Tester says stimulus put people back to work

Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., believes misperceptions persist about the federal stimulus spending and the health care reform, and he discussed soon-to-expire tax cuts along with some of his recent votes during a stop Friday in Kalispell.

Tester told the Daily Inter Lake editorial board that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act often is perceived as accomplishing little more than creating government jobs, but that is not the case.

He said people often overlook the fact that about one-third of the $787 billion stimulus package amounted to tax breaks, and much-needed infrastructure improvement projects put people in the private sector to work.

Without it, he said, “there’s a lot of people who wouldn’t have jobs.”

Tester originally backed the use of stimulus funding for a controversial $8.5 million renovation project at a remote Montana-Canadian border crossing station, but that situation has changed following Canada’s decision to close its side of the Whitetail port.

The project since has been suspended and Tester is meeting with Daniels County residents next week to get input on whether the widely criticized project should proceed.

“It’s just flat difficult to keep that open if it’s a one-way port,” he said. “In fact, it’s just not going to happen.”

Health-care legislation that narrowly passed Congress this year “addresses a situation in this country” that if allowed to continue would have broken businesses, families and individuals, he said.

Tester asserted that health-care reform is a work in progress that will require future adjustments.

Asked if the end-of-year expiration of Bush-era tax breaks is having a chilling effect on the economy, Tester said that unpredictability in the tax code does impact the economy negatively.

“If you lay out the groundwork for businesses [for taxes], they can move forward,” said Tester, who favors a continuation or expansion of tax breaks that are targeted toward job creation.

He cited tax breaks that create incentives for research and development in the private sector as an example.

Tester said he does not have a problem with tax breaks expiring for upper-income earners.

Tester defended his vote to confirm Elana Kagan to the U.S. Supreme Court when concerns had been raised about how she would regard gun control and the Second Amendment.

During a discussion with her in his office, Tester said, “we talked about gun rights ... and I didn’t feel threatened by her at all.

“I trust my instincts when it comes to people. Elana Kagan is a quality person. When we talked about the issues, she didn’t send up any red flags for me.”

Tester said he would like to see a plan for Afghanistan with benchmarks for success, but he believes they should be effective and reasonable for the military to accomplish.

Regarding the federal lawsuits challenging an Arizona state law on immigration enforcement, Tester said he voted to take away funding from the government’s litigation efforts.

“It’s how that law is implemented that counts,” he  said.

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