Stimulus Bill
With the muscle of Senator Harry Reid and Speaker Nancy Pelosi, President Barrack Obama won a major political victory last Friday with the $787 Billion Dollar Stimulus Bill that he championed. Or did he? In both Houses only 3 Republican votes were cast for the legislation. While the Republicans held the line in the House with not a single vote for the bill and 7 Democrats joined their effort, 3 Republican Senators insured its passage by voting against party lines and aligning with the President.
The so called Stimulus Bill was printed in the early hours of Friday 13th then voted on by the House only hours later. That left no time for Representatives to read let alone study the largest spending package in American history. So much for your pledge of “transparency” President Obama. Although the American public did not support this stimulus package it was railroaded through by Obama, Reid and Pelosi.
The Stimulus Bill stimulates the size of Government and will do little to stimulate the economy and it won’t take long for Americans to realize that there were more political paybacks in this legislation than there were jobs.
The catalyst for the economic crisis was real estate. Unfortunately most measures that would address that like the $15,000 credit for home buyers were stripped in the final version.
This bill moves us closer to socialism and further from solving the economic crisis while it places more debit on our children and grandchildren. I would not have minded going further in debt if the money was earmarked for programs that would actually stimulate the economy and create economic stability. Unfortunately, this bill fails miserably in accomplishing either.
No Military Spending
What would have been beneficial in many ways would have been spending on military projects. The military has hundreds of projects that are awaiting funding that are needed for the protection of our troops and would enhance military preparedness however, there are NO provisions for spending any of the $787 Billion on our military. Maintenance, equipment upgrades, construction projects and equipment replacement are just a few things that are needed by our military and could create thousands of jobs in the private sector almost immediately. And what about a pay increase for our troops? Does anyone believe they are over paid? If the military were to get an across the board pay increase, would that not stimulate the economy? Of course it would. However our Commander-In-Chief (President Barrack Obama) has decided that Planned Parenthood and ACORN are more deserving of our tax dollars than the men and women of our military.
President Barrack Obama has not only turned his back on our military with this Stimulus Bill he has told the Pentagon that he expects them to reduce their budget by 10%.
Political Paybacks
Obama’s chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, recently stated, "You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. And what I mean by that is an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before." And that is exactly what the Democrats are doing. We are witnessing decades of liberal wish list spending and pet projects getting funded in the name of “economic crisis” that would not normally stand a chance for funding on their own merits.
Sadly there are so many issues that could have been addressed that would have made a real impact. In that sense it was a wasted crisis.
Unfortunately the Trillion Dollar political payoff won’t be the end of it. President Obama, Senator Harry Reid and Speaker Nancy Pelosi will ask us for even more money this year. Why you ask? Because what they will spend in this bill and the programs they are spending them on will not fix or stimulate the economy.
Legacy
Yes I said it. President Obama has been in office less than thirty days and I dare to mention legacy. He has just pushed through a historical size bill in record time and now he clearly plans to waste the money on programs that simply will not work.
There is no doubt that the current Administration and the Democratic led Houses will continue to blame the previous Administration for the economic woes we face. The truth remains that this crisis was initiated by flawed real estate lending practices that were demanded by and protected by Democrats. Until we make an honest effort to correct the real problem in the economy we will not see improvement. The Administration would have you believe that when your roof is leaking all you need to do is replace the wet carpet. We all know better.
Despite the overwhelming public outcries to not pass this legislation, this bill will become law this week. While President Obama won a major political victory, he now owns the status of this economy. Too bad he is wasting our capital and his political capital to push liberal agendas when he could have been an American hero instead of a Liberal Hero.
