Despite Bennet’s promise that the first massive bill “creates jobs, cuts taxes for American families and businesses,” the nation’s jobless rate has risen to 9.6 percent. As the Associated Press notes, “Even if he can get the plan through Congress, at a time when lawmakers and voters are worried about federal deficits, the transportation spending plan envisioned by President Barack Obama wouldn't create jobs right away.”
Last year, Bennet admittedly failed to read the bill before he voted it into law and he bizarrely claimed that “spending federal dollars can drive down the growing national debt.” Yet, as the first stimulus debacle became increasingly unpopular and Bennet faced an increasingly uphill election bid this November, Colorado’s appointed Senator hypocritically attempted to backtrack and criticized the spending bill that he voted for, decrying the record debt that he helped build as “immoral to leave…to our children.”
“Last year, appointed Senator Michael Bennet and President Obama blatantly ignored taxpayers’ concerns and promised that their massive stimulus bill would create much-needed jobs in Colorado and nationwide. Now, after failing to deliver on their economic promises for more than 18 months, the Obama Administration and Senator Bennet want to raid taxpayers’ wallets once again – this time with higher taxes to pay for even more Washington spending,” said National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) Press Secretary Amber Marchand.
“If there is one thing that President Obama and his party should have learned by now, it’s that our country cannot spend its way out of a recession. As Coloradans face skyrocketing unemployment and out-of-control spending, voters deserve to know: Will Bennet rubberstamp more spending, or will he stand up and finally say enough is enough?” Marchand concluded.
As a reminder, Obama and Bennet’s first failed stimulus spending bill spent taxpayer dollars on wasteful non-job related projects, including:
* $144,541 to see how monkeys react under the influence of cocaine;
* $2 million to study exotic ants;
* Almost half-a-million to provide quitting smokers with a smartphone;
* $554,000 to replace windows at a closed visitor center;
* $760,000 for a computerized choreography program;
* $357,710 to restore an abandoned furnace;
* Over $13 million for repairs at the remote Dry Tortugas National Park in Key West, Florida;
* $700,000 to study why monkeys respond negatively to inequity and unfairness;
* Nearly $300,000 to provide information on interplanetary weather. (Senators Tom Coburn, M.D. and John McCain, “Summertime Blues: 100 Stimulus Projects That Give Taxpayers The Blues,” August 2010)
The Wall Street Journal editorialized today:
So two months before an election, and 19 months after the mother of all spending programs, President Obama said yesterday he's rolling out one more plan to stimulate the economy…Stimulus I failed. Enter Stimulus II, the $814 billion plan that was also supposed to make up for lost private demand… Democrats embarked on the most sweeping expansion of government since the 1960s, imposing national health care, rewriting financial laws from top to bottom, attempting to re-regulate the telecom industry, and imposing vast new costs on energy, among many other proposals. Not to stop there, in January it plans to impose a huge new tax increase on “the wealthy,” which in practice means on the most profitable small businesses… Mr. Obama and the Democratic Congress have succeeded in doing all of this despite the growing opposition of the American people, who are now enduring the results. The only path back to robust growth and prosperity is to stop this agenda dead in its tracks, and then by stages to reverse it. These are the economic stakes in November.
Background Information:
In February Of 2009, The Unemployment Rate Was 7.3% In Colorado. (Bureau Of Labor Statistics, www.bls.gov, Accessed 9/7/10)
As Of July 2010, The Unemployment Rate Was 8.0% In Colorado. (Bureau Of Labor Statistics, www.bls.gov, Accessed 9/7/10)
“Bennet Said That Spending Federal Dollars Can Drive Down The Growing National Debt.” (Jessica Fender, “Biden speaks in Denver,” The Denver Post, 5/27/09)
Bennet: “[W]e Came Together Tonight To Enact An Economic Recovery Plan That Creates Jobs, Cuts Taxes For American Families And Businesses, And Lays The Foundation For Long-Term Economic Growth.” (Senator Michael Bennet, Press Release, “Congress Approves American Recovery And Reinvestment Act,” 2/13/09)
After He Voted For Obama’s Massive “Stimulus” Package, Bennet Said He Hadn’t Even Read The Bill. ‘“I did not read every single page of the legislation and nor did the people that voted against this bill,’ he said. ‘We had very good summaries all the way through from the hundreds and thousands of staff people who work on this legislation, and if we were to read, and I say we meaning everybody that’s there, every single page of every single bill, that’s all we would do.”’ (Face The State Blog, “Bennet Admits He Didn’t Read Entire Stimulus Bill,” http://www.facethestate.org/buzz/14248-bennet-admits-he-didnt-read-entire-stimulus-bill-defends-his-yes-vote, 2/18/09)
· Even Though He Had Not Read The Bill, Bennet Said He Supported President Obama’s Efforts To Pass The Economic Stimulus Plan. “I can’t say that I agree or disagree with every specific in the plan because I haven’t read the plan. But as a general matter, I certainly agree with the approach. I’m completely supportive of the president-elect’s efforts here.” (Michael Bennet As Quoted In, Sara Burnett, “Bennet Kicks Off On-The-Job Training,” Rocky Mountain News, 1/9/09)
