McHugh votes No on "so-called stimulus"

Congressman John McHugh joined a unified Republican front Friday, voting No on President Barack Obama’s stimulus plan.

He expressed regret that the bill wasn’t one he could support, but added, “Sadly, my hopes were not even remotely met.”

McHugh says only about 26% of the bill’s cost will go to tax cuts.

President Obama’s supporters have claimed that the measure will create or sustain more than 7,000 jobs in McHugh’s district.

McHugh sounded a deeply skeptical note:

I am hard-pressed to understand how tens of billions of dollars, that our government doesn’t presently have but will have to borrow from our children and grandchildren to increase programs with little or no job creating potential, will do any real good in addressing the current crisis.

Indeed, as the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office recently found, if this bill is enacted, the gross national product will be worse off after 2014 and result in lower wages for workers. Why would Congress want to pass a bill that is projected to make our economy worse over the long-term, not better?