After lengthy debates and weeks of discussion, the Senate has passed an $838 billion economic stimulus package.
Only three Republicans supported the package, which passed 61-37. While this bill received more Republican support than the House version, it's hardly a bipartisan effort. Instead, it has been a consistent source of extreme partisan friction.
Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC), who voted against the bill, spoke with CBN News earlier today. He says that Obama's lofty goals of bipartisanship haven't always matched his actions, and that the substance of the bill still leaves much to be desired.
DeMint says the president has "basically said, I won, and we're gonna do it my way. If he wants to work with Republicans, he's got to believe in the American people, and the American way. If his approach is just more government, more spending, he's not gonna get much Republican support."
Naturally, most Democrats would disagree with the assumption that the stimulus just consists of a bigger government and more spending. Today President Obama was pitching the stimulus plan in Fort Myers, Florida, emphasizing how it will "help businesses create jobs and families afford their bills, while laying a foundation for future economic growth in key areas like health care, clean energy, education and a 21st century infrastructure."
The question most Americans are now asking is such a huge multi-billion dollar stimulus and all of its hundreds of pages of components are necessary to improve the state of the economy, and whether the proposed programs and spending will have the intended results.
Right now, public opinion is favoring the Democrats. According to a February 9 Gallup Poll, 67% approve of Obama's handling of the economic stimulus, versus only 31% who approve of Congressional Republicans. 51% agree that "passing such a bill is critically important to improving the nation's economy."
While the bill will undergo some more tweaking before the president signs it, we’re definitely going to see massive increases in federal spending. Roosevelt’s New Deal would have cost only $500 billion if put into today’s dollars, which pales in comparison to the cost of the proposed package.