I’m so stimulated I’ve doubled my blood pressure medication and scotch intake. I’m considering hoarding gold and getting more ammunition while the transport systems still work.
I would say it’s unbelievable, but the sad part is that it is not. Morally and methodologically it’s business as usual. The only difference in this case is that there’s a messiah positioned to take advantage of a major crisis. We might expect extraordinary things in these times, and, as in the Chinese curse, we’re getting them.
This is taxation without representation: If, for no other reason (and there are many) than making our distant progeny into wage slaves of the Federal government. And for what? Hoover Dam? The interstate highway system? The TVA? Whatever valid criticism may be leveled against these things, they are still standing. Most of the bill Nancy Pelosi says the Democrats wrote has nothing similar to offer.
Let’s lead off with a headline from the Wall Street Journal and follow with some specifics about what Democrats consider stimulative, “shovel-ready,” infrastructure projects:
A 40-Year Wish List
Subtitled, You won’t believe what’s in that stimulus bill.
Wanna bet?
Republicans Object to Stimulus Dollars for ACORN
As well they might, why not just give the billions directly to the people they’re “organizing” into socialist voting blocs?
Stimulus Plan: Non-Existent Unemployed Climate Modelers Get $140 Million
Maybe it’s not because they’re unemployed, but because their product is similar to sub-prime mortgage bundles?
Pelosi: Contraception is Good Stimulus for the Economy
I’m not sure from this if Nancy Pelosi thinks “stimulus” is battery powered, but don’t you think this provision was deleted because she sounded so stupid when she defended it?
$850 Billion, 1588 pages, and counting… somebody needs to read it!
It could be you. Click the link. There’s even a spreadsheet you can download.
Stimulus Package Includes Millions For The Arts
$50 million, to be exact. Art can certainly be stimulating, but in a economic sense I think this falls into the category of Piss Christ, a previous artistic effort partially funded by the National Endowment for the Arts.
And, while contraceptive services may have been eliminated, there’s still, on p 147 of the bill:
(4) not less than $335,000,000 shall be used as
2 an additional amount to carry out domestic HIV/
3 AIDS, viral hepatitis, sexually-transmitted diseases,
4 and tuberculosis prevention programs, as jointly de-
5 termined by the Secretary and the Director;
We don’t need to argue the merits here. Simply, none of this is anything Keynes remotely imagined as stimulative. It’s the Democrat Favorite Causes Special Funding Bill of 2009. The less statist ones even say so:
Conservative Democrats have said the bill is simply a laundry list of longstanding Democratic spending wishes that will not stimulate the economy.
And, let’s not forget education unions as a major “stimulus” area. According to the Wall Street Journal (first link in this post) the Democrats didn’t:
Oh, and don’t forget education, which would get $66 billion more. That’s more than the entire Education Department spent a mere 10 years ago and is on top of the doubling under President Bush. Some $6 billion of this will subsidize university building projects. If you think the intention here is to help kids learn, the House declares on page 257 that “No recipient . . . shall use such funds to provide financial assistance to students to attend private elementary or secondary schools.” Horrors: Some money might go to nonunion teachers.
And just to round out our partial survey, here’s more:
-$6 billion to weatherize “modest income homes.”
-$6 billion to provide internet in “underserved” areas
-$6 billion for “higher education modernization.”
-$20 billion in health information technology to “prevent medial [sic] mistakes.”
-$20 billion to increase food stamp funding
-$87 billion to provide a “temporary” increase in Medicaid funding
-$300 million to provide rebates for people who purchase Energy Star products
-$600 million for the federal government to buy brand new energy efficient cars
-$400 million for state and local governments to buy brand new energy efficient cars
There are 21 more items in that list at the link directly above. That’s still partial.
I am proud of the House GOP and the smattering of Democrats who voted against this today. It won’t stop the carnage, but they didn’t participate in it.
Love the headline.