Suppose You Were an Idiot

Recently, I found myself reminded of a quote from Mark Twain, “Suppose you were an idiot, and suppose you were a member of Congress … but I repeat myself.” This month, we learned some of the details of the (next) proposed $825 billion Economic Stimulus plan. Appropriations Committee Chairman, (D) David Obey, has already cautioned, “This package is no silver bullet … I don’t know, frankly, if it will be adequate.”  Hmm, do you think that might be because much of this plan has nothing to do with either new jobs or stimulating the economy as a whole? Maybe we should take a closer look.

Here are a few of my favorite things:

• Out of the proposed $825 billion, $358 billion is set aside for infrastructure. That sounds like a good idea, right? Then why is it that less than 10 percent of that will be spent in 2009? “Could that be because you’re going to use the government’s contracting system and have to deal with unions?”
• The Congressional Budgetary Office (a group of economists whose head is appointed by Democratic Congressional leaders) reported that $219 billion of the total $825 billion total would not be spent until 2011 or later. That is approximately 27 percent that won’t arrive in the economy until after we are likely already out of this recession. House democrats countered that figure in their response, indicating that they planned on spending at least 75 percent of the total in the next 18 months. “Okay, 25 to 27 percent isn’t much of a difference in the amount left unused during what we all agree is the most urgent time period.”
• $157 billion in health care spending, from which $87 billion would go to temporarily pump up state Medicaid programs. As representative (R) John Boehner pointed out, that includes (literally) hundreds of millions of dollars for contraceptives, as a function of Medicaid’s family planning programs. “While that may be the kind of stimulus Papa likes, it doesn’t seem likely to add any new jobs.”
• $650 million to provide coupons to help television viewers make the conversion to digital television. “Hi, Grandpa! Here is how your new antenna works. Check, please!”
• $200 million to refurbish the National Mall. “It looked fine to me at the inauguration a few weeks ago.”
• $150 million for a backlog of repairs at the Smithsonian Institution. “Couldn’t they raise that by auctioning off part of their coin collection?”
• Then there is the money that goes directly to the states for “shovel ready” projects. In response, Nevada has already announced plans to build a Las Vegas museum commemorating famous mobsters. “Hey, maybe we can finish that bridge to nowhere in Alaska, too!”

Obviously, some of the money will actually do some good. There is $275 billion in tax cuts that will certainly help. There are also decent investments in alternative energy which should pay dividends in the long run. And there is no doubt that nationwide, we have lots of “deferred maintenance” in our system of roads and bridges (ala Minneapolis).

But consider the following mind-numbing figure of $33,000. Why is that so mind-numbing, you ask? Well, if you divide $10 trillion (the amount of stimulus already pledged to date) by 300 million (the entire population of the United States, that’s the number you get. So, rather than bail out the crooks running our financial system into the ground, we could give every man, woman, and child living in the U.S. $33,000 to spend. Can you say, “Instant economic turnaround”? People who have lost jobs could keep making their house payments and afford to get trained in new jobs. People who don’t have health care could afford that for a change. Kids could go to college who otherwise couldn’t. Gee, doesn’t that sounds like all the things Congress says it wants to do with our money, but somehow hasn’t managed to do just yet?  Unfortunately, the other way of looking at this number is how much all this nonsense has cost each of us … so far.

If you want to get some of your tax dollars back, then refinance or purchase a home at these historically low government sponsored interest rates. Call Dan Smith at (303-674-0201).