The bloated $800 billion “stimulus” package would not only create a mountain of debt, it would harm the economy in the long run. Congressional leaders claim that their pork-filled “stimulus” plan would help the economy, but the Congressional Budget Office admits otherwise. It predicts a smaller economy in 10 years if the stimulus plan is enacted.
Why, then, do Congressional leaders (and Obama) support the stimulus plan? Because it might ever-so-slightly reduce unemployment over the short run, helping them get reelected in 2010 and 2012. They are willing to bankrupt the country for their own political gain. The stimulus package is chock full of political pork for liberal constituencies.
A similar stimulus package in Japan failed in the 1990s, adding trillions of dollars to Japan’s national debt, and producing economic stagnation, in a period known as “The Lost Decade.”
It’s not clear whether Congressional leaders will be able to fool the public about the need for this “stimulus” package. Polls show that most people now oppose the “stimulus” package. So do large numbers of economists.
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Bullsh*t!
Please do me a favor. Add the net positive impact predicted by the CBO over the next two years. Use the minimums. Now subtract the net negative effects predicted. Use the max.
You know what you get? A positive number. You know what that means? The net impact of the bill on GDP is positive.
So, you fail basic math literacy, just like the Washington Times.
I suggest you update before the pointing & laughing links begin.
No, the stimulus plan clearly cuts the GDP over future decades. You get a negative number from the bill after you factor in the anticipated smaller economy from future years that will surely continue beyond the last year covered in the CBO’s analysis (consistent with the trends found by the CBO’s analysis, such as smaller economy predicted in the last year of its analysis).
I certainly have “basic math literacy,” since I managed an A average in my math courses, including both basic math in grade school, and advanced math (such as calculus and differential equations) in college.
Taking a few graduate level economics classes (e.g., econometrics) before I attended Harvard Law School probably didn’t hurt, either.
Economist Robert Barro of Harvard isn’t mathematically illiterate, either.
Here’s his take on the crappy stimulus package:
“This is probably the worst bill that has been put forward since the 1930s. I don’t know what to say. I mean it’s wasting a tremendous amount of money. It has some simplistic theory that I don’t think will work, so I don’t think the expenditure stuff is going to have the intended effect. I don’t think it will expand the economy. And the tax cutting isn’t really geared toward incentives. It’s not really geared to lowering tax rates; it’s more along the lines of throwing money at people. On both sides I think it’s garbage.”
Suggestion: check on your “share this” icon - it doesn’t seem to be integrated properly. I try to share your post on Facebook but it does not work like most other blogs I “share” articles from.
Keep up the good work!
This bill is bad for everyone. It simply will not work. Period!