Stop it, stop it and stop it!
As James Pethokoukis wrote today:
"Some people are going to oppose President Obama's ginormous stimulus package just because they're on a different political team.
But when you look at the economic evidence, it sure seems like an economic recovery package that's heavy on government spending and light on tax cuts is just the opposite of what we should be doing right now."
This is just pork Dem style. We need a real stimulus!
It won't stimulate the US economy but it will put a lot of cash in the pockets of every Dem interest group, from ACORN to the leftist feminists!
Why are taxpayers funding ACORN anyway?
We are very proud of House Republican Leader John Boehner.
Check out John Boehner's website on the package.
Here is my favorite part of the Obama-Pelosi-Reid monster:
"A scant 2.7 percent, or $22.3 billion of the overall package, is dedicated to small business tax relief."
He is standing tough and forcing the Dems to make a choice:
1) Pass the package without a single Republican vote.
2) Make significant concessions and make it truly bi-partisan.
Remember: The Dems have the votes to pass this package. However, they don't want to own it because the 2010 deficits will freak out Dems.
The Heritage Foundation has an outstanding analysis called Stimulus 101: The Pelosi-Reid-Obama Debt Plan:
"BAD IDEAS – “THE DEVIL IN DISGUISE”
The hidden liberal policy agenda inside the ‘stimulus bill’…
Nearly double the total outlays for the Dept. of Education in 2007 – making good on Reid-Pelosi-Obama education promises to the NEA.
$87 Billion Medicaid bailout:
Medicaid is funded by a formula that matches state spending levels with federal dollars.
Fiscally responsible taxpayers in Indiana are now paying for fiscally irresponsible bureaucrats in Illinois.
Expanded Medicaid coverage and SCHIP:
The government will soon be responsible for more health care spending than the private sector, i.e. socialized medicine.
Green Jobs?:
The myth of ‘green jobs’ merely means replacing one job lost, with a new job that fits the left’s agenda.
It is a zero sum game.
More than doubling spending, the stimulus also has over $35 billion for the Dept. of Energy.
DOE’s current budget is $23.8 billion.
Family Planning and birth control for children, immigrants and the wealthy, which could also be used as a backdoor to allow federal funding of abortions. How is this stimulus?
**UPDATE: Nancy Pelosi agrees this is not stimulus and has removed it from the bill proving these measures are allergic to sunshine.**
Redistribution:
Refundable Tax Credits for people who don’t pay taxes.
Pork Spending:
Digital TV Coupons ($650 Million),
Gov’t Cars ($600 Million),
Nat’l Endowment for the Arts ($50 Million),
Repairs to National Mall ($200 Million, including $21m for sod).
BAD RESULTS
No Jobs:
While they have not been able to support these claims, Pelosi/Obama promise between 3 & 4 million jobs, yet House Tax Committee staff can’t estimate even ONE job will be created.
Ineffective:
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that only 52% of the spending in the ‘stimulus bill’ can even be spent by the end of FY’10.
Well short of the 75% benchmark set by President Obama."
P.S. Hugh Hewitt calls it a return to the late 1970's! Or, The Not-A-Stimulus Bill That Triggers a Disco Revival?:
"The decision by President Obama to allow his great opportunity to be hijacked by House Democrats is a strange one.
He must be confident that the business cycle will right itself, because this approach won't have much to offer it.
If as many suspect the massive bill as "inflationary non-growth" all over it, it should be called the Jimmy Carter Memorial Bill, as well all seek to relive the late '70s.
Can the return of disco be far behind?"
What would the late 1970s, i.e. the Carter years, be like without "The Disco Duck":
