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This
economic stimulus plan that the “Sitter
in the Office of the President Elect” is
talking about requires the immediate
approval of up to a trillion dollars of
taxpayer’s money to stimulate the
economy. He says there’s no time to
waste. He wants the money right now. The
country, we’re assured, depends upon it.
The thinking, if in fact any thinking
has been actually gone into this scheme,
is that giving out all this money is
going to get the economy going again and
everything will once more be peachy. I
have serious doubts.
Among the
targets of this stimulus money are
schools. This is being called “investing
in education.” Investing is a
Democrat word for Spending that
Bill Clinton invented. Another way the
economy is to be stimulated is the
modernization of government buildings.
Schools can always use more
money—indeed, I’ve never seen a school
administration that ever has as much
money as it wants, but even if the
schools were turning out a young
Einstein in every third graduate, it
would do nothing toward fixing the
economy. The same goes for adding
insulation and hanging solar panels atop
government edifices.
Another
part of his plan is to double U.S.
production of alternative energy in
three years, but with no details. This
is vague enough to mean almost anything,
but so far it is not possible to see how
this spending is going to revive the
economy.
He has
pledged to go to work on the nation’s
infrastructure, specifically roads and
bridges. Well, to get someone else to
perform any actual work. He talks about
creating three or four million new jobs.
Everyone is in favor of new roads and
bridges, but I can’t see that as doing
anything for the economy either. Who is
he going to get to do the work? He will
have to open the southern border to get
the workers to handle the shovels and
wheelbarrows. The next time you pass a
highway construction crew, take note of
who is doing the manual labor. Is he
talking about re-establishing the CCC
and WPA from the FDR era? He hasn’t
said.
And what
he talks most about is 300 billion
dollars in tax cuts. From what he’s said
so far, he’s promised to send government
checks to the middle class. If you
remember, President Bush sent out checks
to the public in a “stimulus package”
back in the spring of last year. Did
that get the economy going? Did that
solve the problem with the economy? If
you’re like me, you probably spent the
money and can’t remember what you bought
with it. I think I spent most of it at
the gas station. A large part of the
Obama plan is to also send tax rebate
checks to people who don’t pay taxes.
Some rightly call this welfare. Whatever
it’s called, the fact remains that it
isn’t going to stimulate the economy,
though it might have a positive effect
on the economy down at the liquor
store.
The main
problem with the economy is that there
is a lack of confidence in the financial
markets. Investment Banks aren’t lending
money even to businesses that can pay it
back. This country runs on credit and
without it, the whole system ceases to
function. Eventually, as it always has,
the market will sort itself out and the
economy will turn around without the
government saddling the next couple of
generations with trillions in crippling
debt.
With all
this money on offer, there is no
shortage of city and state officials
around the country rushing to
Washington, like pigs heading to the
feed trough, making their claims for a
share of the slop. In addition, other
industries are also begging for a piece
of the action. Porn King Larry Flynt and
"Girls Gone Wild" creator Joe Francis
are asking for a $5 billion federal
bailout of adult entertainment because
"the economy has made America's appetite
for sex go limp."
This economic stimulus plan is nothing
more than political payback for Obama’s
supporters and will have no lasting
effect on the economy, apart from
increasing the national debt. The best
thing the government could do to help
the economy is to cut the capital gains
tax. That would encourage investment and
without new investment, the economy is
going to languish.
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