In 2009, U.S. Senator Jon Tester (D-MT) told Montanans that he would be supporting Barack Obama’s $825 billion stimulus, because it was a “jobs” bill that would help repair America’s aging roads and bridges – saying “I think, absolutely, it’s going to create jobs and build the infrastructure.”
Instead, after the bill passed the House of Representatives it was revealed that, in fact, only 5 percent of the so-called “stimulus” was spent on infrastructure. A few months later, it was revealed that billions of dollars were given to tax cheats and millions of dollars were spent in fictitious congressional districts, including $4.768 million in Montana’s non-existent “2nd Congressional District.”
Meanwhile, the country has lost 1.5 million jobs since Tester helped his Washington party bosses ram President Obama’s “stimulus” into law.
But now that it’s been widely accepted that their first stimulus never lived up to their promises, Tester and Obama want a do-over as Tester’s office tells a liberal Washington Post blogger that Tester “plans to vote for cloture” when Democrats in the Senate put forth Obama’s $50 billion “infrastructure” stimulus later this week.
As The Hill reports:
President Obama’s proposal to create a national infrastructure bank and spend $50 billion on transportation to stimulate job growth will be up for a vote in the Senate this week. … The president incorporated it into his proposal for a $447 billion jobs act, which the Senate is now voting on in pieces after its rejection as a package.
“Senator Tester and President Obama promised their original $825 billion ‘stimulus’ would focus on infrastructure and drive job creation – but instead, that never happened and our country lost 1.5 million jobs. So why does Tester want to help President Obama make the same mistake again by forcing folks in Montana to foot the bill for another $50 billion in government ‘stimulus’ spending?” said National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) spokesman Chris Bond. “With our country’s debt at nearly $15 trillion, Montana simply can’t afford any more job-killing, tax-and-spend experiments from Barack Obama and Jon Tester.”
Background Information:
TESTER 2009: “I Think, Absolutely, It’s Going To Create Jobs And Build The Infrastructure.” (Ryan Hall, “Stimulus Bill To Pay To Upgrade Five Montana Ports,” Great Falls Tribune, 4/18/09)
