Douglas Alexander: “Mr. President, here is what we know of the so-called stimulus bill. This bill will give American workers $8 a week in…”

“Mr. President, here is what we know of the so-called stimulus bill. This bill will give American workers $8 a week in their paychecks in exchange for passing along a $1 trillion debt to our grandchildren. The entire New Deal, in today's dollars, cost only half of what this bill costs. We know that if we were to spend $1 million a day, every day since Jesus Christ was born, we would still spend less money than the cost of this bill. We know that if you were to add the cost of this bill to the national debt that we already have, it would cost each American household more than $100,000 to pay off our country's debt. We know that in the bill there is $50 million that could be used to save red-bellied harvest mice in the San Francisco area, something that Speaker Pelosi has supported. We know that in the bill there is $8 billion for a levitating train from Disneyland to Las Vegas that the majority leader is very interested in. We also know that people are hurting. That we need to do something to help the economy. And that something includes a real stimulus bill. But we know this is not the right approach. Mostly, this is spending, not stimulus. Most of the spending in the bill does not come soon enough to help create jobs quickly. Most of the tax cuts in the bill--such as the $8 per week for working families--are welcome but not stimulative. We know this is a lot of money.…”