The "Stimulus Package"-Such a Deal

Cross-posted by Gary Fouse
fousesquawk



"Yessiree. The sticker price says 900 billion, but don't worry about that. I can put y'all behind the wheel for 780 billion...(plus tax, licensing and dealer prep-827 billion.")


Sadly, it appears that enough Republicans are buying into the "stimulus package" that it will be passed sooner rather than never. President Obama and his two munchkins in Congress, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, apparently have convinced enough GOP senators that the republic will fall if this huge piece of pork isn't purchased and lugged home from market to an eagerly awaiting government.

As I write, the current price tag has dropped from 900 billion to 780 billion (according to the headlines anyway). According to Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE),

"We trimmed the fat, fried the bacon and milked the sacred cows,"

Well, not so fast, Ben. Jim Manley, a spokesman for Reid, said the deal will ultimately include two amendments that have already passed with "broad support" -- a $15,000 tax credit for 2009 home buyers and a tax deduction for those who purchase a new car. Those two measures bring the total back up to $827 billion (tax, licensing and dealer prep).

As for the cuts, there are reports of this and that being knocked out, but whether that includes tax breaks for those who don't pay taxes (welfare), food stamps, and condoms for the poor in Bangladesh, who knows?

What we do know is that Republicans-in-Name-Only like "Snarlin" Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania and Susan Collins of Maine have rolled over as they usually do. They have apparently bought into Obama's argument that the deal must be closed today, much like those time share offers we are always being invited to. One thing I have learned is that any deal that is so urgent it has to be done right now is one that its sponsors don't want to be held up to scrutiny, thought and consideration. The other thing I know is that government spending will do nothing for our economy. When We the People spend, that is what drives the economy up.

When will the public realize that the bad economy is really the fault of malfeasance and incompetence by our government? If you are angry about folks like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, don't turn to people like Barney Frank and Chris Dodd to fix the problem. They created it! The whole idea about lending to people who couldn't repay the loans originated in the fertile minds of boobs like Frank. Meanwhile, in my state, California, the state government has succeeded in bankrupting the state through profligate spending and now wants to raise taxes on the highest-taxed state in the union. This in a state that spends some $100,000,000 a year on the care and maintenance of illegal aliens in one form or another-with or without a budget.

Nevertheless, the magpies in Washington are about to close the deal. Unfortunately for us, the tax-payers, there will no warranty when we have to tow this lemon back to the shop.