Stimulus n.- A huge waste of money
Ben Bernanke, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, told Congress yesterday that the U.S. may be out of recession by late 2009, but noted that economic activity will be subpar, with more layoffs and more shaky businesses. Unemployment is expected to hit more than 10% by the end of this year, causing more economic despair.
Wait a sec, weren’t we supposed to be out of this recession by mid 2009? And those estimates came last October, just after the first $700 billion bailout. So we were told that we were supposed to be out by mid 2009, then we spent $10 trillion dollars, and now we are told we will be out by late 2009. So how did spending all this money help?
Lest I mention the stimulus bill, which has a price tag of $1.2 trillion after interest is accounted for, that was passed as emergency legislation by the Democratic Congress and pushed by Obama. So we are supposed to be out of recession by late 2009, but only 23% of the stimulus bill will be spent by the end of 2009. This is the bill Obama rushed through Congress, many Senators and Representatives not even reading the bill before the vote. This is the bill Obama said without, America’s crisis would turn into catastrophe:
In an op-ed piece in The Washington Post, the president argued that each day without his stimulus package, Americans lose more jobs, savings and homes. His message came as congressional leaders struggle to control the huge stimulus bill that’s been growing larger by the day in the Senate. The addition of a new tax break for homebuyers Wednesday evening sent the price tag well past $900 billion.
“This recession might linger for years. Our economy will lose 5 million more jobs. Unemployment will approach double digits. Our nation will sink deeper into a crisis that, at some point, we may not be able to reverse,” Obama wrote in the newspaper piece.
So why did they do it? Over $11 trillion down the drain, more than $1.7 trillion of new deficit this year alone, just to have the recession deepen. Even if the estimates were a bit off, did that dozen trillion dollars of “stimulus” really help? Was it necessary and worth it if we were to be out of the recession within a year anyway? They may as well have burnt the money, at least that would have increased the value of the dollar instead of giving us unmanageable inflation.
This is the part where we start footing the bill. To do so, the Democrats in Congress and Obama are going to be the bully on the playground, dangling the tax payer by their ankles, dropping our lunch money at their feet. What happened to fiscal responsibility? My guess is that it died somewhere around the time when people stopped holding their government accountable.
The reason the Democrats did it is obvious. They now control some of the largest and most powerful businesses in America. They decide whether these businesses sink or swim, so you know they’re going to get what they want from them. Its really just good planning ahead, investing our money so they can reap the returns in 2012.
The Republicans who voted for it probably only did so because to not vote for it would have been political suicide.
I think it was suicide to vote for it. Come the hyperinflation and huge deficits, Americans will rise up in dissent. It can be seen from the grassroots movement of the tea parties. If people are upset now, just wait until they see the effects of these policies. In any economics class, they will teach you how laissez faire is what creates wealth, while protectionism and economic nationalism and socialism diminish trade and wealth while simultaneously creating a greater rift between the poor and rich (see Namibia versus Japan). Only half the nation agreed with the stimulus bill and more than half disagreed with the loans given to GM and Chrysler. You know they will not be happy when they realize that technically as taxpayers, they now own a business that will file bankruptcy.
Point is, the Republicans who voted against the bills will most likely benefit from it, while the Democrats will probably eat dirt. The only reason why the Dem’s and TOTUS’ approval rating is so high is a) because most of our country is illogical and pays little attention, b) because much of the media still worships the ground Obama walks on, and c) because they are taking action, aka doing something. Seeing as how we have tripled our money supply and will rack up a $1.8 trillion this year alone, the effects will become more visible and people will be, well, lets just say “not happy”.