Political Quotes

“I am one of those folks, very concerned that overall this so-called stimulus bill is just a long laundry list of Washington big government spending programs, not anything focused or disciplined that will really create jobs in the short term in this economy. But my amendment I am discussing now is focused on a very specific item in that long laundry list that I believe is not only unproductive but is truly offensive, given the history of the last several years. That is an item of almost $2.25 billion in the present underlying Senate bill that could go toward neighborhood stabilization, that would be available for nonprofit groups, including ACORN, to access. I might add, that figure in the House bill is $4.2 billion with at least $100 million virtually earmarked for nonprofit groups such as ACORN. Why do I find this so objectionable and so offensive? Two simple reasons. No. 1, this would further part of the Government policy that got us in this mess to begin with, that started on the housing side by encouraging so much subprime lending that led to enormous, and in fact predictable, defaults that started this decline.”