ALG President Urges Senate to Reject “Stimulus” as Public Turns against Trillion Dollar Spending Bill

Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today urged members of the Senate to vote against the trillion dollar spending bill currently being considered amidst public opinion polls showing increased opposition to the legislation's measures.

“Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is going to ram the bill through before support drops to the single digits. It's a race,” Wilson said.

Rasmussen Reports released a poll yesterday showing only 37 percent of the American people supporting the legislation, with 43 percent now opposed. This follows an increasing wave of opposition to the bill, which passed the House last week with a price tag of $819 billion, or $1.2 trillion over a decade with interest.

“This trillion dollar spending spree by Congress to claim they 'did something' for the economy is a rotting carcass,” said Wilson.

“The public is growing wise to what their Congress is up to, and they know it stinks,” Wilson added.

Wilson noted that even if the legislation does pass the Senate today, it will not reach the President's desk until next week the earliest.

“The House and Senate still would need to reconcile their two bills in a conference committee,” Wilson said. “And if past experience is any indication, the bill, which already contains plenty of wasteful provisions that will not stimulate sustainable economic growth, will only get worse.”

The bill contains provisions to balance state government budgets, expand Medicaid, boost education spending, food stamps and unemployment benefits, build federal buildings, provide more for public housing, construct climate change supercomputers, erect trade barriers overseas, create refundable tax credits, and other provisions that Wilson believes are “nothing more than special interest handouts.”

Yesterday, 18 free market and limited government leaders released a joint letter critical of provisions in the legislation already passed by the House of Representatives.

“They need to know that there is still time to tell their Senators to vote 'no', and that even if the bill passes today, there will still be yet more time to tell both the House and the Senate to vote 'no' on the conference report,” Wilson added.

Wilson believes that by that time, public opposition and protest against the legislation will reach a fever pitch.

“Time is not on Congress' side right now. And there will undoubtedly be political consequences for anyone that votes for this trillion dollar turkey,” Wilson concluded.