I think President Obama might be served well by going back and reading his history a little more carefully, particularly with regards to this "stimulus" package. In his speech the other night, he championed the methods of the New Deal, and derided any that suggested the New Deal was anything but a stellar success. As we all know, the New Deal is the inspiration behind his plans with the "stimulus" package. But the picture isn't quite so rosy, and all those who think that this ludicrously large spending bill will do anything would do well to listen to the words of FDR's own Treasury Secretary, Henry Morgenthau, Jr., spoken before the House Ways and Means Committee, in 1939. "We are spending more money than we have ever spent before and it does not work. I want to see this country prosperous. I want to see people get a job. We have never made good on our promises. I say after eight years of this administration we have just as much unemployment as when we started and an enormous debt to boot." To back up his words, consider that during the 1930s, when you correct for today's dollar, they had spending up to as high as $1 trillion/year. And yet unemployment for the non-farm sectors of the workforce remained at least 20% for the entire decade. In fact, the stock market didn't recover to the pre-Depression 1929 high until 1954 - FDR was elected in '32 and took office in '33.
Someone read this and then tell me it is a stimulus package and not a pork fest democrat lets keep us in office spending bill. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/fir...latter-stimulus-contains-items-boost-economy/ Fuzzy
That's not a list of what's in the bill, it's a list of "what foxnews.com readers found in the bill". So yeah, I think they made it up. They're trying to peck it to death.
No, not that I've noticed with regards to mainstream sources. There may be more fringe groups like Rupert Murdoch's out there that I haven't heard of. I do find NBC to be slanted to the right since Brian William's took over. At least faux news doesn't try to appear unbiased. We all know what we're getting when we venture there. http://crooksandliars.com/2007/02/04/rupert-murdoch-admits-manipulating-the-mediasurprisesurprise/
Those numbers mean nothing to me. It is a secret what is in the current bill. The dems say there is no time to let the public know where the money is going. Search it out. Reps are pushing for the contents of the bill to be placed online for the viewing public for 48 hours, but it looks like the vote is going to take place before that. The House bill might be a good indication of what is in the Senate bill, or it might not be. Who knows? Senate Rep Susan Collins says the bill totals 789 billion dollars. That's all I know. Here's as much of the bill as is officially available to the public: http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_bills&docid=f:s1pcs.txt.pdf
The numbers do appear valid and mostly sensible. -- $100 million for the Lead-Based Paint Hazard Control Grant Program -- $200 million to the Leaking Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund Program -- $300 million for "Violence Against Women Prevention and Prosecution Programs" -- $900 million for the IRS for the "Limitation on Administrative Expenses" -- $1 million for the Railroad Retirement Board for administrative costs -- $2 billion for the Drinking Water State Revolving Act -- $50 million for Health and Human Services to carry out injury prevention programs -- $1.1 billion for studies on the effectiveness of different medical treatments -- $200 million to upgrade labs and facilities for the Department of Agriculture "to improve workplace safety and mission-area efficiencies" -- $10 million for urban canal inspection -- $16 billion to pay for student financial aid -- $1 billion to pay for the U.S. Census -- $600 million to pay for a fuel-efficient federal auto fleet -- $650 million for the Digital Converter Box Program to help the constantly delayed transition from analog television -- $485 million to the Forest Service for "hazardous fuels reduction and hazard mitigation activities in areas at high risk of catastrophic wildfire" -- Up to $1 billion for "summer activities" for youths as old as 24 -- $40 million for the occupational research agenda -- $3 billion for the Centers for Disease Control wellness programs and vaccinations -- $410 million for Indian health facilities -- $2.4 billion for carbon-capture demonstrations While I don't know the specifics of each program, only the two highlighted concern me.
I don't get ABC, wouldn't watch most of it if I did, but that Charles Gibson is about as right wing as I've seen on TV, faux news or not.
Y'all do realize those are not the same numbers as the bill being voted on now. money was added, cut, rearranged, etc. Why are we debating the original numbers of an amended bill?
Because I am fairly sure that most of this is still there. It shows how they are thinking and what is trying to be done. Fuzzy
Any spending will stimulate the economy. Seems like most of that stuff is needed or will be needed eventually anyway. Good point. They'll tell us where our money is going when their finished. I sure hope we get the fish barrier and water/sewer structure improvement funds in the final version.
