- Jun 6, 2007
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The big question that hasnt been really focused on about the Economic Stimulus Legislation currently working its way through Congress is Will It Work? And unfortunately the answer is No at least not like the American people expect it to! Up to this point the public debate has mostly been about is it right to put this or that in the bill what does each party think about or want in the bill and things like that. But on the question of whether or not this piece of legislation will correct the economy there is nothing that the legislation offers in part or whole that one can say confidently it will likely do so.
The problem with this legislation on this front is it doesnt offer that injection of economic activity into the economy that one can say yes that will put the economy on the normal track again. To get to the heart of the matter, the area in the bill which offered the hope of doing this task is the infrastructure spending. Unfortunately, though the infrastructure spending in the bill is too weak. It doesnt in fact or in reputation equate to that huge amount of economic activity that will drive the economy into a normal state. The interesting twist about this whole point is that members of Congress know this and they are still going to pass this lousy bill anyway; this is evident by the amendment the Senate Democrats offered to increase infrastructure spending by twenty-five billion dollars which didnt pass why dont they continue to fight making this specific issue really public do some horse trading with Republicans over this Amendment God knows the Republicans have enough concerns over this bill where a deal could be reached. The only other major economic crisis the country experienced to rival the present crisis since the Great Depression was the recession in the early 1980s. I have not researched the exact numbers but having lived through it I can say with certainty that a critical element to the countrys recovery at that time was the government dramatic increase in military spending airplanes, ships, etc. Aside from the dollar figures from a national mood or national confidence standpoint this government military spending initiative at that time was completely transforming in a positive sense. This economic recovery legislation doesnt do that it is underwhelming in its infrastructure spending; the reputation this bill has in these industries that have an economic vested interest in infrastructure spending is that the government is throwing peanuts at the problem. The bill is a let down, a lot of hot air, as an economic stimulus bill.
In the media and amongst the big wigs in Washington they like to perpetuate that Speaker Pelosi, Majority Leader Reid and President Obama are in the drivers seat on this legislation they have the power on passing this piece of legislation. Wisdom indicates that without a doubt, the power with respect to this legislation rests with the moderate Democrats in the House and the moderate Democrats in the Senate. This is because a stimulus bill has to pass and become law the major political players have been saying it, the economic experts have been saying it as well as saying things like if it doesnt pass the country will fall into a depression, unemployment at devastating figures like 18 plus % or the U.S. economy will fall off a cliff. The reason why these moderates have the power is this bill doesnt get passed without their support no if ands or buts about it; therefore, they have the power to force their will in this bill if they stick together in significant numbers. The current bill is a liberal Democrat bill. It is not a moderate Democrat bill it is not something moderate Democrats want to be connected with. It has large amounts of social spending which does not qualify as economic recovery spending, it has unneeded grow government bureaucracy spending, it has permanent spending increase spending, it has spending which doesnt pass the cost-benefit analysis test, etc.. This is not a mainstream America bill, it is not something moderate Democrat constituents would want if they knew fully what was in the bill, the bill proponents may be able to cloud the issue until it gets passed but come mid-term elections moderate Democrat constituents will know this bill was a dog and there will be repercussions.
If Democrat leaders like Pelosi and Reid were really good leaders because this bill has been panned by so many Americas they would say to rank and file members in their caucus vote your conscience on this legislation speak you conscience on this legislation there will be no negative repercussions for doing so and if you can muster up the votes amongst members of your chamber both Democrats and Republicans to change the bill you are free to do so there will again be no negative repercussions for doing so. It will only take like a hundred billion dollars of changes in this bill to take it from a D grade bill to an A grade bill, rank and file members of Congress know what to do here to achieve this success they just have to find a way to do it.
To the Republican Party this is your chance to redeem yourself to mainstream America to prove that as a political party you got it that your past obsession with broad tax cuts for businesses that rely on trickle down economics is a failure and is over and your obsession with tax cuts which favor the wealthy is also a thing of the past. This bill is a chance for the Republican Party to demonstrate their back, their back for working Americans, middle class Americans and as always for businesses in America. The Republicans are on the same wavelength as ordinary Americans on their call to rid this legislation of its non-economic recovery spending and its grow government bureaucracy spending and its permanent budget growth spending. The Republicans have an extremely valuable contribution to make with their push on lowering the tax rate to 5.25 % for one or two years on income from U.S. companies foreign subsidiaries being brought back into the U.S. which will bring a half-trillion dollars back into the U.S. economy; preposterous statements by individuals like Senator Levin and Representative Franks that this one time tax break will cause U.S. businesses to shutter and move off-shore is a glowing indicator of how unbelievable this whole piece of economic stimulus legislation is from the standpoint of how it departs from what an economic stimulus bill should be all about.
Proponents of this bill have been promulgating this rallying cry That we cant let the Perfect be the enemy of the Absolutely Necessary to pass this economic recovery bill. Considering the contents of this bill they will be following the rallying cry of Dont let Failure be the enemy of the Absolutely Necessary. These times call for the American Government rising to the occasion and doing at least good work, this bill isnt good work.
The problem with this legislation on this front is it doesnt offer that injection of economic activity into the economy that one can say yes that will put the economy on the normal track again. To get to the heart of the matter, the area in the bill which offered the hope of doing this task is the infrastructure spending. Unfortunately, though the infrastructure spending in the bill is too weak. It doesnt in fact or in reputation equate to that huge amount of economic activity that will drive the economy into a normal state. The interesting twist about this whole point is that members of Congress know this and they are still going to pass this lousy bill anyway; this is evident by the amendment the Senate Democrats offered to increase infrastructure spending by twenty-five billion dollars which didnt pass why dont they continue to fight making this specific issue really public do some horse trading with Republicans over this Amendment God knows the Republicans have enough concerns over this bill where a deal could be reached. The only other major economic crisis the country experienced to rival the present crisis since the Great Depression was the recession in the early 1980s. I have not researched the exact numbers but having lived through it I can say with certainty that a critical element to the countrys recovery at that time was the government dramatic increase in military spending airplanes, ships, etc. Aside from the dollar figures from a national mood or national confidence standpoint this government military spending initiative at that time was completely transforming in a positive sense. This economic recovery legislation doesnt do that it is underwhelming in its infrastructure spending; the reputation this bill has in these industries that have an economic vested interest in infrastructure spending is that the government is throwing peanuts at the problem. The bill is a let down, a lot of hot air, as an economic stimulus bill.
In the media and amongst the big wigs in Washington they like to perpetuate that Speaker Pelosi, Majority Leader Reid and President Obama are in the drivers seat on this legislation they have the power on passing this piece of legislation. Wisdom indicates that without a doubt, the power with respect to this legislation rests with the moderate Democrats in the House and the moderate Democrats in the Senate. This is because a stimulus bill has to pass and become law the major political players have been saying it, the economic experts have been saying it as well as saying things like if it doesnt pass the country will fall into a depression, unemployment at devastating figures like 18 plus % or the U.S. economy will fall off a cliff. The reason why these moderates have the power is this bill doesnt get passed without their support no if ands or buts about it; therefore, they have the power to force their will in this bill if they stick together in significant numbers. The current bill is a liberal Democrat bill. It is not a moderate Democrat bill it is not something moderate Democrats want to be connected with. It has large amounts of social spending which does not qualify as economic recovery spending, it has unneeded grow government bureaucracy spending, it has permanent spending increase spending, it has spending which doesnt pass the cost-benefit analysis test, etc.. This is not a mainstream America bill, it is not something moderate Democrat constituents would want if they knew fully what was in the bill, the bill proponents may be able to cloud the issue until it gets passed but come mid-term elections moderate Democrat constituents will know this bill was a dog and there will be repercussions.
If Democrat leaders like Pelosi and Reid were really good leaders because this bill has been panned by so many Americas they would say to rank and file members in their caucus vote your conscience on this legislation speak you conscience on this legislation there will be no negative repercussions for doing so and if you can muster up the votes amongst members of your chamber both Democrats and Republicans to change the bill you are free to do so there will again be no negative repercussions for doing so. It will only take like a hundred billion dollars of changes in this bill to take it from a D grade bill to an A grade bill, rank and file members of Congress know what to do here to achieve this success they just have to find a way to do it.
To the Republican Party this is your chance to redeem yourself to mainstream America to prove that as a political party you got it that your past obsession with broad tax cuts for businesses that rely on trickle down economics is a failure and is over and your obsession with tax cuts which favor the wealthy is also a thing of the past. This bill is a chance for the Republican Party to demonstrate their back, their back for working Americans, middle class Americans and as always for businesses in America. The Republicans are on the same wavelength as ordinary Americans on their call to rid this legislation of its non-economic recovery spending and its grow government bureaucracy spending and its permanent budget growth spending. The Republicans have an extremely valuable contribution to make with their push on lowering the tax rate to 5.25 % for one or two years on income from U.S. companies foreign subsidiaries being brought back into the U.S. which will bring a half-trillion dollars back into the U.S. economy; preposterous statements by individuals like Senator Levin and Representative Franks that this one time tax break will cause U.S. businesses to shutter and move off-shore is a glowing indicator of how unbelievable this whole piece of economic stimulus legislation is from the standpoint of how it departs from what an economic stimulus bill should be all about.
Proponents of this bill have been promulgating this rallying cry That we cant let the Perfect be the enemy of the Absolutely Necessary to pass this economic recovery bill. Considering the contents of this bill they will be following the rallying cry of Dont let Failure be the enemy of the Absolutely Necessary. These times call for the American Government rising to the occasion and doing at least good work, this bill isnt good work.
