Shadegg Opposes Irresponsible Spending

Shadegg: “While Washington Democrats claim to be ‘stimulating the economy’ with this fraudulent legislation, in truth, they are throwing money at special-interest government programs that won’t create real jobs or stimulate the economy.”

WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Shadegg (R-AZ) today issued the following statement after voting against H.R. 1, the so-called American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009:

“Today, I voted against $818 billion in irresponsible spending. While Washington Democrats claim to be ‘stimulating the economy’ with this fraudulent legislation, in truth, they are throwing money at special-interest government programs that won’t create real jobs or stimulate the economy

“House Democrats must end their false claims that this stimulus was a ‘bipartisan’ effort. Despite the assurances of President Obama, Republicans have been shut out of the process every step of the way – seeing 3 amendments, which were accepted at the committee level, stripped out of the final package without a vote. Speaker Pelosi has remained true to her word, ‘We won the election. We wrote the bill.’

“Instead of revitalizing the economy and creating jobs, the Democrat ‘stimulus’ provides automobiles for Washington politicians, repairs the U.S. Department of Agriculture headquarters, and funds Medicaid for millionaires. Democrats tout improvements to transportation and infrastructure in the United States asgovernment spending that stimulates the economy; however, only 3% of the funds are set aside for road and highway spending. Arizona is in need of infrastructure funding, yet none of the measly 3% will go to benefiting our state. In fact, the pork-barrel spending in this bill exceeds the entire economy of Arizona .

“What’s worse, this bill burdens not only the current taxpayer, but also generations of Americans to come. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the interest costs for H.R. 1 will reach $347 billion over the next ten years – saddling our children and grandchildren with at least $1.2 trillion of debt.

“A bill that would truly stimulate the economy would focus on supporting small businesses through tax relief instead of considering it as an afterthought; tax relief currently represents only 2.7% of the entire package. Such a bill needs to support families and entrepreneurs by encouraging investment and allowing them to keep more of what they earn. This bill pumps $236 billion into programs expanding programs like Medicaid, none of which will do a thing to improve the job market.”

CONTACT: Katie Orme

(202) 225-3361

January 28, 2009