Where’s Schock? On a list of big-spending double talkers

December 6, 2009
By Billy Dennis

We’ve discussed this sort of thing before: Should politicians try to get federal spending for their districts that they are otherwise opposed to? There are some House Republicans who opposed the stimulus bill, but didn’t oppose spending it at home: THE SATURDAY AFTERNOON POST: HOUSE REPUBLICAN HYPOCRISY HALL OF FAME.

46. Representative Aaron Schock (IL-18) – “The biodiesel plant is ready to go. I want to call for a meeting with the state to guarantee $20 million in loans for the building of the plant. This could produce real jobs and a real stimulus in the next 30 days.” [Peoria Journal Star; 2/17/09]

“Last week, U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock was in East Peoria to award the city’s Police Department a $410,000 federal grant to update its aging in-car video camera systems and portable radios… that money was included in the FY 2009 Omnibus Spending Bill that Schock, a Peoria Republican, voted against. [Peoria Journal Star; 6/29/09]

There are many reasons to oppose a spending bill. Schock opposed the stimulus bill for many of the reasons I did: It was rushed through without enough discussion, it increases out debt and it seemed designed more to keep government workers employed than to get people working via much-needed infrastructure projects.

One of these projects seemed designed to put people to work. The other just lets local government keep spending.

The truth is that we were going to come out of this recession ANYWAY. That’s the way free markets work. We’ve just burdened future generations because the Baby Boomers — the most pampered generation is history — cannot tolerate being asked to sacrifice.

And we can’t expect Congress as a whole to stop bas spending if we don’t demand it of lour own politicians here in Peoria.

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2 Responses to “ Where’s Schock? On a list of big-spending double talkers ”

  1. AnotherExJSer on December 6, 2009 at 10:12 pm

    Everyone loves the “funding for necessary projects” their own rep brings home. It’s those other guys who waste money on “pork.” So, we keep sending our own guy back. We can’t vote against those 434 profligate spenders.

    What’s the solution in a country where everyone wants theirs and no one wants to pay? Borrow the money from the Chinese, who will be paid back by those yet unborn. We have the government we deserve.

  2. Brian G on December 7, 2009 at 4:46 pm

    Here is a blog posting from Tim Duy at the University of Oregon that may help. It is entitled Structural and Cyclical. You can find it here http://economistsview.typepad.com/timduy/2009/12/structural-and-cyclical.html Last year’s Nobel Prize winner wrote this about the stimulus last spring http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/09/opinion/09krugman.html?_r=1 I hope this will propel the debate.