(WASHINGTON, D.C.) –Following the Vice President’s speech in Pasco County, Rep. Rich Nugent (FL-05) issued the following statement.
“My wife is a public school teacher and I spent my entire career in local law enforcement, the last ten as Sheriff of Hernando County. I sincerely appreciate the Vice President’s support for teachers and first responders, but how on earth are local and state governments going to afford these new employees when the federal money runs out a year from now? They can’t. We’re seeing layoffs now because the first “stimulus” money is running out. We can’t keep doing half-a-trillion dollar stimulus bills every other year. Every taxpayer in Pasco County already owes $132,000 as his or her share of the national debt. Where on earth are they going to get that money?
“The bottom line is that this isn’t about supporting long-term, sustainable job creation in this country, it’s about trying to create a narrative that some people don’t care about teachers and first responders - my wife is a teacher and I’m a first responder. It’s transparent and I think the President and Vice President ought to be working on the things we have in common, not flying all over the country trying to toss up a hail marry.
“Starting the night that President Obama addressed a joint session of Congress to introduce his new stimulus plan, pundits of all stripes called it what it is, ‘a campaign document’. This isn’t a serious proposal. This is a transparent attempt to limp through his reelection campaign.
“There is common ground out there between Congress and the President, but instead of talking about the things we agree on, it seems like his political team told him to talk about things that divide us. Look at the polls. Ask somebody on the street. The American people want results. They’ve had enough of the back and forth.
“The first “stimulus” spent $278,000 per job. We’re not going down that road again. The administration is throwing darts and it isn’t working.
“The President said that Americans don’t have the luxury of waiting 14 months for the government to act, but it sure looks like he’s going to make them wait that long, doesn’t it? Seeing as how the Democrats in the Senate say they don’t have the votes for his bill, it’s a wonder why the President and Vice President are out on the road running for reelection instead of getting results on common-ground issues like comprehensive tax and regulatory reform. We can get these things done, but it’s going to take a kind of leadership that we just haven’t seen from this administration.”
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