Stimulating Stimulus

A few days ago, I received an email from Senator Thune, one of our congress people from the state of South Dakota:

"March 11, 2008

Sioux Falls, SD 57101

Dear :

Because you have previously contacted my office about immigration issues, I thought you might be interested in an update on recent developments in the U.S. Congress.

On February 6, 2008 the U.S. Senate passed an economic stimulus package (H.R. 5140) with important improvements to the bill that was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on January 31st. The economic stimulus bill, which was signed into law by the President on February 13, 2008, will put money back in the hands of families and consumers while at the same time providing tax relief to small businesses across South Dakota and the country.

Under the original House-passed version of the bill, some illegal immigrants would have been eligible to receive tax rebates. However, the Senate adopted an amendment, which I supported, that prevents illegal immigrants from receiving rebates. I was pleased to see that this dramatic and necessary improvement was included in the final version of the bill. Like many South Dakotans, I believe that we must strengthen our immigration policies to prevent undocumented aliens from crossing our borders and should not unjustly reward them with taxpayer dollars.

I hope you found this legislative update helpful. If you would like more information on my activities in the Senate, please feel free to visit my website, www.thune.senate.gov.

Kindest regards,



JOHN THUNE
United States Senator"

To begin with, I supported Mr. Thune in his run for the Senate. I have met him, and have had discussions with him on many subjects. I love him, as a brother in Christ.

I responded to his email with an email basically saying I did not approve of the stimulus package, because it did nothing to reduce taxes or congressional spending. To my military mind, it would be more of an economic stimulus to reduce taxes, leaving more money in my pocket over the year, than to give me a meager check in the middle of the year hoping it will cause a boom economically, before the end of the year.

I guess Rush was right, again, when he explained that something happens to people when they get elected to offices in Washington, DC. Something about the beltway, apparently seeps into their being and leads them away from the conservative bent they started out with.

I ended my email with the thought: I guess something Senator Daschle said to me once, is still clear in my mind, and seems to be appropriate here: "We will have to just agree to disagree."