Republican Party of Louisiana Chairman Roger F. Villere, Jr. released the following statement on the one year anniversary of the “Stimulus” Plan:

“Today is the one year anniversary of the Obama-Melancon team’s failed ‘stimulus” program.  Melancon and Obama promised their binge spending was necessary to create a jobs and that the money would not be wasted.  Melancon called it ‘the right thing to do’ and the he supported the bill so as to not ‘embarrass the president.’  Yet, one year later it is Barack Obama and Charlie Melancon who should be embarrassed by a ‘stimulus’ plan that failed to keep national unemployment out of double digits, wasted billions of dollars, and passed trillions of dollars in debt on to future generations.”

Background:

Melancon Voted In Favor Of The $825 Billion House-Passed “Stimulus” Bill. (H.R. 1, CQ Vote # 46: Adopted 244-188: R 0-177; D 224-11, 1/28/09, Melancon Voted Yea)

Melancon: “This Bill Is The Right Thing To Do For America’s Future, And I Am Proud To Support It.” (Congressman Charlie Melancon, Press Release, “Rep. Melancon Supports Economic Recovery Plan To Create And Save 50,000 Jobs In Louisiana,” 2/13/09)

Melancon Voted For The Stimulus To Not Embarrass Obama.“The Blue Dogs backed down from a confrontation last week, with an overwhelming majority of their members holding their noses to vote with Pelosi and the White House. ‘We didn’t want to embarrass the president,’ Melancon said.” (Glenn Thrush and Patrick O’Connor, “The Blue Dogs bark,” Politico, 2/5/09)

For a detailed analysis of the “stimulus” plans failures, please see the report issued today by House Republican Leader John Boehner titled “Where are the Jobs?: A Look Back at One Year of So-Called ‘Stimulus’” link