Zero Republicans vote for massive Obama pork bill

January 28, 8:00 PMDC Republican ExaminerBill Dupray

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               The pig exploded and the pork went everywhere
(Photo credit Ollie Crafoord)

Zip. Zero. Nada. This is not a bipartisan bill by any definition. The Dems own it. They will live by it and die by it. The Republicans stood there like a stone wall and unanimously voted no on the biggest crap pork sandwich ever created by the United States Congress.

From the Washington Post.

With no Republican support, the House approved an $819 billion stimulus plan that will serve as the cornerstone of President Obama's efforts to resuscitate the economy, an early victory for the new president but still a disappointment because of the lack of Republican votes.

The measure passed 244 to 188, with 11 Democrats and 177 Republicans voting against it.

Who exactly was disappointed? The Republicans weren't. They were probably excited to vote against this piece of trash. After all, they got back the mantle of fiscal responsibility 8 short days after Obama took office. There has never been a clearer fiscal distinction between the two parties as there is today.

The Democrats are clearly not disappointed. They are empowering all their interest groups with huge giveaways to try to cement their power.

The American people are the ones who will be disappointed when they realize they got the screw job of a lifetime from the Democrat Party.

Just to prove this is just a giant Democrat pork bill in "stimulus" clothing, most of the money will not even be spent this year.

The Democratic plan took a hit when the Congressional Budget Office estimated that only 7 percent of infrastructure money would make its way into the economy by the end of the year, and only 38 percent would be spent by the end of the 2010 fiscal year.

And regardless when it is spent, the money really isn't for roads and bridges at all. Only $30 billion (about 3 percent) will be used for infrastructure. The rest just goes to line the pockets of groups like ACORN, to fund liberal pet projects like the National Endowment of the Arts, and to spend money on the government, which doesn't do anything to stimulate the economy.

So Obama got no Republican votes in the House. He needs at least two in the Senate to get cloture. At least one prominent "centrist" Republican is against it.

In the Senate, Democrats are confident they can pick up the one or two Republican votes needed to reach a 60-vote majority.

But Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the GOP presidential nominee last year who has pledged to work with Obama, said Sunday he won't be among the Republicans supporting the package.

"As it stands now, I would not" vote for the bill, McCain told Fox News on Sunday, explaining that he'd like to see more tax cuts and GOP input into the bill.

Let's see how mavericky McCain feels this week. 

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