So the scare mongering has worked perfectly.  Anybody, please tell me WTF any of this has to do with stimulating the economy.  It's simply a huge spending bill, nothing more.  This is disgraceful.  Where is the outrage?  WRITE YOUR REPRESENTATIVES or YOU will be paying for this BS forever.



The Democrats are about to vote on a "Stimulus" package to bring jobs and welfare to America: Here's how they plan on Stimulating jobs (aka Spend your Tax Dollars)

1. ‘‘Agriculture Buildings and Facilities and Rental Payments’’, $44,000,000

2. ‘‘Buildings and Facilities’’, $209,000,000, for work on deferred maintenance at Agricultural Research Service facilities

3. For an additional amount for ‘‘Salaries and Expenses,’’ $245,000,000, for the purpose of maintaining and modernizing the information technology system

4. For an additional amount for ‘‘Watershed and Flood Prevention Operations’’, $350,000,000 of which $175,000,000 is for necessary expenses to purchase and restore floodplain easements

5. ‘‘Watershed Rehabilitation Program’’, $50,000,000, for necessary expenses to carry out rehabilitation of structural measures:

6. Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act: $5,838,000,000 for rural community facilities direct loans

7. Housing Act of 1949, to be available from funds in the rural housing insurance fund: $22,129,000,000 for loans

8. For an additional amount for the cost of direct and guaranteed loans, including the cost of modifying loans, as defined in section 502 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, as follows: section 502 loans, $500,000,000

9. Rural Electrification Act of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 901 et seq.) and for grants: $2,825,000,000

10. Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1786) :$100,000,000

11. Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983 (7 U.S.C. 7508(a)(1)), $150,000,000 ($100,000,000 is for the purchase of commodities and of which $50,000,000 is for costs associated with the distribution of commodities.)

12. ‘‘Economic Development Assistance Programs’’, $250,000,000 ‘‘Salaries and Expenses’’ for purposes of program administration and oversight

13. For an additional amount for ‘‘Periodic Censuses and Programs’’: $1,000,000,000:

14. ‘‘Salaries and Expenses’’: $350,000,000

15.

15. For necessary expenses related to the Wireless and Broadband Deployment: $2,825,000,000

16. Costs associated with the Digital-to-Analog Converter Box Program, $650,000,000

17. ‘‘Scientific and Technical Research and Services’’, $100,000,000.

18. ‘‘Industrial Technology Services’’, $100,000,000

19. ‘‘Construction of Research Facilities’’: $300,000,000

20. NOAA: ‘‘Operations, Research and Facilities’’, $400,000,000, for habitat restoration and mitigation activities.

21. ‘‘Procurement, Acquisition and Construction’’, $600,000,000, for accelerating satellite development and acquisition, acquiring climate sensors and climate modeling capacity, and establishing climate data records.

22. ‘‘State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance’’: $3,000,000,000

23. ‘‘Community Oriented Policing Services’’, $1,000,000,000

24. For an additional amount for ‘‘Science’’, $400,000,000, of which not less than $250,000,000 shall be solely for accelerating the development of the tier 1 set of Earth science climate research missions recommended by the National Academies Decadal Survey.

25. National Science Foundation: ‘‘Research and Related Activities’’: $2,500,000,000

26. For expenses, not otherwise provided for, to improve, repair and modernize Department of Defense facilities, restore and modernize Army barracks, and invest in the energy efficiency of Department of Defense facilities: $4,500,000,000

27. Department of the Army: ‘‘Construction’’: $2,000,000,000

28. ‘‘Mississippi River and Tributaries’’, $250,000,000

29. Corp of Engineers: $2,225,000,000

This is just scratching the surface.

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It's not merely a spending bill - 30% to 40% of the total dollar amount is tax cuts.

Spending and tax cuts can stimulate the economy. It creates jobs, circulates money, etc.  There is a multiplier effect - each dollar spent on wages and salaries gets spent in restaurants, car dealerships, for rent or mortgages, gasoline, etc.

Is this the most coherent, effective spending/stimulus bill that can be imagined?  Certainly not. It is the product of compromise.  There is no one area that is being given Moonshot or Manhattan Project or Marshall Plan status, as far as I can tell. There are more, smaller projects - partly based on the theory that existing agencies and projects will get the money circulating faster.

And all of this comes at a cost in the future (increasing taxes or inflation or requiring cuts). The question is: how much would the economy contract without such intervention?  Would the credit markets lock-up and return us to a great depression scenario.  You are right, many people are scared of that ... I would argue for a good reason, as that is one possibility.

If they want "stimulus" they can divide that money up to every taxpayer. That's around a $300,000 check for each taxpayer!

Chris Morrow wrote on Jan 28^th, 2009 at 1:06pm:


I know that zeros 'mean nothing' but you need to remove a few zeros from that figure.

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That would stimulate my family quite a bit.  Of course, I wouldn't spend it because God knows if we'll have jobs next month. I'd dump it into savings so I wouldn't be stimulating the economy, but oh well.

Don't blame me, I didn't vote for him.

I personally believe Obama won't make it 4 years because of scandal. This maybe wrong becouse the press is so much in love with him.

The Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or if Obama signs the DTV extension. I have been waiting for this transition for 3 years, and it will be a pain to have to wait 6 months longer.

Paul

The package everybody is so anxious to pass is nothing more than a wet dream for Dems who have been trying to pass these spending bills for a long time.  99% of the line items would NEVER pass muster if they tried to pass them on their own merits.  This has been a carefully orchestrated symphony of scare tactics to get all of you to ignore common sense.

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Fu, I understand your aversion to the cost of all this.  If there might be an offhand comparison to give you, all I can think of is this.


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A hard sell, very expensive, but there's something about necessity as a mother of invention.  Perhaps maybe we are averting a more difficult and dangerous time.




* The Power Makers  
steam, electricity, and the men who invented modern America.

 

Kevin_M wrote on Jan 28^th, 2009 at 5:33pm:


Kevin,

Respectfully, that is a very flawed comparison.  Our situation would be more like installing wings on those trains.  Expensive, useless, stupid plan that serves NOBODY.

Again I ask... how in the world does $4.2 BILLION for a criminal organization like ACORN help us in any way?  Would that pass any smell test in a rational world?  Of course not, but since the entire bill is north of $800B, it's just a drop in the bucket, so NO BIG DEAL, right?

Almost every line item is similar.  It's all pure BS, and this country has been so throroughly brain-washed that we are lapping it up like morons.  Sorry to be so blunt about it, but this makes me sick to my stomach.

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    Though I could concede this analogy in part for "alternative fuels", or at least a way (our own oil and conservation) to limit imported oil , just spending money to spend money, which I believe this is, will not help. If they want to just spend money, they could look at things to limit the export deficit (raising the value of the dollar while the cost of oil is low may not be a good idea).

Mike

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Fubar,
Interesting choice of words in the first and your last post. Just an observation

karma wrote on Jan 28^th, 2009 at 6:16pm:


Obviously I'm talking about the scare mongering creating a situation where we are totally screwed.

But I guess that makes me guilty of scare mongering... can't f'n win for losin'

monty wrote on Jan 28^th, 2009 at 6:38pm:


Nonsense.  The proposal is to take your Neighborhood Stabilization Program and make those funds available to organizations like ACORN, NOT to use it for the intentions in the original bill.