A few samples from the debate on the Republican stimulus substitute:

Rep. Mike Pence (R., Ind.): “More big government spending on liberal government programs won’t put Americans back to work.”

Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D., Ore.): “These are the same people who told us the Bush tax cuts were going to lead to nirvana . . . I am glad they have come to the floor to present their alternative, because it shows us their priorities: take money away from 95 percent of the American public, and give it to the wealthiest Americans who need it least.”

Rep. John Boehner (R., Ohio): “The bill we have on the floor is rooted in the idea that fast-acting tax relief will do a lot more than slow-moving government programs . . . Today, in this debate, we think that we have a better idea. President Obama has made clear that he believes the goal here should be to preserve jobs in America and create new jobs in America . . . This bill, in fact, better meets the goal that the President himself has outlined . . . At the end of the day, the bill we’re going to pass is not being paid by taxpayers today. It’s being paid by our kids and their kids.”

Rep. Earl Pomeroy (D., ND): ”I’m fairly astounded that we’d see a sub that goes back to the old tired republican formula of letting the top have everything and letting the others be shortchanged . . . ”

Rep. Brian Higgins (D., N.Y.): ”The Republican substitute would eliminate $500 million for road and bridge construction in economically depressed areas like Buffalo and Lackawana, N.Y.”

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R., Tex.): “We did too much deficit spending during the last six years when we were in the majority. And now the Democrats are doing the same thing . . . When we elected a president who promised change, I really hoped we were going to have change and get away from the deficit spending of the last eight years. But instead of getting change, with the original [Democratic] bill here we are getting much, much, much, much more of the same.”