-Targeted, Timely, and Temporary-

By U.S. Senator Jon Kyl One of the first items on President Barack Obamas agenda was, in his words, a targeted, timely, and temporary economic stimulus bill. Congressional Democrats instead used this mandate to create a trillion-dollar spending bill filled with earmarks, pet projects, and spending that will do little to stimulate the economy. It isnt timely because over half of the discretionary spending in the bill wont occur until 2011 or after. Hopefully, the recession will be over by then. It isnt temporary because it creates over 24 new government programs and the mandatory spending (which Congressional Democrats are unlikely to cut) will cost nearly $300 billion over the next 10 years. And it isnt targeted because it makes the same mistake as last years rebate checks. The theory was that individuals would spend these checks, thereby helping businesses (and subsequently, the economy). But it didnt work that way. Instead, over 80 percent of the money was saved, because families understood their first priority in uncertain times is to pay off debt (like credit card debt), not go on a spending spree. The equivalent of last years $600 rebate is a reduction in tax withholding of $20 a week, which is the centerpiece of this bill. The result will be no different since most families need to continue to tighten their family budgets, not start spending more. In addition to the hundreds of billions being spent on initiatives which will have little stimulative effect, the bill is also laden with pork and unrelated spending. For example, there was a provision that would have provided a $256 million tax credit to Hollywood movie studios. There are also provisions to provide hundreds of millions for the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases and millions more to World War II Filipino veterans in the Philippines. I agree with a recent Washington Post editorial that these potentially meritorious items¦do not belong in legislation whose reason for being is to give U.S. economic growth a ˜jolt, as Mr. Obama himself has put it. Everyone is struck by the absolute seriousness of the crisis that faces our country, and we cant afford to waste the opportunity to do things that will actually help. But simply throwing over $900 billion of taxpayer money against the wall and hoping it trickles down wont work. A bill of this magnitude should have been constructed from the bottom up with things we know will stimulate the economy and create jobs, not with things that fulfill campaign promises or spending that Congressmen havent been able to get approved over the last eight years. Despite assurances from the President that the bill would embody both Democrat and Republican ideas, virtually every Republican effort to improve this bill with amendments was soundly rejected by Senate Democrats. For example, there was a measure I authored with Senator John Thune of South Dakota. It would have made serious changes to existing tax law for families and small businesses, creating almost twice the amount of projected jobs as the Democrat bill, but at half the cost to taxpayers. There was an amendment by Senator John McCain to cut some of the unrelated spending and earmarks from the bill, but that, too, was rejected by Democrats. The massive government expansion proposed by the Democrats trillion dollar spending bill is the wrong prescription for our ailing economy. It wont stimulate economic growth, but will only serve to increase the indebtedness of our children and future generations. U.S. Senator Jon Kyl is the Assistant Republican Leader and serves on the Senate Finance and Judiciary committees. Visit his website at www.kyl.senate.gov.