Sen. Conrad: ‘I’d have a very hard time voting’ for recovery package as it stands.
Sen. Conrad: ‘I’d have a very hard time voting’ for recovery package as it stands.
Earlier today, Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) said he is “undecided” on whether to support President Obama’s recovery plan. Another “undecided” Democratic senator is Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND). “I’d have a very hard time voting for what came over from the House,” he said today on Fox News, echoing conservative talking points:
CONRAD: [T]here are other areas of the package that are really very questionable in terms of whether they’d stimulate the economy. Some of the programs that are given money only have ten percent spend-out in the next two years. … There’s very little done in this package to help housing. Very little done to help the financial sector.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), who is helping lead the GOP opposition to the stimulus plan, embraced Conrad in a subsequent interview. “I do agree with much of what Sen. Conrad said,” he said. Watch it:
As ThinkProgress noted, the recovery package is not intended to fix the troubled housing sector (which should be done with TARP funds), but instead is focused on energy, science and technology, health care, education, infrastructure, and targeted tax cuts for struggling families.
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Proof that being elected to Congress has no direct correlation to intelligence.
January 30th, 2009 at 3:22 pmbottom line is if we don’t fix healthcare and the ridiculous gouging (thievery), america is done for sure.
January 30th, 2009 at 3:22 pmCan we please go to a lottery system based on tax returns to put people in Congress? You pay taxes, you get a shot at it.
We can’t do much worse.
January 30th, 2009 at 3:23 pmVery little to help the financial sector
The financial sector has already gotten 350 billion with another 350 billion yet to be dispersed.
January 30th, 2009 at 3:25 pm“Very little done to help the financial sector.”
Excuse me? It sounded like he said he wanted the stimulus package to give more money to the financial sector. He couldn’t have said he wants the stimulus package to give more money to the financial sector. That would be insane, if he ever wants to get re-elected.
This guy’s about as useful as an anvil at a track meet.
January 30th, 2009 at 3:26 pmNotice where they are from, these gutless Dems: ND & NE. It is not just Bush W, Rove & Cheney that scare these nitwits. They are scared of Limbaugh & Hanity.
January 30th, 2009 at 3:28 pmtarget every bluedog for removal from office. I would just as soon have an actual republican.
January 30th, 2009 at 3:29 pm… [T]he recovery package is not intended to fix the troubled housing sector, but instead is focused on energy, science and technology, health care, education, infrastructure, and targeted tax cuts for struggling families.
TP, get that faxed out to all the networks and agencies, please!
just like that.
thanks!
January 30th, 2009 at 3:31 pm“Geithner Says Plan for Banks Is in the Works”, By Stephen Labaton and Edmund L. Andrews, The New York Times, January 29, 2009.
January 30th, 2009 at 3:31 pmI would say this guy is loyal to the financial sector [banksters] and not the constituents they are supposed to represent
January 30th, 2009 at 3:32 pmNot enough to help the financial sector, what the is he talking about, we just gave them $300billion and their giving f%$#ing bonuses away, what is he a re-puke in demo clothes?
January 30th, 2009 at 3:33 pmI agree. They should strip out all the tax cuts they put in there in the house version in an effort to suck up to the Republicans.
Eat the rich.
January 30th, 2009 at 3:33 pmDoes it seem strange to anyone else that the Dems waited a long time to regain power and be able to finally go around the GOP and work for the American people, then when they finally did regain that power, they move away from the Dem leadership into the waiting hands of Limbaugh’s party?
If they were going to screw over the Dem leadership anyway, what does it matter that the dems have the majority or not? The Dem leadership still has to climb lots of mountains to create a progressive agenda. I thought the Dems would fall in line with Obama to prove to the GOP that Dems are united.
January 30th, 2009 at 3:33 pmXisithrus Says:
“Geithner Says Plan for Banks Is in the Works”, By Stephen Labaton and Edmund L. Andrews, The New York Times, January 29, 2009.
With a little luck it means nationalizing. As in canning the putzes who screwed it up.
January 30th, 2009 at 3:34 pmthat was weird… i copied/pasted that whole line, but this part didn’t post:
… (which should be done with TARP funds)
January 30th, 2009 at 3:37 pmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_fool_theory
January 30th, 2009 at 3:37 pmWith a little luck it means nationalizing. As in canning the putzes who screwed it up. -=Hoodathunk=-
If they create a ‘bad bank’ to buy up bad assets the government [taxpayer] becomes the greater fool. It would be nationalized, true, but would be pretty much worthless..
January 30th, 2009 at 3:38 pmWell, of course, they may not necessarily vote to support the House bill, which is why the Senate produces it own bill and both get reconciled in the Conference Committee. Duh.
January 30th, 2009 at 3:38 pmSo now how many memebrs of congress hate America?Does this a$$hat really want to give more to Wall Street, the same people who created this mess.
January 30th, 2009 at 3:39 pmXisithrus Says: If they create a ‘bad bank’ to buy up bad assets the government [taxpayer] becomes the greater fool. It would be nationalized, true, but would be pretty much worthless..
To stop the bleeding, apply a tourniquet. Be cautious and release pressure as required to maintain flow without creating excess bleeding.
Better a bucket of crap on the side than in the middle.
January 30th, 2009 at 3:43 pmCowards! We have to do something. How about taxing the filthy rich? Now there is an idea!
January 30th, 2009 at 3:45 pmIf these obstructionists don’t think we will tell the country who help up this aid they have another think coming.
They will be tied to any problems that we continue to have if they don’t help us fix it.
January 30th, 2009 at 3:46 pmThe idea of a “bad bank” isn’t making me feel all warm and fuzzy.
January 30th, 2009 at 3:47 pmDid the Senate Dems get bit by some rabid right wing vampire? Why are they parroting discredited Republican excuses?
January 30th, 2009 at 3:49 pmhas anyone expressed it verbally yet, or does it go with out sayin’…
is all this about a modern day version of puttin’ the black guy
January 30th, 2009 at 3:51 pmin his place? … so to speak?
IgnoranceIsNotBliss Says:
The idea of a “bad bank” isn’t making me feel all warm and fuzzy.
You want warm and fuzzy, kiss a repug. Just ignore the warm is your lifeblood draining away and the fuzzy is their logic.
January 30th, 2009 at 3:52 pmSince Conrad and Nelson have been in office (2001), Nebraska (pop 1.7 mil) has received 7 Billion in farm subsidies, 60% of which went to 10% of the farmers. These guys wouldn’t know real stimulus if came out in their stool.
January 30th, 2009 at 4:03 pmGood idea – spot on, Sen. Conrad! Let’s strip out all the Republican tax cuts and *then* we’ll have us a BILL!
January 30th, 2009 at 4:04 pmConrad was one of the first Senators to come out & support Obama.
He worked tirelessly throughout North Dakota, & damn near pulled an Obama victory off in an historically Red state.
Conrad is also one of the sharpest fiscal guys in the Senate.
Maybe he has a point. But…this isn’t about Obama; it’s about Congress. Obama’s job is to sign a bill. I certainly don’t agree that the financial sector should get more money. I’m just saying that perhaps Conrad knows more about this than we suspect.
*climbs down from soapbox*
January 30th, 2009 at 4:05 pmkaty Says:
is all this about a modern day version of puttin’ the black guy
in his place? … so to speak?
I think it has more to do with their egos and scratching each other’s back (rep/dem mutually). Though, if you look at the composition of the senate, socially and economically it is virtually indistinguishable from a country club. It wouldn’t surprise me if some harbored the sentiment you suggested.
January 30th, 2009 at 4:05 pmAmerica’s Economy is Not Coming Back:
America has degenerated into a nation of consumers.
Most of it going for things that are produced overseas and shipped here.
That is not an economic model that is sustainable.
What we are now seeing is the beginning of an inevitable downward adjustment in American living standards.
We are headed to a recovery that will not feel like a recovery at all.
Eventually, productive capacity will be restored, as lowered US wages make it again profitable for some things to be made here at home again.
We could have a recovery program that would actually address the real critical issues facing the country-
-the decline of our educational system, the irrationality of official promotion of home ownership that has led to the proliferation not just of suburbs but of exurbs.
The over-reliance on the automobile for transportation, the unprecedented waste of resources, the pillaging of the environment, not to mention the decimation of the retirement system and the creation of a vast medical-industrial complex that is sucking the life-blood out of families and businesses alike.
We could also confront the other big obstacle to national recovery—the nation’s obsession with militarism and foreign wars.
The honest truth is that the US is technically bankrupt and in a state of chronic decline.
We have become our own worst enemy.
-Dave Lindorff
Just a little reality for everyone
January 30th, 2009 at 4:08 pmBefore our government start spending another 850 billion dollars,which we don not have,our government should wait to see what we got so far in return for the first 770 billion dollars we spent to bail bankers and Wall Street barons.
Bosses in Wall Street,according to news, collected around 18.5 billion dollar in bonuses last year…
So why should we as taxpayers start spending again more hundreds of billions of dollars while we have still no knowledge on how the first package’s allocated money to bankers was spent.
January 30th, 2009 at 4:10 pmZimzone Says:
Conrad was one of the first Senators to come out & support Obama.
He worked tirelessly throughout North Dakota, & damn near pulled an Obama victory off in an historically Red state.
Conrad is also one of the sharpest fiscal guys in the Senate.
Maybe he has a point. But…this isn’t about Obama; it’s about Congress. Obama’s job is to sign a bill. I certainly don’t agree that the financial sector should get more money. I’m just saying that perhaps Conrad knows more about this than we suspect.
Point taken Zimzone. It is time that responsible people in Congress stand up. If people like Conrad have a valid point, and they probably have. they have a President willing to listen.
If the man will listen to Repug whining, he will hear responsible concerns. About time voices are heard.
January 30th, 2009 at 4:14 pmDamn-yer-slow
“What qualifies a conservative talking point?”
anything that pops outta their freakin’ mouths.
January 30th, 2009 at 4:15 pmDynamo Says:”I’m scared, you guys are gettin too much power”
you should be very afraid my little nazi friend. Obama warned the gop to avoid rush and they had to decide. They have and by doing so have doomed all of you right wing retards. Ha.
January 30th, 2009 at 4:33 pmDynamo Says:
________________________________________
What a bad Democrat.
How dare he show opposition to the messiah.
What qualifies a conservative talking point?
“I’d have a very hard time voting for what came over from the House,” he said today on Fox News, echoing conservative talking points<follow the link>”
Stupid and Illiterate? Where does the GOP find you guys? And the only people with a Messiah complex are the troglodytes who grovel at the feet of Lord Limbaugh
January 30th, 2009 at 4:33 pmDynamo Says:
What a bad Democrat.
How dare he show opposition to the messiah.
What qualifies a conservative talking point?
Dynamo, the “bad Dems” you speak of come from states that aren’t Progressive strongholds. They are “center-right” and as such, are basically as out of touch with what the MAJORITY of AMERICANS want as far as legislation.
As for Conservative talking points, they usually go something like this: Feign concern or outrage, capitalize FEAR tactics, mislead and misrepresent. The example here is just what TP has pointed out – this bill is NOT SUPPOSED TO BE FOCUSED ON THESE “ISSUES” THAT THE CONS AND THE DINOS ARE WHINING ABOUT. Comprende?
January 30th, 2009 at 4:35 pmDynamo whines: How dare he show opposition to the messiah.
This is a question the way it is worded.
Until you develop a basic understanding of grammar and spelling, I’m pretty sure your cognitively disadvantaged ideas will remain stupid and backwards – much like the Republicans you worship.
January 30th, 2009 at 4:38 pmDynamo Says:
Calling Obama the messiah not only qualifies as a talking point but an astonisingly ignorant one. It qualifies also as the brainwashing you were programmed with by the Limborg hivemind. Since you are indisputibly a very stupid and brainwashed moron we expected nothing else from you. It must be sad to be as ignorant as you. You not only are too stupid to think up your own ignorant quips you think really stupid ones like this are clever enough to repeat. It shows you have no brain, no decency and are basically an ignorant punk. Why not just let the adults talk since you are CLEARLY too stupid to contribute
January 30th, 2009 at 4:38 pmGreat point Eugene.
I love the fact that Obama is our President and I’m confident he will push us in the right direction. That isn’t to say that I, or any other progressive, will agree with everything he does.
However, I admire the sensible and measured way he approached this crisis and until he is proven to be a complete liar like GWB (which WON’T happen, since Obama isn’t a spoiled, braindead, fratboy who has never developed respect for anyone or anything except his own personal gain), I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt as he navigates troubled political waters.
January 30th, 2009 at 4:44 pmThe claim that republicans are wary about govt spending is such a farce.
January 30th, 2009 at 4:48 pm
While bi/post-partisanship would be ‘wonderful,’ it would appear that Prez.O might better expend his energies keeping his own Party on the farm, doncha think?
I wondered if Obama Can paper-train The BlueDawgs.
January 30th, 2009 at 4:54 pmtokin librul you’re an ass.
January 30th, 2009 at 4:58 pmJust wrote Conrad a letter, respectful, but made it clear that those of us without a guaranteed job, lifetime health care and, oh, yeah that raise they just got, can’t wait around while they debate the details of the economy. We need help NOW!
January 30th, 2009 at 5:25 pmDang, Fred, now you’ve confused me.
Considering the source, is that a compliment or an insult?
A dinner invitation?
January 30th, 2009 at 5:53 pmIve said it before and I will say it again….we dont need more dems in office we need more better more progressive dems in office or another progressive party
January 30th, 2009 at 6:36 pmThis package sucks. Why do UI have to budget more tightly, buy fewer groceries, go to fewer movies and Washington gets to keep spending? Forget it. I want nothing of thei bill to pass. I want the weak companies to go under and the strong companies to thrive. Destruction is a phase of economic development.
January 30th, 2009 at 8:21 pmdrew3rd Says:
Your hardhearted economic darwinism is not only stupid and hardhearted but economic suicide. Grow up.
January 30th, 2009 at 8:38 pmI agree with you drew…
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January 30th, 2009 at 9:58 pmDrew3rd, let me tell you what’s wrong with that:
January 31st, 2009 at 9:16 amYou have conjured up a Social Darwinist view of the economy, where companies climb to the top of the heap and develop opposable thumbs.
But much of the time, companies don’t compete, they interact with each other. Buying and selling.
And, to put it succinctly, in bad times the weak companies drag the strong companies down.
What happens if you’re a really great company with great products–and suddenly your supplier goes out of business, because it’s one of the weak ones? What happens when your biggest retail outlet goes under? What happens when the middle class gets poorer, and stops buying your product?
You stop being a ’strong company.” It doesn’t matter what your internal virtues are.
That’s why systemic intervention makes sense.
I agree that there are bad corporations out there, and that what we’re doing with te financial sector is close to the worst approach I can think of. But rather than let them die, I say take them over, fire the criminals and the criminally negligent, and reposition them–keep the functions they perform for other companies, and make them good.
God forbid Big Tent Democrats allow one of their own an independent thought. Must they all march in lockstep?
Are the troops home yet?
January 31st, 2009 at 2:06 pmWhere’s my free health care?
Why is the Obama administration murdering innocent women and children in Pakistan?
Why is Guantanamo still open?
Thank goodness for Democrats like Sen. Conrad!!!
Put politics aside, we can’t afford more “stimulus” and more “bail outs”.
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