A conservative group called "Americans For Prosperity" has started a petition against the stimulus package that became so popular, it crashed their website in recent days. (The site has since gone back up.)
Addressed to Senators, the petition reads:
On behalf of the members of Americans for Prosperity, I am writing to urge you to vote against the so-called American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Congress should not enact an expensive spending bill under the pretense of stimulus or recovery. No matter which amendments pass, the fundamental approach of dramatically increasing federal debt and spending is a mistake. We therefore urge you to vote NO and will rate a vote against the so-called stimulus as a Key Vote for Prosperity in our Congressional ratings.
As I write this letter, more than 200,000 Americans have signed a petition on our web site, NoStimulus.com, and thousands more will likely sign it before you read this letter. They represent a growing majority of the American public who agree with the petition text:
"Congress should not enact an expensive spending bill under the pretense of stimulus or recovery. We cannot spend our way to prosperity, and such an expansion of the federal government will put a crushing burden on taxpayers in the long-term."
Central planning and bigger government cannot solve our problems. Excessive borrowing to fund consumption was a major cause of our current economic crisis. The first rule of holes is to stop digging, and more than $1 trillion of additional borrow-and-spend big government will only throw more good money after bad. Instead of trying to pick winners and losers from Washington, Congress should cut spending, strip down burdensome regulations and allow individuals and free enterprise to flourish.
We therefore urge you to vote no on the stimulus, regardless of which amendments pass and regardless of any individual provisions that may look attractive.
Sincerely,
Tim Phillips
President
Americans for Prosperity
Prior to his work for AFP, Phillips founded Century Strategies with Ralph Reed, a Christian leader known for his role in jailed lobbyist Jack Abramoff's Indian casino scheme. In the summer of 2008, Americans for Prosperity launched a "Hot Air Tour" to protest "climate alarmism" in Congress.