INTELLIGENCER JOURNAL

A Feb. 24th article discusses Senator Arlen Specter comments on the recently passed "Stimulus Bill" as follows: "Going back to the economic stimulus bill, Specter said he believed the final bill should have included more tax cuts than spending. Specter said the inefficiency of the government has been shown during the economic crisis, especially with former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson's action to buy 'toxic debt,' which still hasn't broken the freeze on credit...'The government is so ineffective at carrying out these plans that if people have the money themselves, it has a better chance of getting into the economy' Specter said."

WATCHDOG: When the Senate vote was in balance, Specter was given fifteen minutes in which he articulated the Republican position about the shortcomings of the bill. Then he announced he was braking ranks and voting for it due to the urgency of the moment.

Assuming the Republicans were correct (which Specter reiterates in part above), would a delay of a week or two to achieve useful modifications have been too high a price? Specter will have to answer that question in the 2010 Republican primary and, if he wins, again in the general election.