'Stimulus' dollars flow past state

Waterbury Republican-American ^ | June 18, 2009 | Editorial

[Graybeard58]

Out of one side of his mouth, President Obama boasts the Democrats' $787 billion "stimulus" has created/saved 150,000 jobs since February; he can't prove that, but "journalists" take it on faith anyway. From the other side comes his assertion, in the face of a 1.6 million spike in joblessness since the "stimulus" was enacted, that the package hasn't had time to work since only about $50 billion has been spent.

This is known as trying to have it both ways. But if, as the president and his Keynesian allies claim, there's a direct relationship between government "stimulus" spending and job growth, then answer this: If $50 billion created/saved 150,000 jobs, then wouldn't $787 billion create/save 2.36 million jobs, or just 60 percent of the 4 million the "stimulus" was supposed to create/save? Talk about fuzzy math.

The contradictions are even more disconcerting for Connecticut, which will be stimulated to the tune of almost $3 billion. Since the federal government didn't have $787 billion laying around, it had to borrow that amount, and when the bill plus interest comes due, Connecticut's share of the tab will be about $12 billion because of the way the "stimulus" was written and the way the tax code works. That's $1 into one pocket for every $4 taken from another.

And if the deal wasn't raw enough, now state taxpayers are learning hundreds of millions of their "stimulus" dollars will benefit taxpayers in other states.

The state, for example, is spending $71 million for 136 new transit buses that will be built and outfitted out of Connecticut. A good deal of the materials for the coming public-works and infrastructure projects will have to be imported from other states, too. Some of those contracts will go to out-of-state companies and their employees. But since Connecticut's manufacturing sector today looks like the shriveled handiwork of some Amazonian headshrinker thanks to the state's virulent anti-businesses bureaucracy, the state shouldn't expect much in the way of reciprocal stimulation.

Then there's the $750 million for public schools, the vast majority of which will pay for continuing expenses. But using one-time revenues in this way builds deficits into future budgets, and over four years, $750 million multiplies to $3 billion unless government finds a new revenue source. Tax increases, for example.

Likewise, when Gov. M. Jodi Rell and your Democratic legislative supermajority finally get around to passing a state budget, they will deploy many hundreds of millions in "stimulus" dollars in this fashion, all but guaranteeing future tax increases since neither has the stomach to cut government down to a truly affordable size.

And on top of all this, the whole "stimulus" theory is voodoo economics. Recall the failure of Bush "stimulus" of 2008 and the multiple Japanese "stimuli" of the 1990s. If a "stimulus" really stimulated, then the Obama "stimulus" should have been $4 trillion to achieve five times the effect. But then again, five times zero still would have been zero.

[Graybeard58]

Ping to a Republican-American Editorial.

If you want on or off this list, let me know.

[CharlesWayneCT]

THere is a lot of trying to “have it both ways”, and the clueless media ignores it.

My favorite example is that, before the election, the democrats all told us that Bush was driving us into another great depression, and that we needed Obama to save us from it.

But when things turned a lot worse after Obama passed his “stimulus”, the same democrats were claiming that the economy was “much worse” than they thought.

What? The economy is actually much WORSE than the great depression? Or are they saying they were lying when they said before the election that the economy was as bad as the great depression? Either of those are bad things, and the media ignores it.

[RobinOfKingston]

The contradictions are even more disconcerting for Connecticut, ...

The first pitfall is in giving anything the bodypart-in-chief says any credibility.

When he is talking, watch his hands (what he is doing) or what is going on in the background (what gnomes, trolls and fairies are doing at his bidding).

[George from New England]

I used to live in CT, some of you know that. My daughter who is still in a state college, was born in CT and lived her whole life is being screwed by the state in her last year of college.

According to a specific manager in Hartford, due to budget shortfalls they are targeting all the current CT student whose parents have moved out of the state. She’s got one more year to go and they admit this is the first year they are doing this.

[raybbr]

According to a specific manager in Hartford, due to budget shortfalls they are targeting all the current CT student whose parents have moved out of the state.

Targeting them for what? How would they know?

[rockinqsranch]

Thanks for the ping Graybeard.

[traviskicks]

But since Connecticut's manufacturing sector today looks like the shriveled handiwork of some Amazonian headshrinker thanks to the state's virulent anti-businesses bureaucracy, the state shouldn't expect much in the way of reciprocal stimulation.

heh heh

[George from New England]

Capitol Scholarship Program
Connecticut Department of Higher Education
61 Woodland Street
Hartford, Connecticut 06105-2326

This Academic Grant was given to students that maintain at 3.0 GPA. It is now for the first time being yanked from those students whose parents have moved out of state.