Despite President Obama?s efforts and the inclusion of specific measures designed to appeal to Republicans, not a single GOP House member voted for the Economic Recovery Act, popularly known as the stimulus bill, that passed in the House of Representatives by a vote of 244 to 188 yesterday. Just 12 Democrats voted against the bill, which authorized $607 billion in direct spending and $212 billion in various tax cuts over two years to stimulate the economy.

 

Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) has been gravely concerned about these politically motivated tax cuts, largely sweetheart deals for business that will benefit the very financial institutions whose high-flying speculation created the economic crisis in the first place. They are bad legislation, and certainly have no place in a stimulus bill.

 

At DSA?s National Political Committee meeting this past weekend, it was agreed that the organization should do more to educate people about the weaknesses in the bill.  Given the escalation of the economic crisis, we believe much higher levels of spending, certainly more than $1 trillion year, will be necessary.  We believe the federal government should minimally allocate:

DSA has issued a new two-page flyer that details its perspective on the economic crisis. The flyer is the first of several pieces DSA is preparing on different aspects of the economic crisis. To read or download the flyer click here.

 

It is critical that Congress hear from those opposed to tax cuts for business if there is any hope of redirecting those resources to job-generating infrastructure spending. You can reach your senator or representative through the Congressional switchboard by calling 202-224-3121 or 800-828-0698. If you don?t know who is your Representative, you can find out by clicking here. Let your Representative know your views, as the bill will come back to the House for a final vote. House members can still pressure their leaders who will negotiate with the Senate on the final version. When you call, be sure to say you are calling about the Economic Recovery Act and that while you support the act, you are both against its tax-cuts-for-business provisions and believe that there should be more direct spending on infrastructure.