The bad news is that something was agreed to last night.
The good news is that no vote has actually taken place.
Don't count your chickens yet. We may still have time to turn Susan Smith and Arlen Spectre around.
I want Obama and the Dems to own 100% of this! No Republicans in the House. Let's work on having no Republicans in the Senate.
Furthermore, wasn't Pres Obama pathetic the last few days?
What's all of this nonsense about catastrophe if this bill doesn't pass?
How can Pres BO say that he inherited a trillion dollar deficit when he voted for every dime?
Also, isn't this $800 billion item the reason that our deficit will reach a trillion dollars anyway?
Check out So Much For Hope Over Fear By Charles Krauthammer.
Hope and change is now fear and hysteria.
OK.
Let's review the last 120 days.
We just put down $700 billion to clean up toxic assets in the banking system.
Yes, I supported that but I'm not clear if it's working yet.
We are now putting down another $800 billion.
That's $1.5 trillion, in case you didn't notice!
What kind of federal budget deficit are we looking at in September?
A huge deficit relative to GDP, i.e. 7% of GDP, perhaps more!
"The spending will take the U.S. budget deficit up to some 12% of GDP, about double the peak of the 1980s and into uncharted territory."
What kind of GDP growth do we need to bring down these deficits?
We are going to need a massive recovery to make up for those deficits.
After all, we are also looking at a big deficit in 2010, specially if the recession drags on.
Here is the likely scenario for 2009 and 2010: Smaller GDP, bigger deficits!
What's wrong with this? It's like the guy who goes out and uses up his credit card limit over the weekend. How is he going to pay for the water pump that unexpectedly breaks down the next weekend?
Where is the money for the other stuff on the president's desk going to come from? what about emergencies? what about Afghanistan?
Will it work anyway?
"President Obama's economic recovery package will actually hurt the economy more in the long run than if he were to do nothing, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said Wednesday.
CBO, the official scorekeepers for legislation, said the House and Senate bills will help in the short term but result in so much government debt that within a few years they would crowd out private investment, actually leading to a lower Gross Domestic Product over the next 10 years than if the government had done nothing."
Pres. Obama and the Democrats now own this economy. They just bought it last night!
It's hard to call this bi-partisan when only 2 Republicans signed on to it.
It's hard to blame Pres Bush when Pres Obama and the Dems have put us on a path of federal budget deficits of 10% of GDP!
It was between 1-4% under Bush! It will be close to 10% under Obama!
Is there a better way?
I agree with Mitt Romney, my early favorite for the 2012 Republican nomination. He just wrote Stimulate the economy, not government!
Romney wants a private sector solution that actually encourages private sector employment.
Let's hope that Romney goes on the road and starts talking about it.
Do we need so much reaction anyway? I agree with Clark Judge: Obama Stimulus Not Necessary, as This Is No Great Depression
Are we looking at some inflation? How can we avoid it with so much spending?
I agree with GEORGE MELLOAN and Why 'Stimulus' Will Mean Inflation:
"As the global economy slows and Congress relies more on the Fed to finance a huge deficit, there is a very real danger of a return of stagflation.
I wonder why no one in Congress or the Obama administration has thought of that as a potential consequence of their stimulus package."
Let's hope that it works.
At the same time, this is starting to look like a very scary movie from the late 1970's.
It was called "Carterville" and I still have nightmares about it!
And the Dems also have "electoral nightmares" about it!
