What bothers me is that the Democratic Clowns of Congress call this a stimulus package, when its function is obviously nothing more than income distribution and the furtherance of their Democratic agenda. For example:
1. President Obama's "Make Work Pay" initiative, the tax "credit" of $400 per person, has been limited (for singles) to people making less than $75,000. I guess they have forgotten that the Bush "tax credit" a year ago that went to lower income people didn't stimulate anything - in general the people basically saved it or paid down debt. If you want people to spend it, you need to include the people who "don't need it". That might be stimulative. (Disclosure: My significant other, who worked part time and made less than $10K last year got a check - I paid $22K in income taxes last year and I got squat. Hence my bad attitude).
2. $21 Billion to NY alone for medicaid, education, transportation and public housing assistance. How much is going to the other states? Good going liberal congress, but little stimulation here.
3. Expansion of unemployment insurance. No argument that this is needed, but it's not stimulative and shouldn't be in this package.
4. $70 Billion to fix the AMT tax problem. Again, definintely needed, but not stimulative and has no business being in this bill.
5. Food Stamp increased funding. Duh.
6. One of my favorites - $1.6 Billion to allow businesses to buy back their own debt at a discount. Say again????
7. $93 Billion for high speed rail and Amtrack assistance. Chief Clown Harry Reid pushed this, as it is expected to go mostly to his state and California for the development of a high rail system between LA and Las Vegas. And they say they remove most of the pork from this package? Say again?
8. $7.2 Billion for broadband internet "investment" targeting poor and rural areas.
9. $100 Billion for non-construction education programs. Here are the Democrats at their best. They just love to spend our Federal taxes on local issues and "problems".
10. $20 Billion to develop medical records technology.
11. $70 Billion to fix the AMT tax problem. This is something that is needed, but again, is not stimulative and doesn't belong here.
These are just examples, but they are some of the more eggregious examples. The examples above are all in Billions of dollars - that's Billion with a B - for those of you who have become jaded by the numbers our government confiscates from us and spends for their reelection campaigns, a billion is one thousand million dollars. We are losing track of what the numbers really mean.
I realize that the Demos won the election, and they should get to do some of the things they like to do, but even you liberals out there should be appalled by the lack of leadership and willingness to spend your money willy-nilly on projects that have no stimulative value whatsoever.
They could have stimulated the economy with a few, large targeted tax incentives, for example cash for the purchase of an auto or home, but that wouldn't have furthered their agenda. Sad, and our children are going to pay, assuming our economy recovers on its own someday.