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DeMint, Sanford work to rally Republicans against Obama plan |
WASHINGTON — Sen. Jim DeMint and Gov. Mark Sanford urged members of the Senate on Wednesday to reject President Barack Obama’s economic-stimulus bill, as DeMint introduced a rival measure with only tax cuts and no spending.Sanford, in Washington for a Republican Governors Association meeting, asked Republican senators at a Capitol Hill lunch convened by DeMint to follow the lead of House Republicans who voted against the $819 billion stimulus measure last week.The bill passed the House by a 244-188 margin without a single Republican vote. It would bring South Carolina $3.2 billion, including a $905 million infusion to eliminate the state budget deficit and $830 million to build and repair roads, bridges, schools, colleges, water-treatment plants and other infrastructure.Sanford and DeMint said they are joining forces in a bid to spark the kind of national outcry among conservatives that led to the defeat of a major Senate immigration-reform bill in 2007.The two men oppose using federal deficit spending to jolt the economy, saying increased tax cuts will have a more immediate impact on restoring consumer confidence and spending.
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