Thursday, January 29, 2009

Stimulus Plan-Part 2

SG: "I can't understand why ANYONE thinks that this "stimulus plan" is justifiable. Where there is NOT pork and pet projects...where legitimate "assistance" actually exists, there is absolutely NO timeline or regulations outlined. "We'll allocate $102 billion for those that have lost their jobs due to this recession, but we certainly won't tell you how we're going to determine if this was a legitimate layoff, if this worker is doing his best to find a new job in this tough job market, or if he is just scamming us." We'll give Louisiana millions of dollars (oh mista, thanks!) to help recover from Katrina, but AmericaCorps and YouthBuild can have BILLIONS. We'll set aside MILLIONS to redo the Washington Mall. What about Iowa (floods)? Arkansas (tornado and ice recovery)? California (wild fires, mud slides)? Really, the Washington Mall gets $400 million? I've been trying to find a breakdown of what "faith-based and community organizations" will benefit from this crap the Gubment is calling a "stimulus plan." Don't get me wrong...there are some very good ideas in there. But those good ideas are allocated a couple of million, maybe a couple of billion, when the darn Washington Mall is allocated 100 million."
THE COWORKER: "I wonder what one "Maverick" (SG: heh...good question) will vote in the Senate. Rush is calling it the "porkulus." I stole this headline straight from Drudge$335,000,000 FOR STD PREVENTION IN ECONOMIC STIMULUS BILL... While I believe we should try to prevent STDs, I don't know how throwing $335M at the problem is going to stimulate the economy. And btw, the only 100% effective way to prevent and STD is abstinence. I know not every kid will adopt abstinence but I believe it deserves to at least be mentioned as an option in the education at schools. $100 Mil for the Washington Mall? Really? Had not heard about that. It's probably for erecting a statue of B. Hussein Obama."
SG: "no, not $100 Mil. $400 Mil. My bad. Typo. 'including $200 Mil to address the deterioration of the National Mall, such as repair the Jefferson Memorial's collapsing Tidal Basin wall; $150 mil to address the repair backlog at the Smithsonian; and $50 million for the NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS.' While I'm a huge history nerd and appreciate our national treasures to no end....WHY IS THIS IN THE STIMULUS PLAN?!? What will this stimulate?"
On a side note...APPLAUSE to the House Republicans. Not a single Republican voted for this in the House. I'd say that is going to come out as a black mark in the history books if you can't get ONE person in the opposing party to cross the party line...

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

Actually, an infrastructure bill that included some of this is probably a good thing - at least we can see a benefit to what we have frittered away. However, infrastructure repair requires extensive planning, bidding, construction, etc. so the benefits won't be seen 'til late2010 or after, and it won't "stimulate" anything. the GAO has already stated that only 26B of the first 355B (2d half of TARP) will be spent in FY 09, and $219B will NOT be spent before October of 2010.
There is pork in this that is beyond imagination, however, and we will see nothing for it. There is between 4.1 and 5.2 Billion to "community organizations" for "neighborhood stabilization activities", which means, in Washington speak, ACORN and related ilk. Call that a payback for election fraud favoring Democrats (because no one runs as a socialist anymore). There is: $600 million for cars for federal bureaucrats, but less than $5 million in small business tax relief (which actually might stimulate something); $200 million for the National Mall, including $21 million for sod; $200 million for contraception and abortion; $650 million for digital TV coupons; $136 Billion for 32 brand new government programs; $300 Billion to bail out irresponsible state governments (not yours, sorry); and increased spending on 150 federal programs.
This is laid out more fully on John Boehner's website (R, Ohio), and Eric Cantor's (R, Virginia), and is discussed on Newsmax, Townhall.com, and the Liberty Action Report, all accessible by internet.
By George, I am stimulated already! In fact, I may experience an acute myocardial infarction, especially when I get my tax bill! I apologize to my kids, who have to pay for this, but it is the abject failure of my baby boomer generation that we wanted to live beyond our means and make someone else pay for it.