U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, issued the following statement today after Senate Democrats announced that they would vote on separate pieces of the President’s second stimulus:
“Last week, the Senate showed the two paths to solve America’s economic problems: the first was the President’s highly partisan stimulus that grows spending and government. The only thing bipartisan about it was the opposition to the President’s plan. The second were the three trade bills that got government out of the way, liberated job creators, and achieved bipartisan consensus. The President’s second stimulus with billions in new spending and taxes has hit a wall of bipartisan opposition.The trade agreements to open foreign markets to American products overwhelmingly passed with support from Democrats and Republicans. The lesson that seems to be lost on the President is that if we abandon the partisan, political approach we can move our country forward.
“Last week, the Senate voted in a bipartisan fashion against the second stimulus that’s paid for with permanent tax hikes on small businesses, families and individuals. This week’s attempt is just more of the same. With a weak economy, whacking American job creators and our economy with higher taxes is a pretty terrible idea. I hope my colleagues have learned a lesson and that they abandon the divisive and costly legislation that a bipartisan group of Senators oppose and instead take up legislation that will grow our economy. This is the path we should take.”