Dear Mr. Zagala:

I want you to know that I understand why the provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (HR 1) concern you, and I hope I can offer some reassurance.

The idea of borrowing more money, when our national debt has double in recent years, is counterintuitive at the least, but it’s a necessary move in our present situation. The best way to get our country out the red is to get Americans out of the red. That means putting Americans back to work, not just trimming wasteful government spending. The private sector is too frightened to hire people or begin projects, so cutting corporate taxes will just put millions into big companies that aren’t willing to spend it. By cutting individual taxes, from income tax to sales tax, for 95% of workers, we are giving the American people the money to buy necessities and creating consumer demand to spur private company spending. By providing contracts for construction companies, we not only get new roads and an updated electric grid, but we create business for those companies, all of their suppliers, and all of their workers, who can then go out and buy from other private companies, so the cycle builds on itself.

There have been plenty of rumors about wasteful projects supposedly hidden in HR 1, from the misleading claims about a $30 million dollar program for a mouse to baseless talk of honeybee insurance, but the bill is actually pretty well targeted and transparent. Much of the spending will go to the states, through established formulae, to keep teachers teaching and firemen on the job. The big projects will be under constant review – not only from Congress and government, but from you on the website www.Recovery.gov – and could lose their money if it isn’t spent within 90-days or if they’re wasteful.Putting money in the hands of Americans, through unemployment benefits or social security bonuses, will help mitigate the suffering of people innocent of causing this crisis. By getting our economy going again, we’ll be able to protect our citizens and pay down our debt in time. With HR 1, we have put a down-payment on our future. That’s a mortgage I’m ok with.

Sincerely,

Charles A. Gonzalez

Member of Congress

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