Why Rep. Joe Pitts voted against 'stimulus'

Writing in The Pottstown Mercury, Congressman Joe Pitts, who represents Pennsylvania's 16th Congressional District, explains why he and every Republican member of Congress voted against the sham stimulus bill put forth by Nancy Pelosi on behalf of President Obama.

From Pitts' column:

Newspaper editorial pages across the ideological spectrum, from the Wall Street Journal to the Washington Post, have pointed out the lack of actual stimulus in the Democrats economic stimulus plan. I would like to point out some of the most egregious examples of such spending that were included in the bill that passed the House.

Fifty million dollars will go to the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), whose recent expenditures include $95,000 for the American Ballet Theatre in New York City and $300,000 to restore an outdoor sculpture collection in Miami, Florida. In fact, the bill provides fewer funds for small business tax relief in the form of expensing than it provides for the NEA. That's more money for art than the small businesses that will create jobs to get our economy moving again—hardly economic stimulus.

Another $650 million will go to subsidize the purchase of TV converter boxes, and $3 billion will be spent on prevention and wellness programs, including $335 million for sexually transmitted disease prevention education.

Not wanting to leave out the federal bureaucracy, the bill included $600 million to buy new cars for government workers. This is in addition to the $3.5 billion a year the federal government already spends to acquire, operate, and maintain a fleet of about 642,000 trucks, passenger cars, and other vehicles.

Another $1 billion was allocated to be spent for the follow-up to the 2010 Census. The follow-up will not even begin until April of 2010.

In fact, the only thing bipartisan about this bill was the group of lawmakers voting no in the House, as several Democrats crossed the aisle to oppose the plan.

Read the full column at the newspaper's Web site.