There's nothing like a simple up or down vote in the Senate to confirm the agenda behind the $920 trillion "Stimulus" bill. Senator John Thune (R-SD) proposed an amendment that would require that no stimulus funding be used to create new government programs or bureaucracies. The Senate rejected the amendment. Not surprisingly, I haven't seen this mentioned in the media. You have to go to the Senate website to read about it.

http://thune.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressReleases.Detail&PressRelease_id=02a0129d-c21b-4e72-ba22-c96b4ff40fa9&Month=2&Year=2009

Senator John Thune today introduced an amendment (S. AMDT #238) to the Democrat Stimulus bill that would prohibit using money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 on any new federal government programs created as a result of the stimulus bill.

"If the idea of the stimulus plan is to be targeted, timely, and temporary, there is no reason not to adopt this amendment," said Thune. "A new government program would likely take a year or longer to create and begin to work, and the countless billions of spending in this bill is not the way to stimulate our economy quickly. If our priority is to create jobs and get people working again as soon as possible, we should not be spending money on creating new bureaucracies."

The Senate rejected this common-sense amendment 62 to 35 . Apparently the idea behind the stimulus isn't to be targeted, timely, and temporary.

Update 2/15/2009: Having passed both the Senate and the Congress, we see that the bill also restricts executive compensation . And the Obama administration is now claiming that the bill advances their health care reform . Either issue is fair game for the government to address... but in a stimulus bill? The bill indeed is just a Christmas tree of liberal goodies and programs.

The following senators voted against ensuring the stimulus package isn't used to increase the size of the federal government. If any of these are your senators, make sure they hear from you!

Akaka (D-HI), Baucus (D-MT), Bayh (D-IN), Begich (D-AK), Bennet (D-CO), Bingaman (D-NM), Boxer (D-CA), Brown (D-OH), Burris (D-IL), Byrd (D-WV), Cantwell (D-WA), Cardin (D-MD), Carper (D-DE), Casey (D-PA), Collins (R-ME), Conrad (D-ND), Dodd (D-CT), Dorgan (D-ND), Durbin (D-IL), Feingold (D-WI), Feinstein (D-CA), Gillibrand (D-NY), Hagan (D-NC), Harkin (D-IA), Inouye (D-HI), Johnson (D-SD), Kaufman (D-DE), Kerry (D-MA), Klobuchar (D-MN), Kohl (D-WI), Landrieu (D-LA), Lautenberg (D-NJ), Leahy (D-VT), Levin (D-MI), Lieberman (ID-CT), Lincoln (D-AR), Lugar (R-IN), Martinez (R-FL), McCaskill (D-MO), Menendez (D-NJ), Merkley (D-OR), Mikulski (D-MD), Murray (D-WA), Nelson (D-FL), Nelson (D-NE), Pryor (D-AR), Reed (D-RI), Reid (D-NV), Rockefeller (D-WV), Sanders (I-VT), Schumer (D-NY), Shaheen (D-NH), Snowe (R-ME), Specter (R-PA), Stabenow (D-MI), Tester (D-MT), Udall (D-CO), Udall (D-NM), Warner (D-VA), Webb (D-VA), Whitehouse (D-RI), Wyden (D-OR)