Now I have wrote on the ineffectiveness of the stimulus package before but let’s take a real analysis of the stimulus package. I am not pleasing blame on the Obama administration but the truth of the matter is that we the American people were tricked and fooled by the Democratic led Congress and President Obama. In fact the news media is even finding it hard to criticize the effectiveness of the stimulus package. So let it be said right now that the stimulus package was not as timely and targeted as the Democrats in Congress wanted it to be. I called for a timely and targeted stimulus package because that is what our nation needed at the beginning of this year. However the $787 billion stimulus bill was not as effective as it could have been and even when I debated others on the merits on the stimulus package, I pointed out to both Democrats and Republicans that some of the stimulus package was needed particularly the job benefits and health insurance as well as the tax cuts as well as the rebuilding of America’s infrastructure.
Still much of the stimulus package won’t even be spent this year and some of the stimulus package will come up in other spending bills in the future. Nonetheless the stimulus package was packed with pork projects hidden as stimulus programs. So let’s really examine the stimulus package and what was told to us since the news media seems to not care about it but we the American people should care because it is tax dollars at work and it is us the American people who will have to pay off our national debt especially future generations. First, Democrats said they would spend this money quickly to reinvigorate the economy. But only $151 billion has been spent so far and $185 billion will be spent by year's end. Another $399 billion will be spent next year (just in time for the 2010 mid-term elections) and $134 billion will be spent by the end of 2011 (as the Obama re-elect machine begins).
Republicans say, “The Democrats latest spin attempt is a report by White House economists claiming the stimulus bill has "created or saved" more than a million jobs since it was enacted in February. The problem is, the Democrats' fuzzy math clearly doesn't jibe with the facts.” The Republicans are right because the reality for countless Americans whose jobs have not been "saved" is they've joined the ranks of the 2.4 million neighbors, friends and family members who have lost their job since Obama signed the "stimulus" into law. The national unemployment rate has jumped to 9.7% -- a 26 year high -- and is expected to reach 10% before the end of the year.
Even Obama's chief economic advisor, Larry Summers, who claims these phantom jobs have been "saved or created," said unemployment will "...by all forecasts, remain unacceptably high for years to come." Still I am not siding with Republicans on the job losses because many jobs were lost under President Bush’s watch but it should be made clear that the stimulus package has not produced the type of results that President Obama and the Democrats in Congress wanted it to produce in terms of jobs. In fact, the real issue that should worry many Americans is the while it seems as if our recession is nearing the end, 67.5% of the stimulus package will not be spent by the end of this year. In fact by the end of 2010, only 74% of the stimulus package would have been spent and our nation’s recession would be well over by then. Thus the problem with that is the issue of inflation which is inevitable with so much money floating around the market.
The wasteful stimulus spending that won’t be spent in its entirety until 3 years after it was passed doesn’t help the right here, right now. I know instant gratification is not always good but when you think about what the Democrats and President Obama told us the American people in terms of how the stimulus package would be timely and targeted as well as how it would create or save 3 million jobs, where are the jobs. As I debated people more and more about the stimulus package, I always told them that if you show me the numbers and the math that was used to come up with these figures than I will shot up but no one could show me or explain it to me.
What’s even more disheartening is the fact that not one Democrat is willing to stand up and say anything about the stimulus package and its ineffectiveness and any Republicans who says anything about the stimulus package seems to use it as a political ploy to show why the Republican Party should be back in control of Congress. However my angle is simple, both Democrats and Republicans got it wrong on the recession. So it is clear that neither one has a better plan for how to fix the economy or how to create jobs but what is really missing in Washington, D.C. as well as in some state and local governments is some real sensible and manageable solutions to budgetary issues that arise.
Washington needs someone people who understand that the complex issues plaguing the American people won’t be fixed with more spending and throwing money any and everywhere which is what the stimulus package did. I’m not playing politics but I am simply stating the facts here. I’m not trying to seek glory or destroy President Obama’s agenda but I believe if he was more hands on in writing and drafting the stimulus package than perhaps much of the money would have been spent this year rather than 2 years later. Americans can’t wait for job creation in 2011 when people are hurting now and how many times will Congress pass unemployment extensions to those who can’t find work or those who find part-time work but it isn’t as suitable as the work they used to do.
For the average American, the best measure of the economy is whether or not they have a job so they can pay the mortgage, make the car payment and put food on the table. And it's clear the $787 billion stimulus bill has led to wasteful spending and political paybacks, but hasn't created the jobs the Democrats promised. Our nation needs some real fiscal discipline and prosperity but as of right now neither the Democratic or Republican Party have a great track record of that. Republicans like to say, “Every time Obama has wanted to expand the government's influence over the economy and our daily lives -- from his takeover of GM to his proposed government-run takeover of our health care -- it has meant spending more money we don't have and digging America deeper into debt.” However I say it’s not entirely President Obama fault for the debt our nation has accumulated, his administration has added a small amount to it but so has other Presidents but no matter how you do the math both Republicans and Democrats are to blame for our nation’s national debt being as high as it is.
The $787 billion "stimulus" bill was suppose to "create or save" between 3 and 4 million jobs. So far America has lost over 3 million jobs since Obama took office and the national deficit is predicted to rise $9 trillion over the next 10 years. Therefore I am tired of prime-time speeches and the blame game on both political sides. It is time for us as the American people to accept reality which is the stimulus package has not and did not produce the results it was initially suppose to produce this year when we the American people needed it the most. Republicans, Democrats, President Bush and President Obama all failed us in this economic crisis and that is something both conservative and liberal economists will agree with. I have always said that nothing bad last forever but if we are going to try to fix things that we as a nation need to fix time fiscally responsibly which I am afraid to report that neither political party did.
All I ask is for people to do their own assessment of the stimulus package and it is not denying that how can we sit up and taught success stories when only 23-35% of the stimulus package will be spent by the end of year. This is not the time of success I would like brag about yet alone talk about especially when the whole reason for passing the stimulus package was to create and save jobs but more jobs are being lost and some of the jobs that were supposed to be saved are some of the very ones being at risk of being lost in my state of Michigan and my city of Detroit. However I ask you the American people to do your own analysis of the stimulus package in your own state and home town. If you find that the stimulus package has worked than that’s how you fill but if you look deeply at the national impact of it and how the money has been spent according to http://www.recovery.gov/ than I am sure that regardless of your party affiliation, you will agree with me that the stimulus package was a failure and the upcoming inflation or hyper-inflation that is about to hit our nation in the next year or less will be a sign of just what I am speaking of.
Still much of the stimulus package won’t even be spent this year and some of the stimulus package will come up in other spending bills in the future. Nonetheless the stimulus package was packed with pork projects hidden as stimulus programs. So let’s really examine the stimulus package and what was told to us since the news media seems to not care about it but we the American people should care because it is tax dollars at work and it is us the American people who will have to pay off our national debt especially future generations. First, Democrats said they would spend this money quickly to reinvigorate the economy. But only $151 billion has been spent so far and $185 billion will be spent by year's end. Another $399 billion will be spent next year (just in time for the 2010 mid-term elections) and $134 billion will be spent by the end of 2011 (as the Obama re-elect machine begins).
Republicans say, “The Democrats latest spin attempt is a report by White House economists claiming the stimulus bill has "created or saved" more than a million jobs since it was enacted in February. The problem is, the Democrats' fuzzy math clearly doesn't jibe with the facts.” The Republicans are right because the reality for countless Americans whose jobs have not been "saved" is they've joined the ranks of the 2.4 million neighbors, friends and family members who have lost their job since Obama signed the "stimulus" into law. The national unemployment rate has jumped to 9.7% -- a 26 year high -- and is expected to reach 10% before the end of the year.
Even Obama's chief economic advisor, Larry Summers, who claims these phantom jobs have been "saved or created," said unemployment will "...by all forecasts, remain unacceptably high for years to come." Still I am not siding with Republicans on the job losses because many jobs were lost under President Bush’s watch but it should be made clear that the stimulus package has not produced the type of results that President Obama and the Democrats in Congress wanted it to produce in terms of jobs. In fact, the real issue that should worry many Americans is the while it seems as if our recession is nearing the end, 67.5% of the stimulus package will not be spent by the end of this year. In fact by the end of 2010, only 74% of the stimulus package would have been spent and our nation’s recession would be well over by then. Thus the problem with that is the issue of inflation which is inevitable with so much money floating around the market.
The wasteful stimulus spending that won’t be spent in its entirety until 3 years after it was passed doesn’t help the right here, right now. I know instant gratification is not always good but when you think about what the Democrats and President Obama told us the American people in terms of how the stimulus package would be timely and targeted as well as how it would create or save 3 million jobs, where are the jobs. As I debated people more and more about the stimulus package, I always told them that if you show me the numbers and the math that was used to come up with these figures than I will shot up but no one could show me or explain it to me.
What’s even more disheartening is the fact that not one Democrat is willing to stand up and say anything about the stimulus package and its ineffectiveness and any Republicans who says anything about the stimulus package seems to use it as a political ploy to show why the Republican Party should be back in control of Congress. However my angle is simple, both Democrats and Republicans got it wrong on the recession. So it is clear that neither one has a better plan for how to fix the economy or how to create jobs but what is really missing in Washington, D.C. as well as in some state and local governments is some real sensible and manageable solutions to budgetary issues that arise.
Washington needs someone people who understand that the complex issues plaguing the American people won’t be fixed with more spending and throwing money any and everywhere which is what the stimulus package did. I’m not playing politics but I am simply stating the facts here. I’m not trying to seek glory or destroy President Obama’s agenda but I believe if he was more hands on in writing and drafting the stimulus package than perhaps much of the money would have been spent this year rather than 2 years later. Americans can’t wait for job creation in 2011 when people are hurting now and how many times will Congress pass unemployment extensions to those who can’t find work or those who find part-time work but it isn’t as suitable as the work they used to do.
For the average American, the best measure of the economy is whether or not they have a job so they can pay the mortgage, make the car payment and put food on the table. And it's clear the $787 billion stimulus bill has led to wasteful spending and political paybacks, but hasn't created the jobs the Democrats promised. Our nation needs some real fiscal discipline and prosperity but as of right now neither the Democratic or Republican Party have a great track record of that. Republicans like to say, “Every time Obama has wanted to expand the government's influence over the economy and our daily lives -- from his takeover of GM to his proposed government-run takeover of our health care -- it has meant spending more money we don't have and digging America deeper into debt.” However I say it’s not entirely President Obama fault for the debt our nation has accumulated, his administration has added a small amount to it but so has other Presidents but no matter how you do the math both Republicans and Democrats are to blame for our nation’s national debt being as high as it is.
The $787 billion "stimulus" bill was suppose to "create or save" between 3 and 4 million jobs. So far America has lost over 3 million jobs since Obama took office and the national deficit is predicted to rise $9 trillion over the next 10 years. Therefore I am tired of prime-time speeches and the blame game on both political sides. It is time for us as the American people to accept reality which is the stimulus package has not and did not produce the results it was initially suppose to produce this year when we the American people needed it the most. Republicans, Democrats, President Bush and President Obama all failed us in this economic crisis and that is something both conservative and liberal economists will agree with. I have always said that nothing bad last forever but if we are going to try to fix things that we as a nation need to fix time fiscally responsibly which I am afraid to report that neither political party did.
All I ask is for people to do their own assessment of the stimulus package and it is not denying that how can we sit up and taught success stories when only 23-35% of the stimulus package will be spent by the end of year. This is not the time of success I would like brag about yet alone talk about especially when the whole reason for passing the stimulus package was to create and save jobs but more jobs are being lost and some of the jobs that were supposed to be saved are some of the very ones being at risk of being lost in my state of Michigan and my city of Detroit. However I ask you the American people to do your own analysis of the stimulus package in your own state and home town. If you find that the stimulus package has worked than that’s how you fill but if you look deeply at the national impact of it and how the money has been spent according to http://www.recovery.gov/ than I am sure that regardless of your party affiliation, you will agree with me that the stimulus package was a failure and the upcoming inflation or hyper-inflation that is about to hit our nation in the next year or less will be a sign of just what I am speaking of.
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