Des Moines, IA – Iowa GOP Chairman Matt Strawn railed against Senator Tom Harkin’s plan for a second stimulus following the Senator’s floor speech on Tuesday, June 14 where he stated, “We need more stimulus now." Harkin’s Tuesday speech, which downplayed record debt and deficits and called for a series of tax hikes, comes on the heels of a report Monday in The Hill newspaper that Senator Harkin is leading an effort by Senate Democrats to craft new stimulus legislation.
“Irony abounds when Senator Harkin opens a floor speech calling others out of touch. In calling for another stimulus bill, he is not only wrongheaded about the source of job creation but apparently oblivious to his constituents’ growing concerns about the debt burden,” said Strawn. “As someone who has actually created jobs in Iowa, the Senator’s comments are laughable and out of touch with the reality facing employers and small businesses all across Iowa. Contrary to Harkin’s belief, jobs are not created on the floor of the United States Senate. Jobs are created by risk-taking Iowans who believe in themselves and simply desire a government that stays out of their way so they can invest in themselves, their community and a dream.”
Harkin’s speech suggested our economy needed another “shot in the arm,” the same language used to promote the 2009 legislation that has failed to get the unemployment rate below 9 percent.
“After President Obama’s failed stimulus bill in 2009, Iowans will view a second stimulus with great skepticism. As the adage goes, ‘fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.’”