Wilson Statement on the Democrat’s 1 Trillion Dollar Spending Package

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 28, 2009

CONTACT: Ryan Murphy

(202) 225-2452 (Office)

(202) 689-4825 (Cell)

Wilson Statement on the Democrat’s 1 Trillion Dollar Spending Package

Congressman Joe Wilson (SC-02)

WASHINGTON – Congressman Joe Wilson (SC-02) issued the following statement today after the House of Representatives passed a nearly $1 trillion spending package. Congressman Wilson offered an amendment to the bill that would have stripped out wasteful spending while maintaining funding for military construction, maintenance of our Veterans facilities, homeland security, construction and maintenance of roads and bridges, as well as tax relief for millions of American families and small businesses. The majority refused to consider Congressman Wilson’s amendment on the Floor of the House of Representatives.

“At a time when our nation faces tremendous economic uncertainty, Congress has the obligation to craft a stimulus package that will create jobs and provide relief for American families and small businesses. House Republicans have offered commonsense solutions that will fuel job creation in the private sector, not the public sector. We have proposed fiscally responsible assistance for small businesses and for homeowners and homebuyers. Most importantly, our proposals recognize what history has long taught us: the American people, not the federal government, know best how to spend money to create jobs and prosperity.

“What we find in today’s House Democrat Leadership bill is the same, old, tired big spending agenda. It passes massive debt onto our children and could mean future tax increases on hardworking Americans as well as hyperinflation. While there are parts of this bill that would normally receive bipartisan support, this is neither the time nor the place to be considering spending money if it will not create jobs and grow the economy in the near future. After all, this was supposed to be an infrastructure focused, tax relief stimulus package that would put Americans back to work fixing things like roads and bridges. It is telling that the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure did not even hold one markup of the legislation in question.

“President Obama has told the American people that he seeks a bipartisan solution to our economic crisis. House Democrats have ignored the call for bipartisanship in crafting their bill, and they have ignored the lessons of history that relief for individuals and small businesses, not bloated government spending, are what drive job creation.”

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