To the editor:

I would just like to thank the 188 congressmen and congresswomen that voted against perhaps the most irresponsible spending bill in U.S. history. There is no doubt that the economy is in dire straits. I, having entered the job market after college in June, can attest to this fact. It is a mistake, however, to think that massive amounts of pork amount to “stimulus spending.”

This $1.1 trillion fiasco (according to CBO figures) has little to do with direct rescue and much to do with bailing out Congress’ favorite pet industries.

If infrastructure spending by the federal government can “cure” the economic ills at hand, what exactly happened with the 2005 $286 billion package? Even worse, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that only 7 percent of the infrastructure funding will enter the economy this year, and only 38 percent by the end of 2010.

This bill is already laden with irresponsible pork that falls clearly outside the domain of “stimulus spending”: $335 million for STD prevention; $75 million for smoking prevention; $50 million for the arts; $600 million for new government vehicles; taxpayer money for abortions in other countries; and, of course, $4.1 billion for “Community Stabilization Activities” like ACORN.

If Congress wants to really stimulate spending, they can send me a check for $11,000, which is what this bill will cost each and every American.

Zach Elmore, (Lawrence High ’04)
Shanghai, China