Obama Stimulus Package Passed by House
Bill Had No Republican Support
The Obama stimulus package has passed the House by a vote of 244 to 188, without every Republican and eleven Democrats voting against. Republicans, who have claimed that the stimulus package is laden with pork, have found other flaws.One flaw in the Obama stimulus package appears to be the fact that it provides money for illegal aliens, according to the International Herald Tribune:
"The legislation, which would send tax credits of $500 per worker and $1,000 per couple, expressly disqualifies nonresident aliens, but it would allow people who don't have Social Security numbers to be eligible for the checks.
"Undocumented immigrants who are not eligible for a Social Security number can file tax returns with an alternative number. A House-passed version of the economic recovery bill and one making its way through the Senate would allow anyone with such a number, called an individual taxpayer identification number, to qualify for the tax credits."
The Washington Post reports that the Obama stimulus package contains a "buy American" provision, barring foreign iron and steel from infrastructure projects. Some suggest the provision is similar in effect to the infamous Smoot Haley bill that started a trade war that in turn turned a severe recession into the decade long Great Depression of the 1930s.
The Wall Street Journal has already pointed out some of the dubious provisions of the Obama stimulus package that, strictly speaking, have more to do that liberal Democratic spending wishes than economic stimulus:
"There's $1 billion for Amtrak, the federal railroad that hasn't turned a profit in 40 years; $2 billion for child-care subsidies; $50 million for that great engine of job creation, the National Endowment for the Arts; $400 million for global-warming research and another $2.4 billion for carbon-capture demonstration projects. There's even $650 million on top of the billions already doled out to pay for digital TV conversion coupons."
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