Pryor, Boozman Disagree On Stimulus Effect

Arkansas’ two U.S. Senators have two different takes on the effect the stimulus had on the nation’s economy.

Sen. Mark Pryor (D) and Sen. John Boozman (R) both released statements this week addressing the program, which sought to boost economic activity and create and save jobs.

John Lyon with our content partner, the Arkansas News Bureau, reports:

“The truth is that the previous stimulus package did work,” Pryor said in a conference call with reporters. “It didn’t fix everything that people wanted it to, but if you take that stimulus out of the economy over the last couple of years, you would see a higher unemployment rate, you would see a worse economy today than we would have had, had we not passed it.”

Pryor was discussing Republicans’ blockage of the president’s job bill in the Senate on Tuesday. Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., said in a statement Tuesday that the bill is “more of the same policy that failed with President Obama’s first ‘stimulus.’”

“Real economic recovery will not come by growing government,” Boozman said. “It will only come by fostering an economic environment where the private sector can create jobs, which this bill does not. Instead it creates jobs that will go away when the money goes away, just as we saw with the president’s last ‘stimulus’ bill. That approach failed then and it will again.”

You can read the full story at this link.

Also, Pryor told reporters that he thinks Congress is willing to dissect parts of Pres. Obama’s latest jobs bill in order to pass pieces that enjoy more bipartisan support.  He singled out investments in infrastructure as one area with some consensus.

Malcolm Glover with our content partner, KUAR-FM 89 News, has more here.