Johnson Statement on Democrats’ Plan to Double Down on Stimulus Spending

Oshkosh, WI…In Milwaukee today, the President will announce an election-season bailout to the tune of $50 billion in order to fund projects the Democrats and Senator Feingold should have been prioritizing 18 months ago.  Oshkosh manufacturer and U.S. Senate Candidate Ron Johnson issued the following response:

“Democrats are now admitting what the majority of Wisconsinites already know: Their trillion-dollar stimulus was a complete and utter failure. But instead of changing course, Democrats are simply doubling down on spending money we don’t have.

The failed, trillion dollar stimulus bill Senator Feingold supported only dedicated 3% of spending to highway projects, and since the bill’s passage, unemployment has risen to 9.6% and 15 million Americans are still out of work. At the same time, Senator Feingold has been traveling the state defending his vote.

With $265 billion of the original, failed stimulus left unspent, instead of redirecting this money to pay for targeted infrastructure investments, the Democrats’ solution is to simply spend more of the taxpayers’ money when we are $13 trillion in debt. This is precisely the reason we need a new direction and leaders in Washington who know how to balance the books.

Wisconsinites aren’t going to buy into a new, $50 billion spending bill designed to protect one job and one job only: Senator Feingold’s.”

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According to Recovery.Gov, $265 Billion of the “Stimulus” remains to be Paid Out as of August 27, 2010. (Source, Recovery.gov, www.recovery.gov, Accessed September 6, 2010)

According to the Congressional Budget Office, Only $27.5 Billion or Just Over 3% of the “Stimulus” was Allocated to Highway Construction. (Source, Congressional Budget Office, “Cost Estimate of H.R. 1, The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009,” February 13, 2009)

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