According to Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE), it's unclear whether President Obama's $819 billion economic stimulus bill will win enough support to pass in the Senate. "I don't even know how many Democrats will vote for it, as it stands today," he told FOX News.
Seems like the upper house is unhappy that the bill, passed by the other house on Wednesday, contains billions of dollars for programs that arguably won't spark much job growth. Senator Nelson wants to pluck out what he says are extraneous projects in the stimulus bill to pay for the amendment.
How about plucking out the “sneaking socialism of healthcare.” Specifically the $1.1 billion for a "Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research." Not only is this expense a slippery slope towards a NICE-like body for the U.S. – it wouldn’t create a single job for "Main Street."
Here’s a suggestion – give that money to the FDA to hire more scientists, reviewers, and inspectors, update their woeful IT infrastructure, and fund the agency’s Critical Path program.
That’s what I’d call a real stimulus package!
