White House Turns Up Heat On Arizona Senator
The White House on Tuesday released letters from four cabinet secretaries to Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, a Republican, citing Kyls comments and outlining transportation, housing, Indian education and other projects in his home state they said would be eliminated if the senator has his way.
Kyl, the No. 2 Senate GOP leader, has said the stimulus spending hasnt succeeded in boosting the economy and that its adding to the deficit. Hes suggested on his Senate Web site and in interviews that spending not already allocated be halted.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, one of two Republicans in Obamas cabinet, made no attempt to conceal his needling.
Kyl “publicly questioned whether the stimulus is working and stated that he wants to cancel projects that arent presently under way,” LaHood wrote Brewer. “If you prefer to forfeit the money we are making available to your state, as Senator Kyl suggests, please let me know.”
LaHood noted in the letter that at least $520.9 million of the $48 billion for transportation projects under the economic recovery act are intended for Arizona projects, including transit projects in Phoenix.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said Arizona would lose $45 million for 500 single-family housing loans if projects not already under way were canceled. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan said the state would forfeit $73 million his department oversees, including $22 million for homeless programs.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, a Westerner who formerly served with Kyl in the Senate, didnt mention the Arizonan by name in his letter, but referred to “some key Republican leaders in Congress.” He said the state would lose $60 million for Bureau of Indian Education schools, among other money.
Kyl didnt immediately reply to a request for comment from The Associated Press.
On Sunday, Kyl said that “the reality is it (stimulus spending) hasnt helped yet.” He said it may be years before all the money gets spent and that the economy could recover before then.
“Only about 6.8 percent of the money has actually been spent. What I proposed is, after you complete the contracts that are already committed, the things that are in the pipeline, stop it,” Kyl told ABCs “This Week.”
Last week, Kyl argued in a column posted on his Senate Web site that the economic stimulus program has been a failure.
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Kyl column on stimulus: http://kyl.senate.gov/record.cfm?id315337
White House: http://www.whitehouse.gov