Wasteful Spending Dressed in "Stimulus" Clothing

Senator John Cornyn on the recently passed stimulus bill

Texas Times
Feb 10, 2009
By:Sen. John Cornyn

For months, Americans across the country have been grappling with the results of our nation's economic downturn: layoffs, foreclosures, salary cuts, and the tough family budgeting decisions that go hand in hand with a recession. While Texas has fared better than most states—largely due to our pro-business economic policies and the can-do spirit inherent to the Texas culture —we are not immune.

According to Texas Workforce Commission Chairman Tom Paulken, "Our state's economy has been fairly resilient during these months of economic uncertainty, but the national economic storm has reached Texas." In January, Texas Comptroller Susan Combs predicted a loss of 111,000 Texas jobs and announced a 10.5 percent drop in tax revenue in this fiscal year. In North Texas, the jobless rate has climbed to 5.6 percent—a significant ascent from one year ago, when the rate was 4.1 percent. The jobless rate for the entire state recently hit 6 percent—nearly two percentage points higher than a year ago.


The housing crunch has taken its toll in Texas as well. In 2008, Texas was listed as one of the top ten states in foreclosure totals. Meritage, one of the nation's biggest homebuilders with more than 65 percent of its communities located in Texas, reported that its fourth-quarter orders in Texas fell 61 percent. Experts claim that a decrease in prices in some of Texas' top industries like oil and natural gas is having a negative impact on the state's housing market.

In the U.S. Senate, I have been working with my colleagues to stop the recession in its tracks and turn the economic tide back in our favor. This has been no easy task. Unfortunately, while the new President has indicated his desire for bipartisanship, Democrat leaders in Congress have taken a different approach, attempting to jam an enormous spending bill totaling more than $1 trillion down the taxpayers’ throats.

Instead of producing a plan aimed at reviving the housing market, providing significant tax relief to hard-working Americans, and creating quality jobs for men and women looking for work—the Democrat plan instead reflects a political slush fund brimming with billion-dollar pet projects that will not have an immediate, tangible effect on our nation's economic health.

With respect to Texas' interests in the economic rescue plan, the most simple analogy that comes to mind is 'robbing Peter to pay Paul.' In Texas, we have embraced low taxes and pro-growth policies that support our small businesses and middle class families. The Democrats' plan would take billions in Texas taxpayer dollars and reward reckless states with pet projects dressed in 'stimulus' clothing. Some of the more absurd examples include a request for $600 million to build an "ethnic heritage trail" or a request for $6 million to build three aquatic centers with water slides.

My Republican colleagues and I have sought to improve this inflated bill by offering low-tax, pro-growth amendments. I offered an amendment that would have lowered the 10 percent tax bracket to 5 percent, providing much needed relief to every taxpayer who pays income tax and files their taxes by April 15. Unfortunately, this was blocked by Senate Democrats. Another important amendment, offered by Sen. John Ensign, would have provided much-needed relief to the struggling housing market by reducing mortgage rates to as low as 4 percent for millions of homeowners. More than 3 million mortgages in Texas could have qualified for refinancing under this measure, and each household would have benefited from $293 in savings on monthly payments. This amendment was also defeated.

Sadly, while the American people were counting on Congress to present a final economic rescue product that reflects bipartisanship and includes true tax relief and tangible economic growth measures, the Democrats' $1.2 trillion "stimulus" package is no such product.

We need to work together to craft legislation that provides real relief for everyday Texans. It should begin with providing much overdo relief to the struggling housing market. Secondly, the majority of any economic stimulus plan should be tangible tax relief for families and small businesses. Hard-working Texans deserve to keep more of their own money to spend, save and invest how they see fit. Finally, any proposed new spending must be made fully transparent to ensure Congress is not spending taxpayer dollars on unnecessary or ineffective projects.

If American families are having to tighten their belts and make tough financial decisions, the federal government should follow suit. I will continue to fight for a common-sense plan that incorporates these principles to help Texans weather the economic storm and emerge stronger and more prosperous.

Sen. Cornyn serves on the Finance, Judiciary and Budget Committees. He serves as the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee's Immigration, Refugees and Border Security subcommittee. He served previously as Texas Attorney General, Texas Supreme Court Justice, and Bexar County District Judge.