The Left Has Already Proved Nothing is Temporary about This Spending

Conn Carroll / February 06, 2009

In a study released this morning, Heritage senior fellow Robert Rector pegged the honest cost of the House economic stimulus plan at $1.34 trillion, not the $816 billion that has been reported. Rector reasoned:

The recently passed U.S. House of Representatives stimulus bill contains $816 billion in new spending and tax cuts. Of this sum, $264 billion (32 percent) is new means-tested welfare spending. … But this welfare spending is only the tip of the iceberg. The bill sets in motion another $523 billion in new welfare spending that is hidden by budgetary gimmicks. If the bill is enacted, the total 10-year extra welfare cost is likely to be $787 billion. … The claim that Congress is temporarily increasing welfare spending for Keynesian purposes (to spark the economy by boosting consumer spending) is a red herring. The real goal is a permanent expansion of the welfare system. … Any Congressman who, two years from now, suggests that the new welfare spending be allowed to lapse to pre-stimulus levels would be pilloried for slashing welfare.

The Senate has not yet even approved the House bill and yet the left has already proved Rector 100% correct! The leftist Center for American Progress blares “What Does The ‘Gang Of Moderates’ Gain By Slashing Education Funding In The Stimulus?” and writes:

As The Wonk Room noted yesterday, Sens. Ben Nelson (D-NE) and Susan Collins (R-ME) are attempting to craft a “compromise” on the economic stimulus package. This compromise entails making devastating cuts to the proposed education funding in the bill, a significant portion of which is aimed at low-income, disadvantaged students. (more…)