I believe that Congressman Reichert made the right choice when it came to this vote. Looking in the new package you see alot of things that wouldnt go stright to the people instead it goes to places that wont make any jobs! With the Republican and Democrats, it is really scary seeing that the US Congress could pass a bill without ONE Republican vote. I understand that the past several years Republicans wernt doing their best, but the balance of the House and Senate power looks really scary. That is the reason why in the past 30 days we switched from a trubled capitalistic banking system all the way to a Nationalized Banking system. But we must remember that Capitalism is just a vericle that IS driven by the AMERICAN PEOPLE.

Congressman Reichert is just another clown in the GOP circus. The mainstream media has it right this time through. The Republicans have long ago been called out on their everlasting campaign, and this is another sign of their trite efforts. If the stimulus succeeds, they'll take credit for the tiny changes they managed to push. If it fails, they'll be the "I told you so" chorus.

That said, two pieces of Congressman Reichert's rhetoric show his insincerity:

1) Only having a short time to review a bill is a last ditch attempt to dismiss ignorance. The bill was available to anyone with a web browser for weeks, and the changes made between the initial candidate and the final version were minimal and, again, well documented and available. When the Democrats complained of the 11th hour tactic for things like the Patriot Act and other bills rushed to vote, the GOP responded by saying it was sour grapes. Well?

2) Saying the act won't create jobs is an echo of the Rush Limbaugh ignorance. Any infusion of money at any level where it reaches the retail or manufacturing sector will positively impact our unemployment rate. Where it won't help is at the ultra-rich tax cuts. Trickle-up economics works, only those seeking to benefit their campaign coffers by supporting huge donors think otherwise.

Congressman Reichert lost by a relative hair's breadth in the last election, and his opponent was all but unqualified by comparison (sorry Darcy). Washington State, especially the 8th district, is already very active, educated, and is being more or less gentrified with progressive-minded voters. He should change his act. He's representing GWB-era ideas in the Obama era, and he's going to find himself out of a job if he thinks his routine is going to bring out voters in 2010.

Reichert is a do-nothing congressman. Everyone thinks he is such a hero but in truth, he has been worthless. He is a total patsy for the republicans without an original thought in his brain. Of course, he represents Bellevue and all the east side millionaires...

it is clear he knows nothing about the needs of every day people...

keep anyone in his district from getting any stimulus money if that is the way he feels about it... then let's see what the voters decide

reicherts a sheep not a rep

I continued to write to Dave and others not vote for any bailout or stimulus. The only thing I was for was to cut hundreds of billions of waste from Gov and State and spend that for construction project with american products.
Doing this we will not have to borrow any money our kids will be paying the intrest on long after their dead.

He has no clue what the American people are facing. Voting no male no sense at all in this economic condition no matter where the congressman stands, even if the majority party hurt his feeling. I just want this congressamn knows that people are hurting, they need help now. We really do not care much about his feeling. He is suppose to represent us, the people, not himself.

Representative Dave Reichert absolutely did the right thing in voting no for this spending bill. We are going to see very high inflation rates in the next few years because of it. There were other bills out there that were based more on common sense ideas, American Solutions, being one of them.

Dave Reichert is just another traitiorous repugnican. He and his unAmarerican party need to step aside, let the adults fix the problems Bush and company created and wait a couple of election cycles until they are all replaced by people who are not bent on destroying our country.

Reichert is just another just say no Republican who is praying the stimulus bill fails so they can use in their 2012 campaign.
They are all complete idiots.

In all due respect, Sour Grapes are not fitting for such a highly respected citizen. The Republican Party, seems to be committed to changing the subject, from their failed policies of the past, and now reject the new sheriff in town. I am a Republican, but I have the dignity to accept the Presidents direction until he and his administration fail to meet their goals.

No, was the correct vote. When I mortgaged my house I read the mortgage papers, I understood my responsibilities, I am meeting my responsibilities.

When the Democrats signed this bill into law they did not read it, and they will not be able to pay for it. Who do you think will pay for it? My grandchildren will be paying for it for years to come.

Way to go Dave! This is just one more example of your great ability to see Thu the political gunk and vote to represent the majority of the 8th district.

respectfully,  reichert put a bullit in his family pets head -  nice respected citizen & respectfully, 50.6% is not a large majority of the 8th

Representative Dave Reichert was absolutely right in voting no for this spending bill.

Dennis Bounds, you grilled the rep like you had an agenda. Lighten up sir. You looked bad. Is not your job simply to present the news or pose the questions? Dave Reichert was elected to vote based on his convictions, not just for the man, his political party, his bailout plan, even if he is more popular than God. Of course he voted correctly. It was his vote and his job to vote his conscience.

"Did Reichert represent his district well by voting no on the package?"

Absolutely!! Voting no on a package that was loaded with pork was the honest thing to do. It's not a stimulus package, it's a political payback that ultimately will not help anyone.

As Winston Churchill said, "I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle."

Rep Reichart did the right thing. The taxes our children will have to pay to cover this loan from china is wrong on so many levels and it will not fix the problem. Road projects are good for 3-5 years and when that project is done where will the construction people work? And to get the federal unemployment support check for three years (thats all the feds promise)the state has to agree to permanantly change our unemployment laws to pay part time employees benifits which we don't do now nor can we afford. The critics of Rep Reichart will be singing a different tune when they see their 2009 tax bill to cover all this.

I agree with Mr. Reichert; although, I don't believe the bill will do the trick. I also noticed that Dennis seemed to have an agenda. It's sometimes difficult to tell which one is the news person. Did everyone notice the straight out threat to Mr. Reichert's pets????

YEP, DAVE DID THE RIGHT THING IN VOTING "NO". WISH MORE CONGRESSMEN AND SENATORS FROM WASHINGTON STATE WOULD VOTE THE WAY THEIR CONSTITUENTS THINK, NOT JUST PARTY LINE!

I believe Mr. Reichert did exactly the right thing. His stated reasons in your TV interview were valid ones - and he,likely, took some heat to stand up and vote 'no' with the minority who opposed the bill. The stimulus bill will never produce the benefits that the Democrats have claimed. And, the cost to us now, next year, and 10 years from now is more than we will ever be able to pay back.

Reichert's trying, why haven't they asked the tough question...Were's the 8,000,000,000 coming from..??wala..maybe more conterfiting..the dollar is becoming worthless(more!) to hell with the tax and spend politicians..start cutting there exorbant self inflated salaries! Up with Libertarians..Where's John Paul when we need him?
America is doomed ,

Senator Reichert says that he and Republicans opposed the Stimulus bill on the basis of important philosophical reasons. He didn't say what those philosophical reasons are. Could it be that according to them it is philosophically wrong to tax them, the rich, whose riches often are from selective legislation, suppression of competition by monopolization, or windfalls of various kinds? It seems sad when people hide behind self-serving etherial philosophical precepts when real life and death issues are breaking down other people's doors.

Senator Reichert says that he and Republicans opposed the Stimulus bill on the basis of important philosophical reasons. He didn't say what those philosophical reasons are. Could it be that according to them it is philosophically wrong to tax them, the rich, whose riches often are from selective legislation, suppression of competition by monopolization, or windfalls of various kinds? It seems sad when people hide behind self-serving etherial philosophical precepts when real life and death issues are breaking down other people's doors.

What a phony, do nothing politican. Reichert, Washington voted for Obama! Your party lost! We want you to work with President Obama and stop playing political games. You gave Bush a blank check for years and look at the mess we are in. Now you have principles? This plan will do a lot of good for our state. It is a win for the people. The rich may not see it that way, but then again it is selfishness and greed that has gotten us into the mess we are in.

The Congressman did the right thing. All intelligent Congressmen should take time to read what they vote on or have a staff person do so. In fact, he suggested exactly what the democratic House said they should do...wait for 48 hours and give the representatives time to read the bill. Nancy Pelosi forced the bill to a vote within 24 hours...not much CHANGE in the House. He also stated that Obama did try to listen and gain in put for the stimulus bill...but he has no control over the legislation...only Pelosi and the democrats House members do.

Dennis, you looked like you had an agenda...why not act that same way with Jay Inslee or heaven forbid, the Governor.

Thank you Dave for doing the absolutely right thing. Spending money we don't have is how we got in this mess in the first place. Doesn't seem like repeating the mistake will make it better, just worse!

Voting "no" on stimulus is voting no to extended unemployment benefits - Medicaid - and other assistance to Americans suffering under the current crisis. It is a fraud for Republicans to vote no and then say they support President Obama and their constituents. If you are not a part of the solution you are a part of the problem - get that Mr. Reichart! 100 or 3 million jobs - may not seem like much to you, but it sure means alot to those that will get those jobs. Your party leaders have made it clear they want our President to fail - that means America fails. Stop with the misinformation, lies about the stimulus package and do some good for your country. Shame on you.

Yes, everybody should have voted NO on stealing money from our children, Grand children and unborn children.
The Congress has given Exlax to the people of this country and in two to three years what are they going to us for Ceopectate?
We all know that Exlax will put you in the toilet.
And High Taxes and Higher Interest is going to be there answer to stopping the SH-TS.
Get our of our way Congress and let us take care of America.
It is supposed to be a Government of the People, no of the Government.
Govern don't try to run a business, you never could.
Drilling in ANWR and off shore plus other energy would create a ton of jobs for a long time.
The jobs that the stimulus (exlax) would create would be short lived. Then what do we do?
The Government needs to GET OFF OUR BACKS.

Yes. The stimulus bill turned ito a political payback bill. The Fed lowered the rates banks pay, they have not passed lower rates to us. Lower rates would give most of us extra money each month, that would do more to recovery then this bill.

Obama did one thing right.
He got Ron Sims out of our hair.
Thank you Barack.

Representative Dave Reichert was absolutely right in voting no for this spending bill.

Something else I have noticed is it took the Bush Administration 8 years to put us 2 trillion in debt. The Obama Administration has add another 1 Trillion in less than 30 days. All I can say is hang on to your hat. It appears that neither party has a clue.

Here is some thing I thing everyone should read and then stop and take a long time thinking about.

545 People
By Charlie Reese -- Charlie Reese is a former columnist of the Orlando Sentinel

Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.

Have you ever wondered why, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, we have deficits?

Have you ever wondered why, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, we have inflation and high taxes?

You and I don't propose a federal budget. The president does.

You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does.

You and I don't write the tax code, Congress does.

You and I don't set fiscal policy, Congress does.

You and I don't control monetary policy, The Federal Reserve Bank does.

One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president and nine Supreme Court justices - 545 human beings out of the 300 million - are directly, legally, morally and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.

I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress.

In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered but private central bank.

I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They have no legal authority.

They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman or a president to do one cotton-picking thing.

I don't care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator's responsibility to determine how he votes.

Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party.

What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall.

No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President for creating deficits.

The president can only propose a budget.

He cannot force the Congress to accept it.

The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes.

Who is the speaker of the House?

She is the leader of the majority party.

She and fellow House members, not the president, can approve any budget they want.

If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to.

It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million can not replace 545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts - of incompetence and irresponsibility.

I can't think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people.

When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.

If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair.

If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red.

If the Marines are in IRAQ, it's because they want them in IRAQ.

If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it's because they want it that way.

There are no insoluble government problems.

Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power.

Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like 'the economy,' 'inflation' or 'politics' that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.

Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible.

They, and they alone, have the power.

They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses - provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees.

We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess!

Republicans had plenty of time to read the bill - the past 3 weeks! How long does it take to read 1000 pages - that is your job! Citizens need to do their homework. I'm amazed to see how many Republicans do not understand the crisis we are in and what is needed to extract us from the mess the Republican leadership got us into.
Voting "no" on stimulus is voting no to extended unemployment benefits - Medicaid - and other assistance to Americans suffering under the current crisis. It is a fraud for Republicans to vote no and then say they support President Obama and their constituents. If you are not a part of the solution you are a part of the problem - get that Mr. Reichart! 100 or 3 million jobs - may not seem like much to you, but it sure means alot to those that will get those jobs. Your party leaders have made it clear they want our President to fail - that means America fails. Stop with the misinformation, lies about the stimulus package and do some good for your country. Shame on you.

Republicans had plenty of time to read the bill - the past 3 weeks! How long does it take to read 1000 pages - that is your job! Citizens need to do their homework. I'm amazed to see how many Republicans do not understand the crisis we are in and what is needed to extract us from the mess the Republican leadership got us into.
Voting "no" on stimulus is voting no to extended unemployment benefits - Medicaid - and other assistance to Americans suffering under the current crisis. It is a fraud for Republicans to vote no and then say they support President Obama and their constituents. If you are not a part of the solution you are a part of the problem - get that Mr. Reichart! 100 or 3 million jobs - may not seem like much to you, but it sure means alot to those that will get those jobs. Your party leaders have made it clear they want our President to fail - that means America fails. Stop with the misinformation, lies about the stimulus package and do some good for your country. Shame on you.

This state is filled with Drones of the Dem party - I'm proud Reichert voted NO, so people will work for their own money, not steal from their own grandchildren, pitiful.

Guess their are more who are willing to just keep taking like pigs - Generation "Theft" (change), folks need to understand they do NOT deserve money for being American, how foolish.

people out there are really loosing their minds,

I was surprised to see how many comments seemed to agree with Reichert. I suspect the majority of people who disagreed or were disgusted with his vote just didn't watch. I almost didn't for that reason.

I think Riechert lacked the courage to buck hypocritical Republican leaders. He admitted that the President reached out and helped to make some of the changes Republicans wanted, yet the party rebuffed him. How would you expect anyone to react to that??? If I were Obama I would wonder why do I need you, Riechert? After the vote, you say you hope it succeeds, but you certainly did not reach out to help and be part of the team this nation and state needs. If you just want to be negative and criticize, join Rush Limbaugh, be honest and hope for failure. Otherwise, get your hands on the rope and help pull together.

Sadly, Reichert does not seem to have the experience or the courage to do more than follow party rank and file. All Congress could seem to agree upon in non-partisan style is giving themselves a pay raise which flies in the face of these troubled financial times. He takes no responsibility for the bad decisions that helped to dig the nation into this hole. His way of representing his district is to whine about not being at the table with Democrats to craft the bill, the # of pages in the bill (aren't they all of similar size?), and holding solidarity with his party at the expense of rolling up sleeves and getting some work done in Washington. I agree the Republican party needs to re-group, but representing his district and governing were what he was elected for---not re-building the RNP. We need some courageous leaders and unfortunately our representative Reichert is not one.

Can all you who are against this bill please tell me how you plan to fix the economy??? Please???

A bill that puts even a little more money into the hands of you and me works far better than the cut government spending does.

In this bill there was:

Tax cuts for the lower and middle classes
Help for the unemployed
Money flowing to programs that will help create jobs

How is this bad? The one thing I do not care for is help to people who got in over their head on their mortgage. The housing market was killed because too may people could get mortgages when they should never have been allowed to get them which aftificially inflated houses to levels that far outpaced peoples wages and made the problem even worse.

Reichert is not much of a politician because he is doing a job that he does not have the knowledge nor the qualities for. But Darcy Burner? Blah, not really a good choice either so it defaulted to Reichert. He really can't be to blame as there has to be someone to voice the other side though.

I am tired of the people who do not understand how bad we will be without this bill. They are the ones calling for the government to stop spending so much money. Well, I have a few words for you. If the government stops spending like they do, many more jobs would be lost, including yours, this country would go into chaos as many more millions of people will not have jobs, and many, like you, who do not care about anyone other than yourselves, will end up turning to theft, assault, and murder to try to get what you want because there would be no other way to get it. Your lifestyle would tank and you would lose almost everything. If the government does not step in to try and protect people and stimulate the economy, the future would be very bleak for even longer than it seems like right now.

Dave Reichert and the rest of the Republicans are following a script that was no doubt written by the House Leader with the help of Rush Limbaugh - To try to ensure that ANY plan that Obama advances will fail. We are all in one country, on one planet and all in the same BUSH economic mess. We need to have action to put people to work and get the housing situation straightened out.If they have a concrete plan other than whining and cutting taxes for the rich - we all would like to be informed about it. If Dave Reichert would lower his sights and see the "lesser" of us in Bellevue rather than catering to the likes of Kemper Freeman perhaps he would have some idea of how difficult life is becoming for so many King county residents as well.

The only threat to daves pets is dave himself.....

Dave Reichert did the right thing on voting against the the bailout for the banks twice. He did the right thing on saying no to this bill that sadly was a majorly wasted effort that may waste the only chance we have to prevent a deep recession or heaven forbid a depression.

When your representative cant read the legislation and lobbyist in washington are able to just tell them to sign it...then we have no voice whatsoever.

I have been very ashamed of the democrats...they used to care about people and common sense.

Where are the big ideas we were promised. I will tell you where the money was wasted on special interest projects and handouts.

When we needed a focused effort. Now they are talking about another 410 billion this year on general funds expansion.

I guess we all deserve it if we allow these types of corrupt people to go without a slap on the wrist and we attack the republican because he actually stands up for the people.

Sad to say if this plan fails...then all the programs supplements for unemployment, etc will be useless. As important as this was it should have been added to the 410 billion in a budget supplemental and not mislabeled as part of a bargaining chip to force democrats to sign or loose the next election.

This is the heart of the problem..we need not 1000 page bills...we need focused and honest citizens that represent the people and not special interests in washington.

right or wrong at least it is something - What was the republicans option .... oh yea nothing.
lets all face it ... IT is the Best of the worst soulutions...... I am still waiting to hear a plan from republicans (who by the way, where have these people been the last 8 years of out of control spending?) at some point we need to lose the party hats and start wearing the American hat.

Republicans have been saying that they didn't vote for the stimulus because "Our grandchildren will be paying for it for years to come."

Well, where were they for the past eight years? If they truly believed that then why didn't they pass Social Security reform?

Republicans are just a party of hypocrites catering to ignorant complainers.

No, he did not. We will have to replace him at the next election. He votes the Republican way regardless of what his constuents need or want. His party, the Republicans caused the financial disaster, the housing bubble and the two wars. Wake up Dave, we are not buying your horse pucky.

Mark--
Reichert won with 52.78% of the vote, not 50.6%. That was 2006.

To those so-called "progressives" who wrote comments in here: Be careful what you wish for!

Stop your crying about how "people are hurting". More than likely it's partially your own fault for not being financially responsible enough or having adequate job skills. How about getting off your behind and stop expecting Big Government to "fix" everything? Do you really want to hand over your lives to bureaucrats?

When you hear Obama talking about "cutting the deficit in half" and fiscal restraint, while at the same time spending with abandon.....with more massive spending to come to "reform" health care, energy and education.....what is he actually saying?

They are laying the groundwork for big brother government! Once they get their massive socialist programs in place (nationalizing finance, housing, health care and energy), they are going to HIKE TAXES big time and RATION/REDISTRIBUTE the resources and/or benefits. That's what we're getting with HOPE and CHANGE! The conversion to socialism. Say goodbye to freedom and democracy....we have happily given it away without a fight.

To those so-called "progressives" who wrote comments in here: Be careful what you wish for!

Stop your crying about how "people are hurting". More than likely it's partially your own fault for not being financially responsible enough or having adequate job skills. How about getting off your behind and stop expecting Big Government to "fix" everything? Do you really want to hand over your lives to bureaucrats?

When you hear Obama talking about "cutting the deficit in half" and fiscal restraint, while at the same time spending with abandon.....with more massive spending to come to "reform" health care, energy and education.....what is he actually saying?

They are laying the groundwork for big brother government! Once they get their massive socialist programs in place (nationalizing finance, housing, health care and energy), they are going to HIKE TAXES big time and RATION/REDISTRIBUTE the resources and/or benefits. That's what we're getting with HOPE and CHANGE! The conversion to socialism. Say goodbye to freedom and democracy....we have happily given it away without a fight.

To those so-called "progressives" who wrote comments in here: Be careful what you wish for!
Stop your crying about how "people are hurting". More than likely it's partially your own fault for not being financially responsible enough or having adequate job skills. How about getting off your behind and stop expecting Big Government to "fix" everything? Do you really want to hand over your lives to bureaucrats?
When you hear Obama talking about "cutting the deficit in half" and fiscal restraint, while at the same time spending with abandon.....with more massive spending to come to "reform" health care, energy and education.....what is he actually saying? They are laying the groundwork for big brother government! Once they get their massive socialist programs in place (nationalizing finance, housing, health care and energy), they are going to HIKE TAXES big time and RATION/REDISTRIBUTE the resources and/or benefits. That's what we're getting with HOPE and CHANGE! The conversion to socialism. Say goodbye to freedom and democracy....we have happily given it away without a fight.

Nice to see that there is one real man in western Washington when it comes to politics. Without Dave, we would be left with a bunch of limp-wristed, pathetic big government/big daddy losers. Absolutely right to vote down this Obamunist nonsense. Let the recession play itself out or this downturn will last much longer. Obamunists and the Dummycrats in Congress need to stop this binge or we will be in even deeper poop. Hard to believe how soft and pathetic this nation has become already. Our forefathers would be ashamed.

Can you imagine if "I went to Harvard" Burner would have replaced this excellent man? The horror...

Reichert, if you recall, was the Sheriff who for 30 years could not catch the Green River Killer. This after meeting him after the first or second murder. Reichert should not be a Congressman, he should be one of the Unemployed of our state. The same people, Republicans, who drove our country into the ditch, are the ones complaining about the cost of the tow truck.