My latest email response to Sen. Lieberman 03/03/09

Dear Sen. Lieberman,

I respectfully have to disagree with you on your assessment that the ARRA and its brother and sister giant economic bailout bills are either necessary or timely.
Our country was founded on the premise that oppressive government is an impediment to liberty.   Our founders would have disagreed vehemently with your opinion that in times of crisis, the government is needed to take a more activist stance to cushion anything.

The current government is itself responsible for the creation of the current economic downfall and its continued interference is destined only to further aggravate and extend it.  I have taken the time to correspond with you as I find you to be an honorable and decent man.   I am often at odds with you politically but I recognize your love and respect for our country.  

I believe this and similar legislation is designed to further impoverish the citizenry and make them even more dependent on an already bloated government that never fails to stop its expansion.   In my mind, this is pure evil, and contrary to the dream of the architects of this great nation, not to mention, our Creator.

I implore you to reconsider the addition of your considerable weight to the support of this type of massive government expansion.   There is no proof whatsoever that it will do anything to avoid or even slow down the current economic decay.   There are many of us who believe, it will in fact achieve the complete opposite effect.  

Again, this may be the aim of some in government, to use this crisis as a means to nationalize and further diminish the liberty of individuals.   If it fails, our collective problems will become infinitely larger and you will have committed this and many future generations to an undeserved debt that may be far greater than anything merely financial.
 
Respectfully,

*********
Wolcott, CT

— On Mon, 3/2/09, correspondence-email@lieberman.senate.gov <correspondence-email@lieberman.senate.gov> wrote:
From: correspondence-email@lieberman.senate.gov <correspondence-email@lieberman.senate.gov>
Subject: Correspondence From Senator Lieberman
To: **********
Date: Monday, March 2, 2009, 5:45 PM
 
March 2, 2009
 
**********
Wolcott, CT
 
Dear ***********:
 
Thank you for contacting me with your concerns regarding the congressional response to the current economic downturn.  I am pleased to hear from you.
 
The economic downturn, which originated in the housing and financial sectors, has spread to the broader economy.  Unemployment in Connecticut is now over seven percent; prices of food, energy, child care, and other basic necessities are squeezing tight family budgets; and thousands have lost their homes to foreclosure.  On a national level, almost every aggregate economic indicator has turned negative over the last 12 months, including employment, capital investment, and trade.  Our economy lost 1.5 million jobs from November 2008 to January 2009, and consumer demand is expected to fall by $1 trillion this year and next.  In these times, the federal government can, and should, take a more activist stance to cushion the blow to families and communities.
 
After an intense debate, Congress, with my support, approved the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA; P.L. 111-5).  President Obama signed it into law on February 17, 2009.  The final version of this legislation will cost a total of about $787 billion over a number of years.  This package consists of $211 billion in tax relief for businesses and families and $575 billion worth of investments to assist communities and families.
 
This bill is targeted to help those who have been hit especially hard by the economic downturn.  It provides household tax relief in the form of a refundable tax credit for working individuals and families, an expansion of eligibility for the refundable portion of the child tax credit, an increase in the income thresholds subject to the alternative minimum tax (AMT) for one year, as well as a temporary suspension of the taxability of unemployment benefits.
 
For businesses, this legislation allows qualified small businesses to accelerate recognition of the research and development tax credit, extends the “net operating loss” carryback from two to five years, and extends the bonus depreciation schedule for capital expenditures incurred in 2008 to capital expenditures incurred in 2009.  These tax provisions are crucial to help businesses and families that have been negatively affected by the recession to weather the current storm.
 
Additionally, ARRA provides federal funding for assistance to municipalities and states that face serious budget shortfalls that prevent them from maintaining critical public services and making needed investments in infrastructure.  This problem is particularly acute in Connecticut.  Governor M. Jodi Rell’s office recently projected that our state faces a deficit of approximately $6 billion over the next few years.
 
This legislation will help states by supplementing state funding to maintain public housing, school systems, and medical care for the elderly and for low-income families.  Furthermore, under this legislation, cities and municipalities will be able to apply for funding to make important infrastructure investments in transportation, school construction, training for displaced workers, energy conservation, and water facility maintenance.  I have set up a page on my website detailing assistance to Connecticut under ARRA; you may view this page online at http://dpc.senate.gov/docs/fs-111-1-24-states/ct.pdf.
 
Furthermore, this package also makes significant long-term investments in the nation’s green economy, helping to reduce our dependence on foreign oil while creating new jobs in energy-related industries.  By investing in the development of clean, renewable energy sources, we can minimize our need for non-renewable fuels and curb our nation’s greenhouse gas emissions.  This measure improves our energy security by making investments to redesign and retrofit our infrastructure so we consume less energy and to modernize our energy transmission systems to enhance reliability.
 
In total, the bill provides over $35 billion in funding specifically for programs to advance these goals, as well as an additional $20 billion in tax credits for energy efficiency and renewable energy.  ARRA will significantly improve the allocation of our clean energy resources while helping to achieve our common goal of promoting viable, innovative, and renewable domestic power sources.
 
Many rightly observe that this legislation has a very high price tag, given the uncertainty that it will ameliorate our economic ills.  I would counter, however, that the legislation is big because our problem is big.  In my view, incremental approaches will take us down the same path of Japan during the 1990s with stagnant growth and recurring federal intervention in the economy.
 
The passage of this package was necessary and timely, but funding from this legislation must not be spent in a wasteful manner.  I supported the inclusion of an additional $200 million for inspectors general to hire experienced auditors and investigators to oversee spending under ARRA.  In addition to that, as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, which has oversight responsibility for government spending generally, I have already scheduled a hearing for March 5, 2009 to examine how the federal government will account for the billions of dollars expected to be spent over the next two years from ARRA.
 
With America in the midst of the most serious economic crisis since the Great Depression, I worked with several moderate Senate colleagues to forge the bipartisan compromise that eventually passed the Senate. The only alternative was to see the proposal fail altogether.  We are in an emergency, and this legislation must be judged in the context of the world we live in now.  Although imperfect, this legislation will begin the long process of restoring economic growth and transforming our economy.
 
Thank you again for sharing your views and concerns with me.  I hope you will continue to visit my website at http://lieberman.senate.gov for updated news about my work on behalf of Connecticut and the nation.  Please contact me if you have any additional questions or comments about our work in Congress.
 
Sincerely,
 
 
Joseph I. Lieberman
UNITED STATES SENATOR
 
JIL:kht