Bright votes against stimulus package
Media General News Service
Published: February 13, 2009
Updated: February 13, 2009
WASHINGTON – Rep. Bobby Bright voted against the $787 billion economic recovery package Friday, one of only seven Democrats to cross party lines and vote against the package.
Bright, of Montgomery, said that despite his concerns about the economy and some good provisions in the bill, the recovery plan was rushed.
“Many of us did not have an opportunity to see it and discuss it in great detail,” he said.
Bright said the bill was too large and could have been done piece-by-piece. He favored a phased-in stimulus plan, pumping money into infrastructure first and then passing tax cuts.
“I was not convinced this package was going to do what we all wanted it to do, and that is stimulate our economy, create jobs and restore confidence in our economy,” he said. ”That was our goal. I’m not sure this package will do that. Time will tell.”
Bright also said opposition to the bill ran high among his constituents.
The bill was approved in the House 246-183. No Republicans voted for it.
Under the package, Alabama will receive money for numerous programs and projects, including Medicaid, public school repairs and road and bridge construction.
Rep. Parker Griffith of Huntsville also voted against the plan. Griffith said the bill was passed too quickly and that it is not likely to jump start the economy.
“This bill adds a burden of debt to an already overburdened treasury and will eventually lead to higher interest rates for consumers and businesses with very little chance of achieving its original intent,” he said in a written statement.
Both Bright and Griffith are freshman House members and belong to a coalition of conservative Democrats called the Blue Dog coalition. President Barack Obama tried to shore up support for the stimulus package when he met with the group earlier this week.
The Senate was expected to vote late Friday. Alabama’s senators – both Republicans –opposed the plan.
Sen. Richard Shelby said the bill was poorly conceived and hastily crafted.
“Our solution needs to focus on restoring our banking system,” he said on the Senate floor. “Unless our banking system is nurtured back to health, our economy will remain crippled and much of what is in this stimulus bill will have been wasted.”
Contact Amy Dominello at 202-662-7671 or
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Reader Reactions
Bobby Bright and Parker Griffith are both commended for voting against the “Stinkulus” package of full blown Democrat pork and spending. The ignorance of people who support this monster is amazing. We are still paying for the War on Poverty and Great Society of Lyndon Johnson and now the liberal/socialist Democrats want to continue LBJ’s legacy. Hundreds of economists have stated in a full page newspaper ad that this package will be devastating for future generations. When the supporters of Obama, Reid and Pelosi who contribute to this site read the bill, then let us know if you still support the pork and welfare that is in it.
I’m proud of Bobby Bright for his principled vote against SOCIALISM.
The candidate Obama said, “Let’s resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long.” Well, that’s exactly what Bobby Bright did!
Congress needed to cut the fat, trim the pork and put this bill on a diet, making it a true stimulus package. But what happened, congressional ‘leaders’ (and I use that word loosely) Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid did the far left thing and riddled the bill with pay-back funding to their political supporters. History will be the ultimate judge on the focus and merits of this bill and it will also judge the individual ethics that surround it.
For all that have their hand out this bill has that big tax break Obama talked about on the campaign trail, the one for 95% of all Americans? You remember, the one that would save us from this tough economic time. Well, the details have been finally released and now it’s pretty clear why they didn’t release the details before the election. $13 per week is what people who qualify will be getting. That’s a whopping $676 for the year! Don’t get too excited though, because in 2010 it drops to $8 per week.
A very negative partisan vote by the Republicans and a few Democrats did not stop the economic recovery package from passing. This negative voting included our own Rep. Bright. According to Mr. Bright, his surveyed constituency was also against the passing of this bill. In the spirit of fair play, the Republican States such as Alabama and others, esp. Alabama, have an opportunity to show the true spirit of altruism. The funds that will be made available for Alabama through this program should not be accepted, but instead these monies should be put in an account to alleviate the total cost of the program. It is time they walk the talk. We sure do not want to be seen as hypocritical…do we? This tactic together with the Republicans pundits that are spewing words of failure for Pres. Obama will insure the Republican a platform to run on in 2010 and 2012. Hold it…now I understand that Gov. Riley has already hired a law firm to administer this program which Alabama was against in the first place even before the bill was passed. Duh!
I am glad to see that Bobby Bright has the courage to be his own man and stand up to “idiots” like Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. The FAR left does not represent this country and neither does the FAR right. Most of us fall in as moderates. I have always considered myself 75% Republican but I did vote for Bobby Bright. And I like a man that does not march in lockstep with his party. And he will pay for it by being shunned and past over for committee appointments etc. So he is to be admired for taking a stand.
Thank goodness Mr. Bright had the intestinal fortitude to see this so-called “stimulus” package for what it was and vote against it! There is nothing about this “bailout” that is going to help us today, but what it will do is TAX our future generations for years to come! Perhaps if people weren’t so interested in a hand-out, they could see through this political nonsense called a “stimulus plan!“
Bobby Bright should have run as a Republican because he is so far right of center. I don’t expect him to support much that the Democrats plan to do. Alabama voters just might vote him out next election.
Bobby Bright and the so called Blue “Dog” coalition is just as hypocritical as Republicans who over the last eight years almost collapsed our entire economic system with policies that didn’t work for nobody, well almost nobody if you know what I mean.
This is not about whom you voted for or what party you are affiliated with but it is about what is best for this country. I did not vote for Mr. Bright yet I firmly support him for the position he has taken on the bailout. He said of the first bailout vote that he could not vote yes on a piece of legislation he did not have time to read. This second vote he held true to his earlier position of not being able to sign legislation he did not have time to read. Would sign a contract that will affect your children’s future without reading it? Mr. Bright, unlike our new President, is doing exactly what was promised during the election by taking a bi-partisan approach to the work they are doing. The original intent of our founding fathers was for people to send representatives to Congress who are of like mind to the people they represent. You’ll notice that nowhere in that statement are Democrats or Republicans mentioned.
Bobby Bright is not a dem. any way.The only difference between him and Jay Love is Love got a bigger mouth.We voted for president obama’s idea’s.We shouldn’t have to lisen to the republican lies.Republicans were so nasty last election they couldn’t support each other,example Harri Ann Smith and Colin Powell.Republicans don’t care about public edu.All thier kids attend private schools.Bright will never benefit from the stright deb.Ticket votehe and Jay Love same thing.
Bobby Bright was right, it was rushed! The bill, which contains much that is not simulative, was eight inches thick and 1,071 pages long. Reading at a through the ceiling rate of 640 words per minute it would take 33 hours just to read the bill, not to mention comprehension of the all the complex legalese it contained.
On Tuesday, February 10, 2009, the House voted unanimously to recommend that lawmakers and the public have at least 48 hours to read the legislation before a vote. Congress, in this case, was given just a few overnight hours to read it before debate resumed, violating their proposed rule and the public trust.
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