Amidst what economists predict could be the longest recession since WWII,

President Barack Obama is pushing the massive economic stimulus plan or Senate Bill No. 366, also known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The $819 billion package of tax cuts and new government spending is intended to stimulate an economy that contracted at a 3.8 percent annual rate in the final three months of 2008. Now being debated by the US Senate, the stimulus bill was approved by the House of Representatives last week, without a single Republican voting for it. The bill is also facing opposition in the Senate, with Republicans attacking many of the spending items included in the 430-page omnibus bill, ranging from hundreds of millions of dollars to fund sexually transmitted disease prevention to boosting Amtrak.

One of the controversial items inserted in the omnibus bill last Jan 29 is a rider that US Sen. Daniel K. Inouye (Hawaii, Democrat) has included in his capacity as chairman of the US Senate Committee on Appropriations—authorizing $198 million for Filipino WWII veterans and setting forth how the money can be spent. Inouye has been supporting the cause of Filipino veterans, having jointly authored and sponsored the Filipino Veterans Equity bill in the past.

Many critics said the issue of giving benefits for Filipino veterans has no business in the recovery bill. "Like so many other items in the so-called stimulus legislation, I find it hard to figure out how sending money overseas to the Philippines will help stimulate the American economy," said Sen. Richard M. Burr, North Carolina Republican, who led a fight last year to block disbursement of the money.

Agreeing with Burr is Sen. Thad Cochran of Mississippi, the top Republican on the Appropriations Committee, who said through a spokeswoman that he sees the money as legitimate but that it "just doesn’t have anything to do with stimulating the US economy."

Internet blogs on the issue share the same sentiment. One blogger said "the United States should have kept its word long ago towards these Filipino veterans. This, however, is not the right bill for it. Shame on Congress for having neglected these people all these years. Give it its own bill and do it right". Another declared, "I say honor these brave men and keep your word, Washington. However, remove it from this so-called stimulus bill."