I’m very angry, extremely frustrated, but not in the least surprised that the economic stimulus bill has been passed by both the House and the Senate.
I can only describe this fiasco as a complete dereliction of duty on the part of every Congressperson and Senator who voted for it. It’s full of pork, untargeted, spraying money at every pet politician’s project that could be squeezed into it. (For some of the details, see here.) Every single reliable economic authority (including the Congressional Budget Office) has condemned it as not directing money where it’s needed, and pointed out that much of the expenditure will arrive too late to help. Indeed, the CBO claims that in the long run, the bill will actually harm the economy! Did those who voted for it, listen? Like hell they did. They were dancing around with their fingers in their ears, singing “La-la-la, I can’t hear you!”.
Regular readers will know that I’m non-partisan: I don’t support either the Democrats or the Republicans. I’m also on record as stating that the Republican Party is at least as responsible as the Democrats for the economic mess in which this country finds itself. However, I have to admit that Republican Minority Leader John Boehner hit the nail on the head when he spoke (and later voted) against this bill. He pointed out that not one single member of Congress could possibly have read it: yet they were being asked to vote on it!
If that makes sense to you, dear reader; if you believe that our Congress and Senate did all this for your benefit, out of the goodness of their hearts; if you believe that borrowing a trillion dollars we don’t have, in order to fix an economic crisis caused by borrowing almost as much that we didn’t have, will work; then I have a bridge in Brooklyn, NYC, that I’d like to sell you. Cash only, please, and in small bills.
Our children and our childrens’ children will be paying this debt, long after we’re dead and gone. They’re going to curse our profligate, spendthrift memory – and rightly so.
Irrespective of your political persuasions, I submit that there is now an infallible yardstick for how to vote in 2010 and subsequent elections. Did the candidate concerned vote for the stimulus package? If so, vote the bastard out! I don’t care what party he or she represents; I don’t care about their views on any other subject whatsoever. Let them eat pork!
Peter
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It seems to me like this is trying to save a sinking boat by drilling holes in the bottom.
Jim
I would LOVE to vote the crooks out of office. The problem, here, is that my congress-critter ran unopposed this last time. I wanted to vote against him for his support of the first bailout, but couldn’t. I wrote in “no bailout.” I’ve contacted both Senators and my Representative on this and numerous other issues and get back virtually the same form letter assuring me that they “consider the opinions” of constituents before deciding how to vote. I’ve yet to see any evidence that they actually do care about those who put them in office as much as they care about the power and prestige.
Better yet, let them shove it where the sun doesn’t shine!
Will the stimulus bill compromise lower your tax rebate to $8 per week? That appears to be true. The final version has not been passed, but reports indicate the $500 per year in reduced tax withholding has been reduced to $400 per individual and $800 per couple. That only comes to $8 per week for an individual and $16 for a couple. If they start the payments in June and make it retroactive to the beginning of the year, you will get $13 per week until next January. Then, your rebate would drop to the $8 per week level. Are you felling stimulated yet? In a stimulus bill of almost $1 trillion dollars, you would think President Obama would have more for the working class.