Talk of The Villages Florida - View Single Post - GOP says "No". Why? "Just because".
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Old 09-15-2010, 05:37 PM
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Originally Posted by ijusluvit View Post
Even though you are not making any attempt to answer my question, I will respond to your enormous generalizations about the stimulus program.

They are completely wrong.

There is ample evidence that the stimulus was essential to prevent what likely would have been the worst depression in history, the failure of hundreds of blue-chip businesses, the resultant market crash that would have made 1929 look puny and unemployment triple or more than what it was last year. No, not everyone is back to work magically in 18 months. That would be impossible. But you would be denying reality if you did not recognize the gains made in the face of our worst crisis in history. All this is due largely to the stimulus plan (and new financial regulations). No, it's not the ideal situation to have the current deficit, but the actions taken were ESSENTIAL!!
This is another assertion that the stimulus program addressed the bank credit crisis. It did not. In another thread, I addressed a similar assertion that confused the successful TARP program with the stimulus program. Here is what I posted in reply to this assertion:

"The troubled asset relief program (TARP) addressed a liquidity crisis in the banking system that required immediate large sums be lent to a number of banks. This crisis had been caused by the 'mortgage for everyone' debacle driven by Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac policies. We can argue forever about who did what, but that gets us nowhere.

TARP was put into place during the last three months of the Bush administration. This was done in full consultation with Obama's team and the leaders of Congress. Approximately half of the appropriated funds were used by the Bush administration with the balance left to the Obama administration. TARP did what it was intended to do and stabled the banking and credit system. This was intended to be a program in which the government would receive repayment with interest of the amounts provided. This has been happening and continues to go forth. This was accomplished through a bipartisan effort that should have been the example for what came after.

Unfortunately, this did not happen. The stimulus bill had nothing to do with the banking crisis or the recovery from it. The stimulus bill was far from being a bipartisan approach. Republicans were not consulted as the bill was drafted behind closed doors with no one from either the press or the Republicans present. No news organization,members of the public or member of Congress were given the opportunity to even read the bill, much less provide input before it was put to a vote. This rush was justified by the promise that if the stimulus bill was passed, unemployment would never rise above 8%.

The truth here is that TARP, drafted and administered in a bipartisan manner worked and did prevent a banking and liquidity crisis that could have thrown the US and the rest of the world into a serious recession or even a depression. This action was led by the Bush administration.

The stimulus program was a totally partisan program rammed through by the Obama administration. It has cost approximately one trillion dollars to date and has failed miserably in its intended objectives."

Differentiating between TARP and the stimulus program is essential to understanding what is happening in the US economy today. Once that is understood then we need to come to grips with the fact that cutting government spending not increasing it is the key to economic growth.