We are finally reading the 2009 stimulus "rushed" through Congress in early February.
Here is my simple question: How did anyone think that this was going to stimulate the US economy?
I didn't in February (before I read it!)
It stinks today (specially now that we can all read it!)
Obama's Strategic Mistake By Jay Cost directs us to Keith Hennesey's great post about the stimulus: Will the stimulus come too late?
Check this out.
Promise me that you won't shoot the TV the next time that you hear a "yes we can" screamer refer to this as a "stimulus":
"The President's mistake was in largely deferring to Congress on the composition of the stimulus bill.
Rather than allowing Congress to pump hundreds of billions of dollars through slow-spending and inefficient bureaucracies, the President should have insisted that Congress instead send all the funds directly to the American people and let them spend it quickly and efficiently.
Given his policy preferences, he could have directed a large share of those funds to poor people who don't pay income taxes..."
It gets better or worse:
"The problem is that only 11% of the first line (discretionary spending) will be spent by October 1 of this year.
In contrast, 31-32% of the entitlement and tax cuts lines will be out the door by that time. (I have questions about the speed of the entitlement part. The bulk of that is Medicaid spending, and it's not clear to me that a Federal payment to a State means the cash is immediately flowing into the private economy.)
If we extend our window to October 1, 2010, then less than half the discretionary spending will be out the door, while almost 3/4 of the entitlement spending and all of the tax cuts will be out the door and affecting the economy.
The largest part of the stimulus law is therefore also the slowest spending part.
This is fine if you’re trying to increase GDP growth over the next 2-4 years.
If you’re going for short-term GDP growth, it makes no sense."
Do you understand now why no one was allowed to read this thing called a "stimulus"?
Naturally, the Dems are in panic mode despite the massive attention paid to MJ's death or Gov Palin's decision.
Politico: Democrats stuck in stimulus jam
What's the problem?
We just put US$ 787 billion on our "credit card" and have very little to show for it!
Also, the Dems own the federal government.
They rushed the bill. They told us that it would create jobs.
The Dems own it!
Frankly, I'm just having a wonderful time watching it from the sidelines!
