[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 1]
[House]
[Page 1314]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              DEFICIT SPENDING WILL NOT EXPAND THE ECONOMY

  (Mr. FLEMING asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. FLEMING. Mr. Speaker, I stand today in agreement with the 
gentlewoman from North Carolina, the gentleman from Texas, and the 
gentleman from South Carolina. As this body considers whether to burden 
future generations of Americans with more debt in the name of improving 
the economy, it is imperative that we look at the facts.
  The proposed legislation will create or save 3 million jobs. At $825 
billion, the economic stimulus bill, in its current form, will spend 
$275,000 per job. Additionally, deficit spending will not expand the 
economy. If that were true, then the current $1.2 trillion deficit, the 
largest in history, would already be rescuing the economy. We wouldn't 
need another $825 billion.
  Trade groups state that every $1 billion in highway ``stimulus'' can 
create 35,000 new construction jobs. But Congress must borrow that $1 
billion out of the private sector, costing the private sector the same 
number of jobs. Any type of effective stimulus cannot create jobs for 
some while costing jobs for others.
  Ladies and gentlemen, we do not need to continue down the path of 
wasteful spending. If we are going to steady the U.S. economy, we must 
stimulate American enterprise while returning to the practice of making 
fiscally responsible decisions on behalf of the American people.

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