I Feel Stimulated

We are currently going through a major economic recession. House values have plummeted, thousands of jobs are being lost every week, and the credit markets are still frozen solid in spite of all the money given to the banks from that ingenious TARP fund. Last week the House passed an economic “stimulus” bill that would cost $819 billion. The vote was straight across party lines. Not one Republican, despite Obama’s out stretched hand, voted for the legislation. That might be because the bill, like every spending bill before it, is loaded with pork. This one however is probably the most partisan and deceptive spending bill I’ve ever seen.

Let’s start the evaluation by discussing how partisan this bill is. This bill wasn’t just passed entirely by the Democrats, it was written solely by the Democrats. This is something that Nancy Pelosi proudly pointed out when she said, “We won the election. We wrote the bill.” But her arrogance didn’t end with that statement, the Speaker and her fellow House Democrats began celebrating the bills passage before the vote even took place (it must be nice to have that comfy majority). My biggest problem here is that Obama promised bipartisanship and he made good on that by reaching out to the House Republicans (for all the good it did). I guess Pelosi and the rest of this bills architects didn’t get the memo because there is absolutely nothing bipartisan about the way this bill was written or passed.

Now let’s get into the pork. After President Obama promised us change, government transparency, and an end to “politics as usual,“ the Democrats push through a bill that has so much pork in it that to read it is like watching a lesbian porno staring Miss Piggy and Paula Dean. Here is a list of just some items you’ll find in this “stimulus” bill according to the Wall Street Journal:
- $81 billion for Medicaid.
- $66 billion for education.
- $36 billion for unemployment benefits.
- $30 billion for COBRA insurance extensions.
- $20 billion for food stamps.
- $8 billion for renewable energy funding.
- $7.5 billion for public housing.
- $7 billion for the modernization of federal facilities.
- $2.4 billion for carbon capture demonstration projects.
- $1 billion for Amtrak.
- $650 million for digital TV converter box coupons.
- $600 million for new cars for the federal government.
- $400 million for global warming research.
- $150 million for the Smithsonian.
- $50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts.

Which one of the items listed above is going to unfreeze the credit markets and allow existing companies to stay in business while new companies open? Can’t find one? Don’t feel bad, neither could I.

Which one of the items listed above is going to create new jobs and/or assure that more jobs won’t be lost? You could make a pretty shallow argument for a couple of them, but at the end of the day, the ones you have in mind probably benefit the federal government in the long term more then they help anyone else even in the short term.

Oh, I almost forgot. Which one of these is going to secure the value of your home and the equity you have in it? I know, I’m just being a wise ass. The answer is clearly none of them.

My detractors will most likely argue that I’m picking on just part of the “stimulus” bill and they would be correct. But then my counter argument would be, why is there anything in the “stimulus” bill that doesn’t have the express purpose of stimulating the economy? If the Democrats feel that these items are important and merit spending billions on while in this economic climate then they should have the courage to propose them in other bills rather then hiding them in what is supposed to be a life line for our economy (remember we were promised transparency and an end to “politics as usual” by President Obama).

If the House Democrats really believed in Obama’s message, the way 53% of the electorate did, they would have worked with the House Republicans when writing this bill. They also would have put forth their spending/social agenda in separate bills. Especially if they truly felt that the people who elected them would be proud to see this money spent this way while in the midst of a global recession.

All this “stimulus” bill really did was assure me of my worst fears when it became clear that Obama was going to win the White House. I was never concerned about the man himself, only those whom his presidency would empower (Pelosi, Reid, Frank, Boxer, Murtha, Kerry, etc.). I am very concerned that in an effort to elect someone that truly wanted to change Washington, those that voted for Obama merely insured that it would only get worse.