What Is Congress Stimulating?

[Skull Pilot]

Wonder Land: Daniel Henninger Looks at How Much 'Stimulus' Money Will Be Spent on Government Infrastructure - WSJ.com

Check your PC's virus program, then pull down the nearly 700 pages of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Dive into its dank waters and what is most striking is how much "stimulus" money is being spent on the government's own infrastructure. This bill isn't economic stimulus. It's self-stimulus.

(All sums here include the disorienting zeros, as in the bill.)

Title VI, Financial Services and General Government, says that "not less than $6,000,000,000 shall be used for construction, repair, and alteration of Federal buildings." There's enough money there to name a building after every Member of Congress.

The Bureau of Land Management gets $325,000,000 to spend fixing federal land, including "trail repair" and "remediation of abandoned mines or well sites," no doubt left over from the 19th-century land rush.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are getting $462,000,000 for "equipment, construction, and renovation of facilities, including necessary repairs and improvements to leased laboratories."

The National Institute of Standards gets $357,000,000 for the "construction of research facilities." The Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration gets $427,000,000 for that. The country is in an economic meltdown and the federal government is redecorating.

The FBI gets $75,000,000 for "salaries and expenses." Inside the $6,200,000,000 Weatherization Assistance Program one finds "expenses" of $500,000,000. How many bureaucrats does it take to "expense" a half-billion dollars?

The current, Senate-amended version now lists "an additional amount to be deposited in the Federal Buildings Fund, $9,048,000,000." Of this, "not less than $6,000,000,000 shall be available for measures necessary to convert GSA facilities to High-Performance Green Buildings." High performance?

Sen. Tom Coburn is threatening to read the bill on the floor of the Senate. I have a better idea: Read it on "Saturday Night Live."

Such as the amendment to Section 2(3)(F) of the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act, which will permit payments to guys employed to repair "recreational vessels." Under Incentives for New Jobs, we find a credit to employ what the bill calls "disconnected youths," defined as "not readily employable by reason of lacking a sufficient number of basic skills."

President Obama is saying the bill will "create or save" three million new jobs. The bad news is your new boss is Uncle Sam.

 

[rayboyusmc]

Let's just stick with your tax cuts. They did a really great deal the last eight years.

If you continue to do what you already done, you'll never get more than you've already got.

Right, lets keep up the path of the last eight years that got us into this shit.

 

[Kevin_Kennedy]

Let's just stick with your tax cuts. They did a really great deal the last eight years.

If you continue to do what you already done, you'll never get more than you've already got.

Right, lets keep up the path of the last eight years that got us into this shit.

The last 8 years that got us into this? More like the last 96 years, seeing as it's the Federal Reserve that primarily got us into this mess.

Cutting taxes and cutting government spending would be just what the doctor ordered right about now. That and abolishing the Fed, of course.

 

[Zoomie1980]

Let's just stick with your tax cuts. They did a really great deal the last eight years.

If you continue to do what you already done, you'll never get more than you've already got.

Right, lets keep up the path of the last eight years that got us into this shit.

All but the Federal building repairs have been stripped in the Senate Version....

 

[Zoomie1980]

Let's just stick with your tax cuts. They did a really great deal the last eight years.

If you continue to do what you already done, you'll never get more than you've already got.

Right, lets keep up the path of the last eight years that got us into this shit.

The last 8 years that got us into this? More like the last 96 years, seeing as it's the Federal Reserve that primarily got us into this mess.

Cutting taxes and cutting government spending would be just what the doctor ordered right about now. That and abolishing the Fed, of course.

Bush Tax cuts had nothing to do with this crisis. Artificially low interest rates and lack of regulation on market excesses caused it.

 

[Kevin_Kennedy]

I would say too much regulation helped cause it.

 

[DiveCon]

I would say too much regulation helped cause it.

exactly, the government stepping in and forcing high risk loans

 

[Zoomie1980]

I would say too much regulation helped cause it.

Certainly regulation forcing lending to undesirable risky consumers was part of it, but most of the excess in housing and failed mortgages were the house flippers, not low income people buying starter homes. People were using 125% loans to flip $500,000+ properties and buy two the next time, then four, then eight, with the feeling those homes would continue to appreciate at 10% forever, ensuring hefty profit. When the FELL 10% instead, the whole house of cards came tumbling down, especially the derivatives based on these ridiculous loans.

The LACK of regulation had to do with making these derivative and packages ILLEGAL, and restricting loans to traditional 80% of appraised value....

 

[Zoomie1980]

I would say too much regulation helped cause it.

exactly, the government stepping in and forcing high risk loans

Not really forcing, but allowing...... The dollar value of foreclosures on low income starter homes is less than 10% of the total. Most of the failures are from the house flippers....

 

[Charles_Main]

QUESTION:What Is Congress Stimulating?

ANSWER:The Wallets of Every special interest group and Left wing organization that supported them.

 

[Chris]

Derivatives caused the market to collapse, just like in 1929.

Instead of this goody laden stimulus package, we should start a multibillion dollar program for American energy independence.

That and tax breaks for the auto and housing industry would do the trick.

 

[Kevin_Kennedy]

Derivatives caused the market to collapse, just like in 1929.

Instead of this goody laden stimulus package, we should start a multibillion dollar program for American energy independence.

That and tax breaks for the auto and housing industry would do the trick.

No, what we should do is cut taxes for everyone and cut government spending.

 

[Meister]

Derivatives caused the market to collapse, just like in 1929.

Instead of this goody laden stimulus package, we should start a multibillion dollar program for American energy independence.

That and tax breaks for the auto and housing industry would do the trick.

Chris, why don't we just let the government take over everything. They always do a great job on anything they touch. The private sector just screws everything up, huh? If your not a socialist, your a communist. But, one thing your not is a capitalist. For me, I'm one who wants the federal government out of my life except for the safety of America, and infrastructure.

 

[Chris]

Derivatives caused the market to collapse, just like in 1929.

Instead of this goody laden stimulus package, we should start a multibillion dollar program for American energy independence.

That and tax breaks for the auto and housing industry would do the trick.

Chris, why don't we just let the government take over everything. They always do a great job on anything they touch. The private sector just screws everything up, huh? If your not a socialist, your a communist. But, one thing your not is a capitalist. For me, I'm one who wants the federal government out of my life except for the safety of America, and infrastructure.

Government bad. Market good. Ridiculous.

Only 4% of the mortgages in the U.S. are in foreclosure. The reason the market collapsed is that the theives on Wall Street created a leveraged financial instrument that Warren Buffett called the "instrument of financial mass destruction"......the derivative. This was created when Phil Gramm snuck a deregulation bill into a spending package on the day before Christmas recess 1999. The same thing happened in 1929 when stockbrokers were allowed to buy stocks on 10% margin. Then FDR regulated the market, and it worked well for 70 years until Phil Gramm screwed it up.

Warren Buffett talks about derivatives at the following link....

BBC NEWS | Business | Buffett warns on investment 'time bomb'

 

[Meister]

Derivatives caused the market to collapse, just like in 1929.

Instead of this goody laden stimulus package, we should start a multibillion dollar program for American energy independence.

That and tax breaks for the auto and housing industry would do the trick.

Chris, why don't we just let the government take over everything. They always do a great job on anything they touch. The private sector just screws everything up, huh? If your not a socialist, your a communist. But, one thing your not is a capitalist. For me, I'm one who wants the federal government out of my life except for the safety of America, and infrastructure.

Government bad. Market good. Ridiculous.


Only 4% of the mortgages in the U.S. are in foreclosure. The reason the market collapsed is that the theives on Wall Street created a leveraged financial instrument that Warren Buffett called the "instrument of financial mass destruction"......the derivative. This was created when Phil Gramm snuck a deregulation bill into a spending package on the day before Christmas recess 1999. The same thing happened in 1929 when stockbrokers were allowed to buy stocks on 10% margin. Then FDR regulated the market, and it worked well for 70 years until Phil Gramm screwed it up.

Warren Buffett talks about derivatives at the following link....

BBC NEWS | Business | Buffett warns on investment 'time bomb'

You never cease to amaze me, Chris. Your big government wanted more people to be able to qualify for house mortgages. They asked Freddie, and Fannie to loosen up the restrictions. It was your big government that intervened. The private sector never would have come up with that one. Your big government Bill Clinton signed the damn bill. Don't give me that it was the private sector that did this. By the way....Phil Gramm didn't have enough votes by himself to pass the bill, so don't go pointing fingers at one person. It was a group effort by your big government. FDR screwed up the economy with all his socialistic programs that we couldn't afford at the time. It didn't work, Chris. We stayed in the depression until WWII. Also, we had recessions in the market since FDR, Chris...remember your good buddy Jimmy Carter. Thank God that Reagan was elected to stimulate the economy. If you don't know the facts...don't print them, Chris. By the way Chris, if only 4% of the houses are in foreclosure(by your own words) why do you want big govenment to intervene and give tax credits to the industry??? Com' on, bring your 'A" game, Chris.

 

[Skull Pilot]

Derivatives caused the market to collapse, just like in 1929.

Instead of this goody laden stimulus package, we should start a multibillion dollar program for American energy independence.

That and tax breaks for the auto and housing industry would do the trick.

No, what we should do is cut taxes for everyone and cut government spending.

CUT SPENDING?

CUT SPENDING?

OMG how can you be so irresponsible as to want government to spend less, forcing government to be less expensive so as to let people keep more of the money they earn is the sure way to bring about the end of the world.

 

[Truthmatters]

Let's just stick with your tax cuts. They did a really great deal the last eight years.

If you continue to do what you already done, you'll never get more than you've already got.

Right, lets keep up the path of the last eight years that got us into this shit.

The last 8 years that got us into this? More like the last 96 years, seeing as it's the Federal Reserve that primarily got us into this mess.

Cutting taxes and cutting government spending would be just what the doctor ordered right about now. That and abolishing the Fed, of course.

And THAT DR would lose his license for malpractice when the patient died on the table.


Even milton friedman thinks FDRs ideas worked.

 

[Truthmatters]

Chris, why don't we just let the government take over everything. They always do a great job on anything they touch. The private sector just screws everything up, huh? If your not a socialist, your a communist. But, one thing your not is a capitalist. For me, I'm one who wants the federal government out of my life except for the safety of America, and infrastructure.

Government bad. Market good. Ridiculous.


Only 4% of the mortgages in the U.S. are in foreclosure. The reason the market collapsed is that the theives on Wall Street created a leveraged financial instrument that Warren Buffett called the "instrument of financial mass destruction"......the derivative. This was created when Phil Gramm snuck a deregulation bill into a spending package on the day before Christmas recess 1999. The same thing happened in 1929 when stockbrokers were allowed to buy stocks on 10% margin. Then FDR regulated the market, and it worked well for 70 years until Phil Gramm screwed it up.

Warren Buffett talks about derivatives at the following link....

BBC NEWS | Business | Buffett warns on investment 'time bomb'

You never cease to amaze me, Chris. Your big government wanted more people to be able to qualify for house mortgages. They asked Freddie, and Fannie to loosen up the restrictions. It was your big government that intervened. The private sector never would have come up with that one. Your big government Bill Clinton signed the damn bill. Don't give me that it was the private sector that did this. By the way....Phil Gramm didn't have enough votes by himself to pass the bill, so don't go pointing fingers at one person. It was a group effort by your big government. FDR screwed up the economy with all his socialistic programs that we couldn't afford at the time. It didn't work, Chris. We stayed in the depression until WWII. Also, we had recessions in the market since FDR, Chris...remember your good buddy Jimmy Carter. Thank God that Reagan was elected to stimulate the economy. If you don't know the facts...don't print them, Chris. By the way Chris, if only 4% of the houses are in foreclosure(by your own words) why do you want big govenment to intervene and give tax credits to the industry??? Com' on, bring your 'A" game, Chris.

Quit getting your history from republican comic books and try real scholors for a change.

 

[Truthmatters]

"Excepting 1937-1938, unemployment fell each year of Roosevelt's first two terms [while] the U.S. economy grew at average annual growth rates of 9 percent to 10 percent," writes University of California historian Eric Rauchway.



According to Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, "Only with the New Deal's rehabilitation of the financial system in 1933-35 did the economy begin its slow emergence from the Great Depression." In fact, even famed conservative economist Milton Friedman admitted that the New Deal's Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was "the structural change most conducive to monetary stability since ... the Civil War."


1937-1938 FDR had tried to balence the budget because the republicans had whined enough to make him take notice of their "concerns". The economy started to reverse so he went back the the original plan and it worked yet again.


The people are not going to just sit back and watch the republican party wordsmith and lie any more. You guys always have the WRONG plan and its purely for partisan reasons.

Your party is going to die and its will be the best thing to happen to America in many years.

 

[Annie]

"Excepting 1937-1938, unemployment fell each year of Roosevelt's first two terms [while] the U.S. economy grew at average annual growth rates of 9 percent to 10 percent," writes University of California historian Eric Rauchway.



According to Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, "Only with the New Deal's rehabilitation of the financial system in 1933-35 did the economy begin its slow emergence from the Great Depression." In fact, even famed conservative economist Milton Friedman admitted that the New Deal's Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was "the structural change most conducive to monetary stability since ... the Civil War."


1937-1938 FDR had tried to balence the budget because the republicans had whined enough to make him take notice of their "concerns". The economy started to reverse so he went back the the original plan and it worked yet again.


The people are not going to just sit back and watch the republican party wordsmith and lie any more. You guys always have the WRONG plan and its purely for partisan reasons.

Your party is going to die and its will be the best thing to happen to America in many years.

Not everyone can be as even handed as you dear.