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Posted on 01/26/2009 10:17:29 AM PST by BGHater
This week the House is expected to pass an $825 billion economic stimulus package. In reality, this bill is just an escalation of a government-created economic mess. As before, a sense of urgency and impending doom is being used to extract mountains of money from Congress with minimal debate. So much for change. This is déjà vu. We are again being promised that its passage will help employment, help homeowners, help the environment, etc. These promises are worthless. This time around especially, Congress should know better than to pass anything of this magnitude without first reading the fine print. There a many red flags that I have found in this bill.
At least $4 billion is allocated to expanding the police state and the war on drugs through Byrne grants, which even the Bush administration opposed, and the COPS program, both of which are corrupt and largely ineffective programs.
To help Big Brother keep a better eye on us and our children, $20 billion would go towards health information technology, which would create a national system of electronic medical records without adequate privacy protection. These records would instead be subject to the misnamed federal “medical privacy” rule, which allows government and state-favored special interests to see medical records at will. An additional $250 million is allocated for states to nationalize individual student data, expanding Federal control of education and eroding privacy.
$79 billion bails out states that haphazardly expanded their budgets during the bubble years, but refuse to retrench and cut back, as their taxpayers have had to, during recession years.
$200 million expands Americorps. $100 million goes to “faith-and-community” based organizations for social services, which will further insinuate the government into charity and community service. Private charities are much more efficient and effective because they are directly accountable to donors, while public programs tend to get rewarded for failure. With its money, the Federal Government brings its incompetence and its whims, while creating foolish dependence. This is sad to see.
Of course the bill is rife with central planning projects. $4 billion for job training, much of which will be used to direct workers into “green jobs”. $200 million to “encourage” electric cars, $2 billion to support US manufacturers of advanced batteries and battery systems, which is yet another function of government I can’t find in the Constitution. Not to mention $500 million for energy efficient manufacturing demonstration projects, $70 million for a Technology Innovation Program for “research in potentially revolutionary technologies” in which government, not supply and demand, will pick winners and losers. $746 million for afterschool snacks, $6.75 billion for the Department of Commerce, including $1 billion for a census.
This bill delivers an additional debt burden of $6,700 to every American man, woman and child.
There is a lot of stimulus and growth in this bill – that is, of government. Nothing in this bill stimulates the freedom and prosperity of the American people. Politician-directed spending is never as successful as market-driven investment. Instead of passing this bill, Congress should get out of the way by cutting taxes, cutting spending, and reining in the reckless monetary policy of the Federal Reserve.
It’s more of the same. I’m sure some object to it now that a D is in office. So it goes.
`I am aware of all those predictions of his that missed the current deflation. He predicted the rest of the world would carry on without us.
But the fundamentals are pointing to commodities long term as he predicts ,we are headed to inflation. Democrats are going to try to create inflation on purpose, printing money, unions, green energy. Add that to increasing world population and industry creating demand in previously poor countries. So his message is relevent to future. But that future may not be this summer.
More-so than investment, I love the conservative messages of his. If I could find an articulate republican with a conservative message relevent to democrats path, I would use them. FR’s read his witty lines and he rings a bell that we havent had in a long time.
Well, you might get more messages. He’s thinking about running against Sen. Dodd, 2010.
huh?!? More - yes; the same, no. I must have missed that previous $2 TRILLION deficit and that $4 TRILLION spending in a single year. This is unprecedented and whats worse it is fasttracked so the Democrats will pass that before the American people have time to even think about it.
Oh, and they are using dissent-suppression tricks. The media is bill this as a ‘stimulus’, so you are not ALLOWED to object to it.
This $800 billion bill is to previous big govt boondoggles what the atom bomb was to a shotgun.
His best wit is live on his videos.
The problem with him running for office is he is the doctor that says economy needs rehab, bitter medicine. Pols tell public we need more drug like highs, by doing the same as before, but claiming it is different. How can he win an election against doctors that all claim we need more candy and blaming the other guy for the candy not working so far? Both McCain and Obama promised nothing but give-a-aways but Obama was unknown so voters could convince themselves he was the real Santa.
Schiff is not wrong about the US economy and the dollar, but he may be wrong about “de-linking” of foreign economies.
Who will we nominate in 2012 (assuming elections aren't banned by then)? Who, among conservatives, will NOT be portrayed as a right wing nut case? We have no media. We have no schools, colleges, foundations, etc. As Allen Ginsberg was quoted as saying (although the quote came from Lenin): Control the media; control the culture.
Not good, folks. Not good at all.
Curse that Ron Paul and his common sense. There is no money to spend!!!
bookmarked for when I need to raise my blood pressure:
Read the Stimulus is a good site. thanks.
http://readthestimulus.org/
“Ron Paul ran in the Republican primary”
yeah, and people were pi***d at him for splitting the conservative vote...
The people who ‘split the conservative vote’ are the fake republicans running the party who put up the most distasteful globalist candidate they could find.
Put any blame where it belongs, please.
Hey, you can put those heckles back down.
Someone said people would think paul less of a nutcase or something.
I pointed out that the harsh response people had for paul was similar to the support people had for mccain - a means to an end.
I support many of his positions. But he had no business being in the primary. Leftists were happy to finance his campaign to split our vote.
just look at these obvious LEFTISTS pushing paul:
http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/7901/ronpaulwe8.jpg
He was used by the left. Many reasonable ideas, but should stay the hell out of the primary next time, if he cares about America, which I’m sure he does.
You need to understand that the political spectrum is no longer ‘left and right’. It is the globalists versus the advocates of sovereign nations. The globalists don’t care what kind of totalitarian or collectivist system is put in place as long as they achieve their goal. Thats why you see a mishmash of fascism, communism and socialism in ‘change.gov’ and the global system.
Paul is an advocate of freedom. It will take all kinds of people to return to a free society. It is the globalists, made up of the former left and right (obama and maccain) that will be the death of this nation.
Splitting the vote is a red herring. If the party wasn’t being manipulated from the top down, real debate (not namecalling and character assasination)would have occured and real candidates would have come out for the election.
“the political spectrum is no longer ‘left and right’.”
It never was, they were always useless labels.
“It is the globalists versus the advocates of sovereign nations.”
think about this - “the globalists”? not true. russia has globalist plans, for it to be dominant. china has globalist plans, for it to be dominant. there are a wide variety of motivations among people you and I might consider “globalist”. there is not one big bloc called “the globalists” - that kind of thinking is self defeating
“The globalists don’t care what kind of totalitarian or collectivist system is put in place as long as they achieve their goal.”
again - totally over simple. that may be true for, say, Soros & Putin.
“Paul is an advocate of freedom.”
Sure. And that’s good. It’s important he’s in the mix. But his views are also overly simple. Can we say with certainty that a gold standard would have produced the economic prosperity we see today? I have the same instincts as you to distrust these people, but I also consider the possibility that maybe it’s not all as evil as we might be expected to believe.
“Splitting the vote is a red herring.”
No seriously, the left was pushing paul. He was used by the left. Take a good look at that picture I linked & think about it.
“If the party wasn’t being manipulated from the top down”
I also wonder if obama’s election wasn’t a predecided thing. And none of the candidates were great. But certainly Romney would have given us a better chance than mcnasty.
But America is still a free country, and votes do matter. But to talk of the party being manipulated from the top down is also kind of self destructive. Who allowed those people to run the RNC? Who allows new hampshire to be the first state to vote in primaries when their system clearly favors libs? tackle the real issues. there are real issues that need attacking consistently
Clearly you don’t understand what is happening.
Russia, china both are members of the G8. The plan for global economic integration is tops on the G8 ‘to do’ list.
The globalist bloc is the G8.
Or maybe you do understand and you’re one of those disinformationists. America is not a free country. Eighty percent of the voters could not stop the government from their stealth amnesty program of illegal immigration. The majority of the voters cannot stop socialist ‘bailouts’ nor get their govenrment to tell them where the money is going (china and foreign countries).
Do votes matter? Do they matter when Acorn is going to get ‘bailout’ money too?
Personally, I think he should be the House minority leader right now. Then become the majority leader in 2010 when the dems and rinos are kicked out of office (hopefully).
“Clearly you don’t understand what is happening.”
mm hmm.
“The globalist bloc is the G8.”
As a single, unified force huh. Things are more complicated than that. You have the teenage version.
“Or maybe you do understand and you’re one of those disinformationists.”
Oh dear.
“America is not a free country.”
It’s the freeest there is.
“Eighty percent of the voters could not stop the government from their stealth amnesty program of illegal immigration.”
“the government” - you talk of it as if it’s a single entity. It’s not. _People_ have “stealth xyz” plans other _people_ are against “stealth xyz” plans. to have views of “the government” as the baddie is the teenage version.
“The majority of the voters cannot stop socialist ‘bailouts’”
Sure. Bailout is bad, I agree.
“nor get their govenrment to tell them where the money is going (china and foreign countries).”
they have a lot of our debt, sure. and there is a bad version of that, where you furrow your brow & worry about them foreclosing on America. Not going to happen. I’d look after the 2nd amendment tooth & nail to be sure though.
“Do votes matter? Do they matter when Acorn is going to get ‘bailout’ money too?”
darn right they mattered. and had we elected someone like Romney if Paul hadn’t split the conservative vote (perhaps), then acorn wouldn’t be getting diddly.
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