stephanie
01-19-2009, 12:22 AM
we've been had..
Sunday, January 18, 2009 5:50 PM
By: Newsmax Staff Article Font Size
President-elect Barack Obama’s proposed $775 billion stimulus package, being sold as a cure-all for the ailing economy, is little more than a checklist for funding the pricey social-services agenda that he promised during his campaign.
Some experts say that the Trojan horse of pork and welfare spending will ultimately worsen the recession and drive the nation deeper into debt, according to financial experts.
Most of Obama’s costliest promises have found their way into the so-called American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan, which now includes everything from an expansion of Pell grants for college students, to health care for the unemployed, to an expansion of unemployment benefits, to investment in renewable energy.
“This legislation appears to blanket government programs in spending with little thought toward real economic results, job creation or respect for the taxpayer," said Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Calif., ranking Republican on the House Appropriations Committee. "I'm scratching my head trying to determine how items like $50 million in funding for the National Endowment for the Arts will create jobs or provide relief for families across the country."
Lewis and other Republicans question the inclusion of items like $850 million for wildfire prevention and $600 million for new cars for the federal government.
Lewis lists others: $200 million to “encourage electric vehicle technologies” in state and local government motor pools, $1.9 billion in funding for high level physics research, $650 million to extend the coupon program to allow analog TV owners to continue to watch TV, and $400 to the Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration for “habitat restoration.”
What do any of these expenditures have to do with creating job? They are a far cry from the traditional tools of stimulating the economy such as road and bridge construction, for which the bill allots $30 billion, some experts say. Their inclusion reflects Democrats' expansive view of how the government can create jobs: helping the auto industry by replacing government cars, for example, and hiring people to restore areas hit by wildfires.
Far from sparking the economy, the package will send the budget deficit soaring, crowd out private investment, and fuel a surge in inflation and interest rates, according to Arthur Laffer, an economic advisor to President Reagan.
The package essentially transfers wealth from those who are working to those who aren’t, Laffer tells Newsmax. “When you give people real resources other than what comes from work effort, those resources have to come from workers and producers.
“Conceptually, the government doesn’t create resources, it redistributes resources,” Laffer says. “Whenever you bail something out, you have to take resources from people doing well. It’s a zero sum game.”
Specifically, Obama is proposing spending $775 billion in government dollars in four key areas:
read the rest.
http://www.newsmax.com/headlines/obama_welfare_spending/2009/01/18/172756.html
Sunday, January 18, 2009 5:50 PM
By: Newsmax Staff Article Font Size
President-elect Barack Obama’s proposed $775 billion stimulus package, being sold as a cure-all for the ailing economy, is little more than a checklist for funding the pricey social-services agenda that he promised during his campaign.
Some experts say that the Trojan horse of pork and welfare spending will ultimately worsen the recession and drive the nation deeper into debt, according to financial experts.
Most of Obama’s costliest promises have found their way into the so-called American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan, which now includes everything from an expansion of Pell grants for college students, to health care for the unemployed, to an expansion of unemployment benefits, to investment in renewable energy.
“This legislation appears to blanket government programs in spending with little thought toward real economic results, job creation or respect for the taxpayer," said Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Calif., ranking Republican on the House Appropriations Committee. "I'm scratching my head trying to determine how items like $50 million in funding for the National Endowment for the Arts will create jobs or provide relief for families across the country."
Lewis and other Republicans question the inclusion of items like $850 million for wildfire prevention and $600 million for new cars for the federal government.
Lewis lists others: $200 million to “encourage electric vehicle technologies” in state and local government motor pools, $1.9 billion in funding for high level physics research, $650 million to extend the coupon program to allow analog TV owners to continue to watch TV, and $400 to the Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration for “habitat restoration.”
What do any of these expenditures have to do with creating job? They are a far cry from the traditional tools of stimulating the economy such as road and bridge construction, for which the bill allots $30 billion, some experts say. Their inclusion reflects Democrats' expansive view of how the government can create jobs: helping the auto industry by replacing government cars, for example, and hiring people to restore areas hit by wildfires.
Far from sparking the economy, the package will send the budget deficit soaring, crowd out private investment, and fuel a surge in inflation and interest rates, according to Arthur Laffer, an economic advisor to President Reagan.
The package essentially transfers wealth from those who are working to those who aren’t, Laffer tells Newsmax. “When you give people real resources other than what comes from work effort, those resources have to come from workers and producers.
“Conceptually, the government doesn’t create resources, it redistributes resources,” Laffer says. “Whenever you bail something out, you have to take resources from people doing well. It’s a zero sum game.”
Specifically, Obama is proposing spending $775 billion in government dollars in four key areas:
read the rest.
http://www.newsmax.com/headlines/obama_welfare_spending/2009/01/18/172756.html