, what’s in any bill –the Democrat Spending bill or the Bush TARP bill.

    Legislators take advice from hundreds of sources before voting. It’s why staff are important elements in the work of a productive Congress. Congressional GOPers, when in majority, didn’t read all the bills. Heck, I sat in briefings with GOP leaders who started by saying, “What’s in this bill anyway to bring you all into my office today?”

    Ron Paul can get away with claiming that “No one’s read the bill” so let’s stall it… feeding into the cynics. Pundits can do the same game to win listeners or attract needed attention and keep the red meat crowd salivating… but the simple truth is that legislators in Congress don’t read legislation unless they’re the primary sponsor… I have yet to see a Congressman pull out a red pencil like I’ve seen state legislators or Governors do when reading a bill poised for passage.

    To argue otherwise is to prove one is shamefully ignorant of reality in DC.

    That’s why I said it was a bogus argument. Not because I like or support the Democrat Spending bill –which I do not.

    Comment by Michigan-Matt — February 18, 2009 @ 12:02 pm - February 18, 2009

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