Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin voted for the $825 billion spending bill. This from the woman to portrays herself as the fiscally responsible Blue Dog Democrat. There are several things to note about this bill. First, this is supplemental bill, meaning this is spending over and above the over $3 trillion a year we were all ready planning on spending. Second, most of the spending is backloaded, so its immediate economic impact will be virtually nil. As Jim Manzi points out, most of the spending in this bill will occur too late for economic growth but just in time to add inflationary pressure. Third, does anyone doubt that Democrats will make this spending the "baseline"? That means this is not one time spending, but will be included in the regular budget forecast. This is permanent spending. Finally, as this ad signed by dozens of economists, including SDSU's George Langelett, argues, correctly in my opinion, this bill will do little to nothing to actually stimulate the economy. In short, this bill, paid for by massive borrowing and printing of money, heeps further debt on future generation and devalues our currency while doing virtually nothing to improve economic conditions. Indeed, it is not incorrect to say that this is not a stimulus bill, but simply a spending bill. All in all, Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin may have just made the first mistake of the 2010 campaign. Or perhaps she will win our votes the old fashioned way, namely buying them with our posterity's money.
Update: I orignally linked to the wrong roll call. The link has been corrected.
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