Washington DC – Ways and Means Ranking Member Dave Camp (R-MI) issued the following statement today after the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated the real cost of the proposed stimulus bill at well over one trillion dollars due to interest payments that would have to be made on top of the $800 billion in borrowed money:

“This stimulus bill is beginning to look like nothing more than an over inflated spending bill that will have a bigger impact on the deficit than on job creation.  What the Speaker has presented to the American people is a laundry list of wasteful spending coupled with disregard for the immediate relief American families and employers need, which tax cuts can provide.  One can clearly see here that tax cuts impact families twice as fast as government spending.  There are consequences to attempting to spend your way to prosperity.  The Congressional Budget Office clearly makes this point by showing that if we borrow $820 billion we’ll saddle future generations with an additional $347 billion in interest payments for a whopping total of more than $1 trillion. More government spending will merely mask the real problems of a stagnant economy.  The better solution is tax cuts that spur job creation.”

CBO’s estimate table on the costs associated with the stimulus bill and a letter from Ways and Means/Budget Committee Ranking Member Paul Ryan to CBO Director Douglas Elmendorf can be found here.

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