Senate Minority Leader McConnell to obstruct fiscal adjustment?
Posted by WARREN MOSLER on December 31st, 2008
McConnell Urges Caution in Debate on Economic Stimulus Measure
Dec. 29 (Bloomberg) — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said he wants to slow consideration of the economic stimulus package Democrats are drafting, warning that the measure sought by President-elect Barack Obama invites wasteful spending.
“A trillion-dollar spending bill would be the largest spending bill in the history of our country at a time when our national debt is already the largest in history,” McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, said in a statement. “As a result, it will require tough scrutiny and oversight. Taxpayers, already stretched to the limit, deserve nothing less.”
McConnell called for giving lawmakers and the public at least one week to review the legislation once it has been written. He also said he wanted Senate committee hearings on the measure, rather than immediate floor consideration.
His demand, in a Senate where minority Republicans will still have the power to block legislation, could stall a drive by Democrats to approve legislation soon after Obama’s Jan. 20 inauguration.
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January 1st, 2009 at 8:50 pm
Yes! You seem surprised at this. Republicans feel that they lost the election because they abandoned core values like fiscal conservatism. Without a fillibuster-proof majority in the Senate, Democrats will face aggressive obstructionism on the part of Republicans.
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January 2nd, 2009 at 6:34 am
Could be a long, agonizing year…
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January 2nd, 2009 at 12:19 pm
Stability itself could also be destabilizing in early 2009. If stocks rally, credit spreads tighten, home values stabilize etc in anticipation of a big stimulus package, the final bill could get watered down, or tagged as ‘temporary’ even without too much Republican obstructionism.
Let’s not forget about Volcker and other deficit hawks within Obama’s brain trust.
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January 2nd, 2009 at 8:57 pm
true
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