Carper: Cost of Stimulus Bill

WASHINGTON, DC – The Senate was wrong to pass an economic stimulus package the day after Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan declared the recession over, Senator Tom Carper announced today. Carper was one of nine Senators to vote against the measure, saying it was “days late and dollars too long.” The bill, which passed the House last night and will soon be signed by the President, will cost the State of Delaware $25 million a year in revenues for each of the next three years. Carper voted for an economic stimulus package several times when the economy was in recession, but agrees with Chairman Greenspan that recent economic growth means the current package will have “little to no effect,” and may ultimately prove counterproductive. The Senator made the following statement on the measure: “Congress passed a bill that spends money we don’t have to fight a recession that is already over. It’s the perfect example of being days late and dollars too long. Later this year, the Federal Reserve may begin to put the brakes on the economy to combat inflationary pressure – just as the effects of this stimulus bill kick in. The Fed will have its foot on the brake while Congress and the President have their foot on the accelerator. We are paying $900 million a day in interest on the debt. We are tapping the Social Security and Medicare trust funds to pay for other programs. This is a classic case of Congress and the President agreeing on a stimulus package and passing it when the recession is behind us. On top of all that, the three-year bonus depreciation provision will cost the Treasury of the State of Delaware $25 million in revenues for each of the next three years at a time when state governments are struggling to make ends meet.”