Here is a copy of a the response I received from Congressman Oberstar. I had written an email letting him know how I feel about the stimulus bill. The gist of my email was that rushing in a bill that nobody had a chance to examine in fine detail was a mistake. I asked the Congressman to make sure that this bill wasn’t rushed through & to take a stand for Minnesotans. I have to admit I wasn’t terribly hopeful since Mr. Oberstar is a Democrat & votes like one with the exception of abortion. However, the response I got was very irritating. Since I received the email more jobs have been lost here in my area of Minnesota & there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight.
February 18, 2009
Mrs.
Minnesota
Dear Mrs.:
Thank you for sharing with me your opposition to the economic recovery legislation. I appreciate hearing from you.
Respectfully, I disagree. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, signed into law by President Obama on February 17, will create and save over 3 million jobs and addresses the economic crisis through $789 billion of investments in infrastructure, education, and other important domestic priorities; and will provide tax relief, including a tax cut for 95 percent of working Americans. The legislation includes requirements that spending is targeted at ready-to-go projects, contains no earmarks, and contains unprecedented transparency, oversight, and accountability measures.
A detailed list of the spending and tax provisions can be found at the following link:
http://www.speaker.gov/newsroom/legislation?id=0273
Additionally, you can track how the money is being spent at http://www.recovery.gov.
I understand your concerns but, frankly, we desperately need to put people to work and get our economy moving again.
With best wishes.
Sincerely,
James L. Oberstar, M.C
I fully intend to respond to Mr. Oberstar since I don’t believe I read the same bill that he read…I mean didn’t get a chance to read but voted for anyway. This idea of transparency must be something besides the official definition. As for putting people back to work…well, until the local business aren’t shuttering their doors ‘cuz they can’t pay the taxes & my husband can find a job I don’t believe this “stimulus” bill will do anything to help this country!