Rep. Rehberg voices stimulus fears

Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont, arrived in Kalispell Wednesday with a big subject on his mind: the recently enacted $787 billion economic stimulus law.

Montana's lone congressman likened its proportion and potential to change the country's future to the events of Sept. 11, 2001.

"We saw, and we kind of knew then, life was going to change forever," Rehberg said during an interview with the Inter Lake editorial board. "At these times, you kind of have to slow up, and wonder, are we really going to want all the government we're going to be getting with this … It is the biggest spending bill, frankly, in the history of the world."

Rehberg joined all other House Republicans and seven Democrats in opposing the bill during two floor votes during the past two weeks. But the bill cleared Congress and President Obama signed it into law Tuesday in Denver.

Weeks ago, Rehberg noted, the Obama administration had stated it wanted the bill to provide a timely infusion into the economy, to be targeted at job generation, to mostly involve temporary spending and to be a transparent package.

Rehberg said the bill came up short on all counts.

He said much of the planned spending will not occur for at least two years; some estimates suggest that only 12 percent of the spending can be considered bona-fide stimulus spending; more than half is geared toward government spending, much of which may not be temporary; and the bill was rushed through Congress with an utter lack of transparency.

Rehberg said the final version, exceeding 1,000 pages, was made available at 11 p.m. the day before it went to the House floor for a vote. As a result, he said, it was barely read by anybody in Congress.

Rehberg said the bill affords "an unprecedented amount of flexibility for the executive to spend money without oversight," but Congress will have a responsibility to exert as much oversight over stimulus spending as it can.

Republicans offered alternatives that were heavy on tax breaks that would have provided a much more rapid, effective jump-start for the economy, he said.

"I'm truly offended by people who say you voted against the economic stimulus package because you don't support jobs," Rehberg said. "It's just absolutely untrue."

This week, Rehberg said he has been hearing plenty from constituents during stops in Butte, Bozeman and Kalispell, where he led a roundtable forum on the stimulus bill Wednesday night.

"Nobody's coming up and saying, 'I sure wish you voted for it,'" he said.

Rehberg refuted some of the rhetoric coming from the Democratic leadership, such as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's statement last week that the bill does not include earmarks or pet projects for lawmakers.

He cited the inclusion of $8 billion for the construction of high-speed rail that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has been pressing for a rail project in Nevada.

"Everybody recognizes that it means his high-speed rail between Vegas and Los Angeles," Rehberg said.

He noted that a Republican senator had inserted language in the bill that would have prevented stimulus money from being spent on museums. But that language was removed from the bill before it was passed.

Rehberg said it was removed because Sen. Reid had been aggressively pushing for federal funding to build a "mob museum" in Las Vegas. There is no certainty that the museum will be built, Rehberg said.

"But is there an assumption that will happen?" Rehberg said. "Yeah, you can bet that mob museum will be built."

Rehberg said the bill includes funding for many projects and programs that have long been supported by the federal government, but they have very little to do with generating economic activity.

"Some of these things have merit," he said, citing funding for Head Start programs and long-promised payments for Filipino veterans of World War II.

He said one of the biggest unintended consequences of the bill - combined with billions in recent banking and auto industry bailouts - is the potential to spur inflation in coming years as the full impact of the spending permeates the economy.

"That is my fear," he said.

But Rehberg said there is a need for political leaders to strike an optimistic tone about the fundamental strengths of the American economy.

"I don't want to talk down the economy," he said. "I don't want to be right. I really don't. America needs to end this recession … but I think this 'stimulus bill] is just going to delay success."

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com