American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009: Difference between revisions

== Legislative history ==

=== House of Representatives assembly ===

The Senate called a special Saturday debate session for February 7 at the urging of President Obama. The Senate voted, 61–36 (with 2 not voting) on February 9 to end debate on the bill and advance it to the Senate floor to vote on the bill itself.<ref>{{USSRollCall|111|1|59}}</ref> On February 10, the Senate voted 61–37 (with one not voting)<ref>Senator [[Judd Gregg]] (R) did not vote because, at the time, he was a nominee of the Democratic president to become [[United States Secretary of Commerce|Secretary of Commerce]]. Gregg also did not participate in the cloture vote.</ref>

=== Comparison of the House, Senate and Conference versions ===

Economists such as [[Martin Feldstein]], [[Daron Acemoğlu]], National Economic Council director [[Larry Summers]], and [[Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences]] winners [[Joseph Stiglitz]]<ref>[https://www.irishtimes.com/business/obama-s-800bn-stimulus-may-not-be-enough-1.1234541 Obama's $800bn stimulus may not be enough], Irish Times</ref> and [[Paul Krugman]]<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/25/opinion/25krugman.html | title=Stimulus Gone Bad |work=The New York Times | first=Paul | last=Krugman | date=January 25, 2008 | access-date=April 23, 2010}}</ref> favored a larger economic stimulus to counter the economic downturn. While in favor of a stimulus package, Feldstein expressed concern over the act as written, saying it needed revision to address [[consumer spending]] and unemployment more directly.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view/2009_01_30_Harvard_prof_slams_stimulus_plan:_Dems___800b_%E2%80%98mistake_ | title=Harvard Prof Slams Stimulus Plan | work=Boston Herald | date=January 30, 2009 | access-date=February 2, 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120930112843/http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view/2009_01_30_Harvard_prof_slams_stimulus_plan:_Dems___800b_%E2%80%98mistake_ | archive-date=September 30, 2012 | url-status=dead | df=mdy-all }}</ref> Just after the bill was enacted, Krugman wrote that the stimulus was too small to deal with the problem, adding, "And it's widely believed that political considerations led to a plan that was weaker and contains more tax cuts than it should have – that Mr. Obama compromised in advance in the hope of gaining broad bipartisan support."<ref>{{Cite news| last = Krugman| first = Paul| author-link = Paul Krugman  | title = Failure to Rise| newspaper = The New York Times| page = A31| date = February 13, 2009| url = https://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/13/opinion/13krugman.html?_r=1| access-date =February 15, 2011}}</ref> Conservative economist [[John R. Lott|John Lott]] was more critical of the government spending.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,487425,00.html |title=Obama's Stimulus Package Will Increase Unemployment – Opinion |publisher=Fox News |date=February 3, 2009 |access-date=February 18, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090215212728/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0%2C2933%2C487425%2C00.html |archive-date=February 15, 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref>

On February 8, 2009, a letter to Congress signed by about 200 economists in favor of the stimulus, written by the [[Center for American Progress Action Fund]], said that Obama's plan "proposes important investments that can start to overcome the nation's damaging loss of jobs", and would "put the United States back onto a sustainable long-term-growth path".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.americanprogressaction.org/issues/2009/01/stimulus_letter.html|title=Letter to Congress: Economists Across the Spectrum Endorse Stimulus Package|date=January 27, 2009|work=Center for American Progress Action Fund|publisher=Center for American Progress|access-date=February 1, 2010}}</ref>  This letter was signed by Nobel Memorial laureates [[Kenneth Arrow]], [[Lawrence R. Klein]], [[Eric Maskin]], [[Daniel McFadden]], [[Paul Samuelson]] and [[Robert Solow]]. ''The New York Times'' published projections from IHS Global Insight, Moodys.com, Economy.com and Macroeconomic Advisers that indicated that the economy may have been worse without the ARRA.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/21/business/economy/21stimulus.html |title=New Consensus Sees Stimulus Package as Worthy Step|date=November 21, 2009 |work=The New York Times |access-date=June 6, 2011 |first1=Jackie |last1=Calmes |first2=Michael |last2=Cooper |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110511230904/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/21/business/economy/21stimulus.html| archive-date= May 11, 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2009/11/21/business/21stimulus_graphic.html|title=Projections Show It Could Have Been Worse|date=November 21, 2009|work=The New York Times|access-date=June 6, 2011}}</ref>

<blockquote>[T]he revised data ... showed that the economy was plunging even more rapidly than we had previously recognised in the two quarters following the collapse of [[Lehman Brothers|Lehman]]. Yet, the plunge stopped in the second quarter of 2009 – just as the stimulus came on line. This was followed by respectable growth over the next four quarters. Growth then weakened again as the impact of the stimulus began to fade at the end of 2010 and the start of this year.

The [[Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee]] (DCCC) established a "Hypocrisy Hall of Fame" to list Republican Representatives who had voted against ARRA but who then sought or took credit for ARRA programs in their districts. As of September 2011, the DCCC was listing 128 House Republicans in this category.<ref>{{cite web| title = Hypocrisy Alert: 128 House Republicans Take Credit for the Economic Bills They Opposed| publisher = [[Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee]]| url = http://www.dccc.org/page/content/hhof| access-date = September 10, 2011| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110909000218/http://www.dccc.org/page/content/hhof/| archive-date = September 9, 2011| url-status = dead| df = mdy-all}}</ref> ''[[Newsweek]]'' reported that many of the Republican legislators who publicly argued that the stimulus would not create jobs were writing letters seeking stimulus programs for their districts on the grounds that the spending would create jobs.<ref>{{Citation| last = Stone | first = Daniel | title = The Tea Party Pork Binge| newspaper = [[The Daily Beast]]  | date = October 30, 2011  | url = http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2011/10/30/conseratives-brought-nation-to-default-ask-for-govt-handouts.html| access-date =November 10, 2011}}</ref>