Did Eric Massa Read the Stimulus Bill?
Did Eric Massa Read the Stimulus Bill?
Claims He Won’t Vote on Something He Hasn’t Read
Washington– Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY) made an interesting claim yesterday that he doesn’t vote on a piece of legislation that he hasn’t read. This begs the question – did he read the so-called “stimulus” package before he voted for it? It’s been five months since the passing of the massive trillion dollar stimulus that has failed to produce jobs and riddled western New Yorkers with generations of debt.
In an interview with the Star Gazette, Eric Massa boldly stated:
“‘I will not vote on something unless I’ve read it,’ he said.” (“Massa: Health care bill must cover all,” Star Gazette, 06/24/09)
“Based on his own admission, Eric Massa claims to have read the massive so-called ‘stimulus’ bill which has spent trillions of taxpayer dollars with no jobs to show for it,” said NRCC Communications Director Ken Spain. “If Massa is so proud of his diligence when it comes to reading legislation, why wasn’t he concerned enough to oppose a bill that saddles debt on future generations of New Yorkers?”
Background:
Since the so-called “stimulus” bill was passed in January, it has been widely reported that the relief that was promised to help get the economy moving forward hasn’t arrived:
“President Obama’s claim that his economic stimulus plan has “saved or created” 150,000 jobs is all but meaningless, given a 9.4 percent unemployment rate.” (“Editorial: Relief is too slow,” The Philadelphia Inquirer, June 14, 2009)
“Swindlers, con men, and thieves could siphon off as much as $50 billion of the government’s planned stimulus package as the money begins flooding the economy in coming months, according to David Williams, who runs Deloitte Financial Services Advisory and counsels clients on fraud prevention.” (Morcroft, “Fraudsters eye huge stimulus pie, consultant says, Market Watch, June 12, 2009)
“The $787 billion recovery package was intended to help turn around the economy using federal money to create jobs, especially in places where the recession has taken the most severe toll. Most of that money goes directly to states to pay for work such as highway repairs, but federal agencies also will spend billions of dollars to do everything from fixing runways and improving national forests to cleaning up nuclear waste….‘Even so, the first contracts have amounted to only about $7.42 per person on average in the eight states with unemployment rates higher than 10% last month. By comparison, government records show it has awarded about $26 worth of contracts per person in North Dakota, whose unemployment rate is the nation’s lowest.’” (Brad Heath, “Stimulus Projects Bypass Hard-Hit States,” USA Today, 05/28/09)