Chambliss: Spending Isn't Stimulus Unless It's Defense Spending
When the stimulus bill passed in the Senate a couple months ago, it did so with the help of only three Republicans. None of those Republicans was Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA).
In fact, at the time, Chambliss dismissed the idea that government spending is the proper response to a deep recession entirely.
"Instead of focusing on three major issues - job creation, housing and compassion for Americans who have lost jobs through no fault of their own - to boost the economy, this bill has morphed into a bloated government giveaway," said Chambliss. "The majority in Congress has been in runaway mode when it comes to spending taxpayer dollars.
And then last week, when Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) introduced an alternative budget proposal, Chambliss voted for it, in support of a spending freeze.
Yesterday, though, he called in to the NPR program Talk of the Nation and argued that there's no better way to create jobs (read: stimulate the economy) than...with government spending.
As long as the spending is for things that cause explosions, anyhow.
Well listen, the jobs are important any time, whether you're in a fiscal crisis or not. But now, when we're in these very difficult times, certainly it's even more important.I've been an advocate not just of spending more money on the F-22 but on - when it comes to stimulating the economy, there's no better way to do it than to spend it in the defense community.
We'll be keeping our eyes peeled for more examples of this sort of contradiction in the days and weeks ahead.
Josh
Matt
Eric
Brian
My head asplode.
April 10, 2009 12:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thank you, thank you. I've been posting about this ripe GOP hypocrisy since the DoD budget was announced. They've all been saying it one way: "You can't cut jobs in my district, there's a recession on!" Chambliss has at least come right out and said what they really mean. This makes the hypocrisy even more obvious.
April 10, 2009 12:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's that whole the right hand not knowing what the left hand's doing kind of thing.
April 10, 2009 12:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
What a fool...Defense spending has put millions of unsed weapons and equipment in stockpiles around the Nation..There is a decided difference in busy work and productive employment..He has the temerity to imply that creating REAL jobs is not stimulus...He needs to pull his head out into the sunshine..Call him and let him know we are on to the stupidity of the repub rhetoric...1.800.828.0498!
April 10, 2009 12:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
That's the face of drunk. Look at the veins in his nose and the overall puffiness.
April 10, 2009 12:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
Chambliss is still drunk from his near near near loss of "sugar TIT" he's been sucking for so long.
Can't you just look in his face and see the dollar-signs reflected. HE IS, HAS BEEN AND ALWAYS WILL BE A FLAKE.
KEEP DANCING AMERICA . . .THE PIPER CAN WAIT.
April 10, 2009 12:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
As long as the spending is for things that cause explosions, anyhow.
Ha!
Um, I could draw a connection between Republicans willing to spend on stuff that blows other stuff up AND insurance companies covering Viagra but not birth control...but I won't.
April 10, 2009 12:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's like connect-the-dots, how long before you give in to the temptation to put that line in?
April 10, 2009 1:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
You went there!
April 10, 2009 1:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
They do like the romance explosions...
April 10, 2009 2:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
And sparkly starbursts, also too!
April 10, 2009 2:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think the debate will be more difficult than just arguing that defense spending creates stimulus. It will become apparent that the Gates budget isn't really a cut in spending, so if military spending causes a stimulus, then Obama has increased the budget by 4%.
Republicans will have to argue that only they can decide what kind of military spending causes a stimulus. This is pretty much what they tried to do for the last eight years anyway: that they had a magic understanding of what was right and what was wrong, when an argument against becomes an argument for, when generalities can't be used and you need to tweak the argument with fine details.
April 10, 2009 12:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm not an expert on the proposed budget restructuring, but wouldn't a plausible argument in opposition to it go something like this: Anytime you do a massive restructuring, there will be dislocations. Jobs lost on one project -- e.g., the F22 -- may be replaced by jobs on other projects -- e.g., the F35 -- but the lost jobs will not be instantaneously replaced. It could in fact be months, or even years. Given the economic downturn, we can't afford the disruption right now.
April 10, 2009 1:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
They're not intelligent enough to come up with a rational counterargument.
April 10, 2009 11:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
Chambliss only says what he's told to say.
The man is clearly brain-dead and playing a minor part in parroting the standard GOP spew of the day. If there was ANYONE less effective as a legislator in any area he'd be hard pressed to compete with this loon.
Too much red clay in his diet along with 'Southern Comfort'....
April 10, 2009 12:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
The F22 is slated to be built in his state. This was fairly predictable.
April 10, 2009 1:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
"...when it comes to stimulating the economy, there's no better way to do it than to spend it in the defense community."
In fact, defense spending has perhaps the LOWEST stimulative effect of any government spending. Jobs created per dollar of expenditure is far lower than almost anything else you might do with that money. The reason is quite simple and obvious if you just think about it for more than 30 seconds: spending on big-ticket weapons programs goes for very high margin items (i.e. items where most of the money goes for profits rather than salaries, and most of the salaries are very high).
Moreover, defense spending as an economic stimulus is stupid. We could employ people to make thousands of flat-panel televisions and drop them on our enemies, but no one would claim that's a sensible thing to do.
April 10, 2009 1:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
"We could employ people to make thousands of flat-panel televisions and drop them on our enemies, but no one would claim that's a sensible thing to do."
That would actually be cheaper than our current weapons programs....
April 10, 2009 1:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
aaaand this is why I hate living in Georgia. I have this clown for a senator.
April 10, 2009 1:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ever since Reagan, Republicans spend only for the military. (Now we know why our schools are closing down, people are out of work, New Orleans is under water, infrastructure sucks, medical care goes to people with big bucks....
April 10, 2009 2:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
"Spending Isn't Stimulus Unless It's Defense Spending". And Chambliss isn't saying something stupid, unless he's talking!
April 10, 2009 3:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
"when it comes to stimulating the economy, there's no better way to do it than to spend it in the defense community"
And the fact that it also contributes to the killing of hundreds of thousands of brown people with funny names is only a bonus.
April 10, 2009 3:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
As Richard Nixon said, "We are all Keynesians now."
Ronald Reagan was no more a proponent of small government than FDR.
He ballooned the national debt to expand military spending, even as he slashed spending on safety nets and regulatory capacity, and shifted the tax burden away from the wealthy to the middle class.
Ronald Reagan was not a free-market, he was fuedal.
April 10, 2009 4:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm from GA and believe me this Senator is a complete contradiction unless it comes to upholding the Republican agenda. When it comes to jobs being cut at Dobbins AFB (Lockheed Martin) he is a total flip flopper. I worked in the Defense Industry for 15 years (Northrop Grumman and others) and believe me the cost overruns are astronomical and unwarranted. We need to cut the Defense Spending and Non-essential programs. Some of the projects are just pipedreams until the technology is perfectedd. We don't need to fund programs that make no sense. The F-22 is the most bloated program in the industry and has so much backing because LM has suppliers in so many states that there is no Political will to cut the program. I hope Sec. Gates holds his line and cut the program. Believe me those who jobs end will be moved to other programs that are wasteful also. Let's not let these Southerners keep us from doing the right thing.
April 10, 2009 5:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
He just needs a military-industrial complex theme song in the background. Then, obviously, we would all be sold.
April 10, 2009 11:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
As Chambliss can explain, The Pentagon is not truly a government entitity, it is the Wal Mar of War: bureaucracy is non-existent and the procurement system is state-of-the art.
April 13, 2009 1:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
What a fool...Defense spending has put millions of unsed weapons and equipment in stockpiles around the Nation..There is a decided difference in busy work and productive employment..He has the temerity to imply that creating REAL jobs is not stimulus...He needs to pull his head out into the sunshine..
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June 6, 2010 7:45 AM | Reply | Permalink