Expected state benefits at odds with GOP leaders’ opposition
By Herman Wang hwang@timesfreepress.com
Online: Read previous stories. Comment. WASHINGTON — With a massive economic stimulus bill backed primarily by Democrats likely to be signed into law later this month, states expect to receive billions of dollars in federal aid. Republicans in Congress who are opposing the bill can only watch. Area Republicans say their constituents agree that spending huge sums of taxpayer money is not the way to get the country out of the recession. “As governor, you wouldn’t ignore the process under way from the federal government and you wouldn’t reject it, but we also know the country as a whole has to succeed or everyone gets hurt,” said Rep. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn., who is mounting a gubernatorial bid for the 2010 election. “The larger picture is: This is not good for our country,” he said. “It would make our recession longer and deeper.” The House passed its $819 billion version of the package last week. No Republicans voted for it. The Senate this week begins to debate its version of the bill, now approaching $900 billion. According to estimates, Tennessee is projected to get about $3.8 billion from the economic package, while Georgia could get $5.6 billion. Both states face steep budget shortfalls. But Rep. Nathan Deal, R-Ga., said he has had no phone calls to his offices from constituents supporting the bill. He and his GOP colleagues have criticized the bill as too expensive and misguided. “I tell (constituents) they’re going to have to pay a whole lot more ... to pay this back,” Rep. Deal said. “And their children and their grandchildren are going to be the ones paying the principle and interest.” Rep. Lincoln Davis, D-Tenn., who voted in favor of the House package, said GOP criticism of the bill is “somewhat disingenuous” after Republicans offered an alternative plan that would have added nearly $60 billion to the bill for highway and Army Corps of Engineers projects, while stripping some spending programs. The GOP plan was defeated by another near party line vote. “My hope is that we can rectify some of the disagreements we’ve had over the bill so that we can get our economy moving again with a unified voice in the final legislation,” Rep. Davis said. Marcus Pohlmann, a professor of political science at Rhodes College in Memphis, said Republicans could see their protests against the bill backfire, given that President Barack Obama, who is pushing the stimulus, enjoys high approval ratings. “I think the Republican Party, in general, has taken a risk by coming out early and obviously against this approach,” he said. “If it turns out nationally to seem to have been successful and economic indicators turn positive in five months to a year, you may see some political realignment nationally.” The flip side for Democrats is that the stimulus fails to reinvigorate the economy by the time of the 2010 election. “If it doesn’t work, it could look like one giant pork-barrel project,” Dr. Pohlmann said. “Unless the Democrats do an awful job of trying to sell it, I think they can say, ‘Well, we tried.’” Senate Republicans say they will push hard to amend the bill and emphasize tax cuts over government spending. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., said he hopes Senate Democratic leaders will be more accommodating to Republicans than their House counterparts, so the bill can get more bipartisan support. “Many of us believe that we need a stimulus package, but it’s supposed to create jobs,” he said. Zach Wamp
