Robin Carnahan: “Yesterday's action by the Senate to block the consideration of an economic stimulus package was unfortunate, untimely…”

“Yesterday's action by the Senate to block the consideration of an economic stimulus package was unfortunate, untimely, and unnecessary. For the third time in 2 months, we missed an opportunity to bring desperately needed assistance to unemployed workers. We were also blocked from providing tax relief to businesses to encourage new investment, and we were not even permitted to consider a homeland security initiative to meet the safety needs of our homes and communities. But the resumption of negotiations on an economic stimulus package between congressional leaders and the administration is a positive sign. I say 'resumption of negotiations' because there were productive talks last month between administration officials and congressional leaders. These talks resulted in an agreement on the size of the stimulus package and consensus was beginning to build. The Democratic and Republican leaders of the Budget Committee also agreed upon a set of guidelines to develop this legislation. They said it should be immediate, that it should provide a temporary stimulus. They also said it should focus on those who would be most likely to spend the money, and all that was left was to fill in the details. Unfortunately, the sensible process was abandoned. The House of Representatives pushed through a tax bill that was not temporary, did not provide immediate stimulus, and did not put money into the hands of those most likely to spend it.”