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Burgess Marks One Year Anniversary Of “Ineffective, Wasteful And Unpopular” Stimulus Bill

Washington, February 17, 2010
Congressman Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (R-Texas), a member of the Joint Economic Committee, released the following statement marking the one-year anniversary of the passage of President Obama’s economic stimulus package: “A year ago today, President Obama and the Democratic leadership in Congress rammed through one of the most ineffective, wasteful and unpopular legislative measures when the so-called economic stimulus bill was signed into law – a bill that was supposed to stimulate the economy and create jobs.
Congressman Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (R-Texas), a member of the Joint Economic Committee, released the following statement marking the one-year anniversary of the passage of President Obama’s economic stimulus package:

“A year ago today, President Obama and the Democratic leadership in Congress rammed through one of the most ineffective, wasteful and unpopular legislative measures when the so-called economic stimulus bill was signed into law – a bill that was supposed to stimulate the economy and create jobs. There was no doubt at the time that Americans were suffering and the country’s economic situation was dire, but I believed then, and continue to believe today, that the Democrats’ stimulus bill was the wrong plan.

“The way to promote economic growth and create jobs is through tax cuts and investment in projects like transportation and infrastructure. But efforts like these made up less than a third of the President’s economic stimulus bill, while the rest was either long-term liberal expansions in the size and scope of the federal government, money to Democrats’ pet projects, and wasteful or duplicative spending. In fact, less than 40 percent of the money has been spent so far, and only $8.6 billion has been spent on transportation projects. Furthermore, almost $4 billion in economic stimulus funds are going to programs that President Obama wants to eliminate or cut in his new budget. This simply makes no sense.

“The Administration promised Texans that the stimulus would create 269,000 jobs. But our state, while faring much better than most other states, has actually lost 167,600 jobs in the past year, with unemployment climbing from 6.4 percent a year ago to 8.3 percent today. Nationwide, the stimulus was touted as a measure that would create 3.5 million jobs and ensure that the unemployment rate would stay below 8 percent, but in fact, more than 2.8 million Americans have lost their jobs since the bill was signed into law this day a year ago, and unemployment has risen from 7.6 percent then to 10 percent today.

“The fact is, only a handful of Americans – six percent – actually believe the stimulus has created jobs, and the vast majority of Americans think that the $862 billion in their hard-earned tax dollars that went to the stimulus was wasted money. While President Obama, Vice President Biden and Speaker Pelosi continue to assert that their stimulus bill was necessary and is working, the truth is that the stimulus has been the poster-child for the ineffective and out of touch policies being proposed by the President and his Party.”

NOTE: Click here to view Rep. Burgess’ statement on passage of the stimulus a year ago.


Congressman Michael C. Burgess, M.D., is a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and three of its subcommittees: Health, Energy & Environment, and Oversight & Investigations. He is also a member of the bipartisan, bicameral Joint Economic Committee. Prior to becoming a member of Congress in 2002, Congressman Burgess practiced medicine in North Texas for over 25 years.