Michigan Votes Forum

Introduced in the House on February 10, 2009

The vote was 67 in favor, 41 opposed and 2 not voting

(House Roll Call 4 at House Journal 0)

Click here to view bill details.

 

Rep. Meekhof, having reserved the right to explain his nay vote, made the following statement:

“Mr. Speaker and members of the House:

I can not vote in favor of this resolution. The portion that is actually stimulus may well be important for Michigan and our job providers.

Most of the spending will increase the size and scope of government and increase the debt service that will need to be paid by our children and grandchildren, therefore I will vote no.”

Rep. Haveman, having reserved the right to explain his nay vote, made the following statement:

“Mr. Speaker and members of the House:

Those voting in favor of this Resolution are correct in stating that our federal government spent beyond our means for many of the past eight years. By now we should hae learned from our mistakes. A true stimulus spending bill should be limited to infrastructure projects.”

 

Rep. Agema, having reserved the right to explain his nay vote, made the following statement:

“Mr. Speaker and members of the House:

We have no idea what ‘the’ package is. On principle it makes no sense to over spend by the government. What got us into this problem is giving loans to people that couldn’t afford houses. They defaulted, so will the government if this passes in its present form.”

Rep. Moore, having reserved the right to explain his nay vote, made the following statement:

“Mr. Speaker and members of the House:

We should be spending more time solving Michigans problems than passing meaningless resolutions. Especially a resolution that supports a federal bill so full of pork that my 3 sons and their children will be paying for this for years to come.”

 

Rep. Genetski, having reserved the right to explain his nay vote, made the following statement:

“Mr. Speaker and members of the House:

I voted against HR21 because I feel the U.S. House and Senate have rushed these spending packages through with very little thought or vision. I have deep concerns that nearly one trillion dollars will be spent with very little planning and not for the overall good of the people of Michigan but for those who are politically connected better than others. In the end the ‘jobs’ that many say are going to be created from this spending are temporary and short term. They will not lead to lasting economy recovery- only a revision of our tax code will. If the U.S. and Michigan want long term economic growth, we should cut corporate tax rates to at least 12.5% if we wish to create jobs.”

Rep. McMillin, having reserved the right to explain his nay vote, made the following statement:

“Mr. Speaker and members of the House:

The trillion dollar federal stimulus package has the potential to be the biggest waste of taxpayer money in the history of the world. While we do need an economic stimulus and we do need to create jobs and long term economic growth, there is no reason to believe the bill currently under consideration by Congress will do that. It is full of political paybacks and classic pork-barrel spending. There is no guarantee it will work and every guarantee our children’s children will be left with the bill.

The best way to stimulate the economy is to put (or leave) money in the pockets of taxpayers and job providers and not by increasing the size and scope of government. A bigger government means les freedom for our citizens.

For these reasons, I cannot support this bill at this time.”

 

Rep. Paul Scott, having reserved the right to explain his nay vote, made the following statement:

“Mr. Speaker and members of the House:

We are voting on ‘the stimulus package’ of which we do not yet know what it will consist of in final form. Currently it is not fully devoted to stimulating the economy. For example, right now it has millions of dollars set aside for STD prevention. I can not support putting any additional burden on our grand children for this reason. I can not in good faith support the current package and have voted no on the resolution.”

Rep. Hansen, having reserved the right to explain his nay vote, made the following statement:

“Mr. Speaker and members of the House:

Although I agree we need to do something , the bill as written to this date has too much spending on items that don’t stimulate job creation.”

Rep. Marleau, having reserved the right to explain his nay vote, made the following statement:

“Mr. Speaker and members of the House:

I can not ask the taxpayers in my community to spend their hard earned money to bail out Washington politicians. This is a welfare package not a stimulus package and it will simply reduce economic stimulus by adding massive debt and inflation. This Federal bill is equal to more than $6,000 for every U.S. Taxpayer. While we do need an economic stimulus and we do need to create JOBS and long term economic growth, there is no reason to believe the bill currently under consideration by Congress will do that. It is full of political paybacks and classic pork-barrel spending. There is no guarantee it will work and every guarantee our children’s children will be left with the bill.

Congress must make sure the stimulus package is used in ways that will create JOBS and long-term economic growth.

For these reasons, I cannot support this bill at this time.”

 

Rep. Opsommer, having reserved the right to explain his nay vote, made the following statement:

“Mr. Speaker and members of the House:

Michigan needs to stand on its own and get to immediate work on its own ‘stimulus package’, a group of bills designed to lower property taxes, improve the small business climate, and encourage job creation. We are in the midst of an economic crisis, and yet we are almost into the middle of February and are still waiting for the federal government to rescue us instead of taking matters into our own hands. Rather than doing that, all the House allowed us to do today was to vote on a non-binding resolution and immediately adjourn. We need to be taking real action, especially on legislation such as HB4001, which would increase the Homestead Property Tax Credit and provide immediate tax relief and guidance to homeowners as they prepare to pay their taxes. To instead use our time to vote on a federal resolution message that Congress would not likely even receive until after they have voted would only contribute to our pattern of dependence and inaction.”

 now, let's see...

our governor wants to raise taxes...

this guy has some good ideas...

pity that the party in charge doesn't have a clue how to accomplish the goal of saving this state. pity they won't listen to this guy.

pity that michigan is going to be the first state to fail... and the last to recover.

 

Rep. Kowall, having reserved the right to explain her nay vote pertaining to House Resolution No. 21, made the following statement:

“Mr. Speaker and members of the House:

The trillion dollar federal stimulus package has the potential to be the biggest waste of taxpayer money in the history of the world. While we do need an economic stimulus and we do need to create jobs and long term economic growth, there is no reason to believe the bill currently under consideration by Congress will do that. It is full of political paybacks and classic pork-barrel spending. There is not guarantee it will work and every guarantee our children’s children will be left with the bill.

As currently written, the bill includes billions of dollars worth of projects that do absolutely nothing to stimulate our economy, such as: $400 million to prevent sexually transmitted diseases and $246 million for tax breaks to Hollywood movie producers.

Congress must make sure the stimulus package is used in ways that will create jobs and long-term economic growth.

For these reasons, I cannot support this bill at this time.”