06 Feb 2009 Black Small Business Owner Cautions Against “Stimulus”

Washington, D.C. – The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) says the so-called stimulus bill would have a detrimental long-term effect on the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Commenting on this disturbing finding, a member of the Project 21 black leadership network who is also a small business owner is speaking out against the heavy-handed partisan strategy of White House and liberal congressional leaders to rush a vote on the earmark-laden legislation.

“There’s a difference between truly stimulating the economy and paying for pet projects that have languished for years.  The question smart Americans need to ask themselves is how almost a trillion dollars in what largely seems to be pork-barrel spending is going to prevent a possible depression,” said Project 21’s Kevin Martin, an environmental contractor in Washington, D.C.  “If President Obama’s economic policies are supposed to represent hope and change, why is he and why are his allies are employing a strategy of fear-mongering just to pass a bill so full of pork that it should come with eggs, hash browns and toast on the side?”

As reported by the Washington Times, the CBO sent a letter to Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH) – now President Obama’s nominee for Secretary of Commerce – that the stimulus package would produce only short-term gains and would actually lower the nation’s GDP by between 0.1 and 0.3 percent more by 2019 than if the Senate took no action at all.

“This sobering news from the Congressional Budget Office should give pause to elected officials on both sides of the aisle that this so-called stimulus package will damage the overall economy in the long run,” added Project 21’s Martin.  “Worldwide, the financial markets are going through major corrections.  Hastily taking more than a trillion dollars – in this bill alone – at the expense of future generations will not resolve the current economic problems.”

Project 21, a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization sponsored by the National Center for Public Policy Research, has been a leading voice of the African-American community since 1992.  For more information, contact David Almasi at (202) 543-4110 x11 or [email protected], or visit Project 21’s website at www.project21.org/P21Index.html.