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Delay Senate vote on stimulus package while the public studies these numbers

February 9, 1:33 AMPolitical Issues ExaminerJudah Freed
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When it comes to the evolving economic stimulus plan, we citizens need to warn Congress not to repeat the primal mistakes in the Bush era of rushing to enact bills that have not been fully studied, debated and amended for the higher good. Urgent fear-mongering by the administration gave us the convoluted mess of the USA Patriot Act, for example, let alone Congressional authorization for the invasion of Iraq.

The text of the latest Senate compromise version of H.R.1 was only released on Saturday night. I do not see how any Senator or Senate staffer can digest all 778 pages (before amendments) in time to vote intelligently on Tuesday, as the Obama administration is urging.

I've spent a major portion of Sunday studying the Senate bill, and I barely made a dent in gaining a functional understanding. I've also gone online to explore as many trustworthy news sources as I could find. On a one to ten scale, my comprehension is maybe a three or a four. 

At best, Senators familiar with legislative lingo may reach a five or six out of ten by Tuesday. Even if they somehow reach a seven by Tuesday, casting a vote without 100 percent comprehension of measure this important, in my opinion, is a severe violation of the public trust.

So, whether you are a Democrat or Republican, liberal or libertarian, progressive or conservative, please exercise your rights and responsibilities as a citizen by contacting your senators and the White House to insist (politely) that the stimulus package vote be delayed until Thursday or perhaps Friday.

Meanwhile, I can help you get started with studying the bill.

For the full searchable text plus an impartial line-by-line financial breakdown (Xcel spreadsheet) for both the House and the Senate bills, I keenly recommend ReadtheStimulus.org.

As a way into the material, take a look at this chart from Associate Press. The graphic shows a comparison between select areas of the House-approved and Senate proposed economic stimulus plans.

For more details, here is a House-Senate comparison chart that I put together from the 596-line Xcel spreadsheet from Senator Ben Nelson (D-Neb) at ReadtheStimulus.org. The chart below provides a summary of the appropriation for each of the effected federal departments and agencies (in bold). When significant, I've inserted in smaller lettering a few specific line items that may affect aveage citizens, such as the numbers for SBA loans, student loans, transit projects, and housing.

. Federal Department or Agency

House

Senate .

Economic Recovery & Reinvestment

  (in millions)

 (in millions)

Title I - Agriculture

$6,926

$5,109

Title II - Commerce, Justice, Science

$14,191

$21,513

Title III - Defence

$4,865

$3,746

Title IV - Energy, Water Development
> Loan guarantees for standard renewables

$48,915
[$6,000]

$53,843
[$8,000]

Title V - Financial Svcs, General Gov't
>
SBA - Sec.7[a] Guaranteed Loan Fee Reductrion
> SBA - Sec.504 Loan Program
> SBA - Direct Loans (Microloan Program)

$10,762
[$0]
[$0]
[$0]

$10,762
[$515]
[$100]
[$6]

Title VI - Homeland Security

$1,202

$5,076

Title VII - Interior
> Environmental Protection Agency

$15,010
[$9,420]

$11,543
[$9,420]

Title VIII - Labor, Health & Human Services,
Education, and Related Agencies
> Labor - Training and Employment Services
>
Labor - State Unemployment Insurance,
> and Employment Services
>
Labor - Office of Job Corps
>
HHS - Community health centers/services
>
HHS - Community health centers/infrastructure
>
HHS - Health Workforce
>
HHS - Social Services Block Grant (SSBG)
>
HHS - Head Start/Early Head Start
>
HHS - Aging Services Programs (Senior Meals)
>
Education - K-12 Construction
>
Education - Teacher Incentive Fund
>
Education - Student Aid (Pell Grants)
>
Education - Student Aid (Perkins Loans)
>
Education - Work Study (new program)
>
Education - Higher Education Facilities

$169
>
[$4,000]
[$500]
>
[$300]

[$500]
[$1,000}
[$600]
[$0]
[$2,100]
[$200]
[$14,000]
[$200]
[$15,636]
[$0]
[$490]
[$6,000]

$169
>
[$3,250]
[$400]
>
[$160]
[$0]
[$1,870]
[$0]
[$400]
[$2,100]
[$100]
[$16,000]
[$0]
[$13,869]
[$61]
[$0]
[$3,500]

Title XV - State Fiscal Stabilization Fund

$79,000

$79,000

Title IX - Legislative Branch ( Staff)

$25

$20

Title X - Military Const., Veterans Affairs
> DoD Home Ownership Assistance Program
>
VA Medical Support & Compliance

$7,001
[$0]
[$0]

$7,428
[$410.9]
[$5]

Title XI - State, USAID

$500

$1,031

Title XII - Transportation, HUD
> Trans - Grants for Airport Improvement
>
Trans - State Grants - High speed intercity rail
>
Trans - High-Speed Rail Corridor Program
>
Trans - Grants for Public Transit investment
>
Trans - Rail Modernization (transit)
>
Trans - Capital Investment Grants (new starts)
>
HUD - Community Development Block Grants
>
HUD - HAC Green Rural Housing

$59,435
[$3,000]
[$300]
[$0]
[$6,000]
[$2,000]
[$1,000]
[$1,000]
[$10]

$60,580
[$1,100]
[$250]
[$2,000]
[$8,400]
[$0]
[$0]
[$0]
[$0]

SUBTOTAL, Title I to XII

$339,473

$349,937

Mandatory Spending
Food Stamps (Fiscal Year 2009)
Food Stamps (Future-Years)
Mortgage Loan Modification Program

>  
$20,717
$0
$0

>  
$8,231
$8,331
$0

TOTAL APPROPRIATIONS

$360,190

$365,629

Out of Committee
Reduction in Appropriations
Reduction in Finance

$888,229
-$83,000
-$25,000

?
?
?

FINAL TOTAL (w/o floor amendments)

$780,215

?


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