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ADA Updates

ADA National Director Urges Congress to Pass Economic Recovery Bill
Posted Jan 22 2009 at 1:09 PM
Updates >>

Like many of you on Tuesday, I couldn’t take my eyes off of the television screen until the helicopter taking President Bush out of Washington had lifted off.  It was the welcome end of an era of irresponsible politics and dangerous adventurism that damaged our country immeasurably.

We, at ADA, are euphoric over the Inauguration of President Barack Obama and eagerly look forward to working with him and the new Congress to get our country back on track.  His first acts as President more than justify our optimism. 

Now is the time for bold initiatives to put our country back on track.  President Obama (how wonderful that sounds) and Congressional leaders are acting quickly to craft an economic recovery program which begins that process.  Their focus, rightly, is on providing resources to programs which best help those who need it most and on creating jobs in a crippled economy.   

The American public wants and deserves nothing less.  Voters demanded quick, decisive action.  Yet, the tin ears on Capitol Hill and in the Right Wing media still don’t seem to have gotten the message.  They are working with all their might to ensure that programs to help the poor, the states and the middle class are undercut in favor of tax breaks to their wealthy compatriots.  Yesterday, House Republicans were implementing a strategy designed to divide Obama from the Congress and to create dissention within the Democratic House caucus itself. 

To make matters even worse, the Right Wing media once again is frothing at the mouth.  Rush Limbaugh has even gone so far as to declare publicly, “I disagree fervently with the people on our [Republican] side of the aisle who have caved and who say, ‘Well, I hope he succeeds.’ … I hope he fails.”  To us that is a truly astonishing statement.  He hopes Obama fails?  What, for Mr. Limbaugh, things aren’t bad enough?  He wants them to get worse?

We are optimists and we truly believe that the American public is fed up with Limbaugh nonsense.  We are, however, also pragmatists and know that the task ahead of us is daunting.  We cannot take anything for granted and we do know that for the promise of the Obama Administration and the new Congress to succeed, we will all need to work diligently in support of their efforts.  Please, therefore, contact your Senators and Representative today – and every day – until a true economic recovery package is enacted into law.  They need and deserve to know that the American public is demanding economic recovery now.