Arkansas Blog

100 Days… Here’s What Blanche Lincoln Has To Show For It
As Economy Shrinks 6.1% In 1st Quarter, Senate Passes $3.5 Trillion Budget
 
WASHINGTON – Marking President Obama’s 100th day in office, U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) helped the Democrats pass a $3.5 trillion budget resolution today – despite announcements from the U.S. Department of Commerce this morning that America has experienced a 6.1 percent decline in the first quarter 2009 gross domestic product (GDP).
 
“While our nation has hemorrhaged more than two million jobs since the beginning of the year, Senator Blanche Lincoln has eagerly helped the President and Congressional Democrats pass $4.6 trillion in new government spending in just the first 100 days,” said National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) spokeswoman Amber Wilkerson.
 
“The budget that Senator Lincoln voted for today doubles the publicly held debt in five years, and nearly triples it in ten years. That is money that future generations in Arkansas will be forced to pay for in the years to come,” Wilkerson continued. “In 2010, Senator Lincoln will be forced to explain to voters why she helped grow our nation’s massive debt instead of helping the middle-class families and small businesses in Arkansas.”
 
Background Information:
 
Arkansas’s Unemployment Rate Is 6.5 %. (U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics Website, www.bls.gov, Accessed 4/28/09)
 
Lincoln Voted In Favor Of Obama’s FY2010 Budget. (S. Con. Res. 13, CQ Vote #173: Agreed To 53-43: R 0-39; D 51-4; I 2-0, 4/29/09, Lincoln Voted Yea)
 
Lincoln Voted In Favor Of The Democrats’ Massive Stimulus Bill. (H.R. 1, CQ Vote #64: Adopted (thus cleared for the president) 60-38: R 3-38; D 55-0; I 2-0, 2/13/09, Lincoln Voted Yea; H.R. 1, CQ Vote #61: Passed 61-37: R 3-37; D 56-0; I 2-0, 2/13/09, Lincoln Voted Yea)
 
·         Lincoln Voted In Favor Of The Democrats’ Massive Stimulus Bill That Allowed AIG To Distribute Huge Bonuses With Taxpayer Dollars. (H.R. 1, CQ Vote #64: Adopted (thus cleared for the president) 60-38: R 3-38; D 55-0; I 2-0, 2/13/09, Lincoln Voted Yea)
 
·         AIG, Which Received Nearly $200 Billion In Federal Bailout Funds, Paid Bonuses To 418 Employees, Including $1 Million Each To 73 People. “The bonuses that the American International Group awarded last week were paid to 418 employees and included $33.6 million for 52 people who have left the failed insurance conglomerate, according to the office of the New York attorney general. The company paid the bonuses, including more than $1 million each to 73 people, to almost all of the employees in the financial products unit responsible for creating the exotic derivatives that caused A.I.G.’s near collapse and started the government rescue to avoid a global financial crisis. A.I.G. has received nearly $200 billion in federal bailout funds.” (Jackie Calmes and Louis Story, “418 Got A.I.G. Bonuses,” The New York Times, 3/18/09)
 
Lincoln Voted In Favor Of The FY2009 Omnibus Bill, Which Included $410 Billion In Spending. (H.R. 1105, CQ Vote #96: Motion Agreed To 62-35; R 8-32; D 52-3; I 2-0, 3/10/09, Lincoln Voted Yea)