Lance explains anti-stimulus vote

U.S. Rep. Leonard Lance has been in the Congress less than two months, but he seems to be getting the hang of things. He talks about bipartisanship as if it were some kind of religion, but then votes in lockstep with the rest of the House Republicans against the stimulus bill, explaining his vote with GOP talking points.

We had Lance in the office last week — the full audio will be available on our site — and he said that “he recognized the need for a stimulus plan but opposed the Democratic package because it contained too much spending and increased the national debt too precipitously.”

”I am as a member of Congress deeply concerned about levels of federal debt,” he said.

The bill’s size was an issue, he said, adding that “he would have preferred a stimulus package like the alternate proposed by Republican Whip Eric Cantor, a $500 billion package equally divided between stimulus spending and tax credits.”

But many economists — the majority, in fact — believe the bill signed by President Obama was too small and that Congress will have to pass a second, larger package to have any real impact.

Ultimately, he dismissed the notion that he voted based on pressure from his party — though he repeatedly spoke during our interview about his lack of influence as a freshman member of Congress.

“I always vote my conscience and voted my conscience on that piece of legislation,” he said.

Author: hankkalet

Hank Kalet is a poet and freelance journalist. He is the economic needs reporter for NJ Spotlight, teaches journalism at Rutgers University and writing at Middlesex County College and Brookdale Community College. He writes a semi-monthly column for the Progressive Populist. He is a lifelong fan of the New York Mets and New York Knicks, drinks too much coffee and attends as many Bruce Springsteen concerts as his meager finances will allow. He lives in South Brunswick with his wife Annie. View all posts by hankkalet