No Stomach For the 'Stimulus'
He was elected in 2000 and began serving just 14 months ago, so he has not yet absorbed the lesson that in Washington, symbolism is far more important than substance. Even though he served an apprenticeship in the House of Representatives more than a decade ago, his eight years as the Democratic governor of Delaware ruined him.</br></br>Carper, like other governors of both parties, became accustomed to being judged on the results he produced for his state, not on his rhetoric. That is why he was able to defeat a popular incumbent, William Roth, in their gentlemanly Senate election campaign. And it is why he looked at the so-called stimulus bill that whisked through Congress last week and was signed by President Bush on Saturday with such a skeptical eye that he was one of only 12 legislators in the entire House and Senate to vote "no."</br></br>He explained to his constituents that he could not be part of the game when "Congress passed a bill that spends money we don't have to fight a recession that is already over."</br></br>Four hundred and seventeen representatives -- all but three of those who voted -- and 85 of the 94 voting senators disagreed, and many of them spent the past weekend at home, bragging about the help they delivered.</br></br>The new law extends unemployment benefits in most states an additional 13 weeks, provides rapid tax depreciation as an inducement for business investment, funnels aid into the New York City area hit by terrorists last Sept. 11 and keeps in place a few random tax provisions that otherwise would have expired.