House passes $819B Stimulus Bill...Spare some Change? 10 Reasons Not to

Originally posted by lernmore
Reuters link ...in case it didn't hurt enough reading it the first time.

Obama wins House passage of economic stimulus

[edit on 28-1-2009 by lernmore]

Love the image and I appreciate that it doesn't target JUST the Bush administration. However, people should be careful distributing images such as these as SNL clearly proved that there are many Americans stupid enough not to be able to separate fiction from reality.

Ding Ding Ding...Reality Check!!!






[edit on 29-1-2009 by Leo Strauss]

reply to post by Leo Strauss


I'll ring the bell again.

Ding Ding!!

reply to post by David9176

Thanks having a difficult time with photobucket resize. I think you get the point! Reagan increased the debt more than all previous presidents combined.

Bush I beat his record. But Bush II beats them all!! Including Reagan Bush I (and Clinton who was relatively flat).

Consider that fact he borrowed more money than all the Presidents in the history of our country!

Then the wingnuts come on and criticize the bailout package that Obama passed today.

Where was your indignation with Reagan etc??? You guys are hypnotized by your hero Ronnie Raygun. He started the Republican wealth redistribution program which has been going along just swimmingly!

Thanks for destroying our country you dumba$$e$.

reply to post by Leo Strauss


I won't dispute any of what you say because i feel it's right, but it doesn't justify doing more of the same thing because the other guys did it.

He's doing the same thing Bush did, increase the deficit and war in afghanistan instead of Iraq...neither of which we can afford.

The problems facing us requires IMO a huge cut in spending. Tax cuts? I could live without them if they would show some initiative to actually fix the problem, but they aren't. Or they could take this whole bill and WIPE OUT income taxes for a full year.

Either way, the amount of money we are forcing the next generations to pay for idiotic policies is a travesty.

It's just another huge wasteful bill that we don't have the money for.

It wouldn't matter to me who was in the white house or sitting in Congress. Doing more of the same thing that got the country into this giant mess is not a fix nor justifiable in my mind.

reply to post by David9176


I agree with you but unless you want 25 to 30% unemployment then something must be done. If that were to happen we would experience a Great Depression worse than the first and longer lasting. I don't think that helps our children or grandchildren.

My opinion is that this bailout bill must put money into the hands of people that can create jobs. It must be a bottom up solution that restores manufacturing and living wages for the middle class. It must finance a green energy revolution so we won't need to fight for that pipeline in Afghanistan. These are unnecessary resource wars in the Middle East!
Once we stop meddling in the affairs of that part of the world you can rest assured terrorism (guerrilla warfare) will disappear.

Personally I would be happy if ALL of our troops around the world were brought back home and "defense" spending cut in half or 2/3rds. Protect our borders and enforce immigration laws. However I am not naive enough to think that this will actually happen... but I continue to hope and work towards those ends.

Defend our borders only and support our allies only if necessary. Let the Arabs drink their oil as far as I am concerned. We are smart enough to live and prosper independently but TPTB like their system and their profits. They stand in the way of our success.

reply to post by jam321


Eventually, everyones blind optimism will be swallowed by a sea of impoverished realities. There will come a time(Middle of this year) where the severity of the problem becomes supremely apparent, and the Government will be sorry it ever spent that money.

Don't buy anything because the interest rates are low now. They will reset upward when the bond markets start collapsing. We can't live off of cheap money forever.

reply to post by Leo Strauss


As for the wars and the middle east, I'm right with you on that. We need to end it all ASAP. We can't afford it.

The stimulus i disagree with. Our debt is too gigantic to tack more onto it, especially when you include the looming deficit in social security and medicare.

If we do anything, IMO, it would be to cut spending and taxes...but only if the spending cuts COVERED the tax cuts. We just can't continue on this path anymore. It's out of control.

I don't want to see people unemployed, I could be one of them at some point, and I actually was unemployed due to outsourcing 2 years ago. It sucks, trust me I know.

I dunno anymore. I've pretty much lost all "faith" in our government leaders.

The whole stimulus plan to me is like stabbing in the dark, hoping you take out the bad guy, but instead you stab your buddy in the back.

Sheep!
Forgive them for they do not know...

Let's just spend more of what we don't have.
Apparently people don't care as much about fixing things as they do about getting their hands on a chunk of the booty.



Economic Stimulus and the Many Faces of "Public Opinion"

NBC/Wall Street Journal: Do you think that the recently proposed economic stimulus legislation is a good idea or a bad idea? If you do not have an opinion either way, please just say so. 43% good idea 27% bad idea 30% no opinion/ unsure


Rasmussen Reports (automated): Do you favor or oppose the economic recovery package proposed by Barack Obama? 45% favor 34% oppose 21% unsure


Gallup: Do you favor or oppose Congress passing a new $775-billion dollar economic stimulus program as soon as possible after Barack Obama takes office? 53% favor 36% oppose 11% unsure


Hotline/Diageo (asked of half sample): In general, do you support or oppose Congress and the President passing an $825 billion economic stimulus plan to jumpstart the economy, even if it means increasing the federal deficit in order to do so? 54% favor 34% oppose 12% unsure


IPSOS/McClatchy: With the current stimulus package being considered, the total cost of the economic stimulus could total one trillion dollars. Is spending this amount of money definitely necessary, probably necessary, probably not necessary or definitely not necessary? 55% necessary 41% necessary 4% unsure


NBC/Wall Street Journal (follow-up to NBC question above): When it comes to the economic stimulus plan proposed by the Obama administration, which of these two statements comes closer to your point of view? Statement A: The economic stimulus plan is a good idea because it will help make the recession shorter, get people back to work, and provide money for transportation, education, and Medicaid programs. Statement B: The economic stimulus plan is a bad idea because it will do little to shorten the recession, the jobs are temporary, and it will significantly increase the deficit. 57% good idea 36% bad idea 7% unsure


CNN/ORC: Would you favor or oppose a proposal to attempt to stimulate the economy by increasing federal government spending on construction projects and economic assistance to some Americans by about eight hundred billion dollars? 58% favor 40% oppose 1% unsure


IPSOS/McClatchy : Do you think that an economic stimulus package is necessary to improve the current state of the economy, or not? 62% necessary 32% not 6% unsure


Hotline/Diageo (asked of half sample): As proposed, the $825 billion economic stimulus plan would include $550 billion in new spending for alternative energy technology, roads and bridges, state governments and local school districts, and increasing benefits for the unemployed. The remaining part of the stimulus package contains $275 billion in tax cuts and credits for individuals and for business to help generate more jobs. In general, do you support or oppose Congress and the President passing this $825 billion economic stimulus plan to jumpstart the economy, even if it means increasing the federal deficit in order to do so? 67% favor 27% oppose 6% unsure


ABC News/Washington Post - Would you support or oppose new federal spending of about 800 billion dollars on tax cuts, construction projects, energy, education, and health care to try to stimulate the economy? 70% support 27% oppose 3% unsure


CNN/ORC (follow-up to CNN question above): And if that economic stimulus plan also included tax cuts for individuals and businesses, would you favor or oppose that proposal? 71% favor 28% oppose 1% unsure

Today's CNN poll

Will the new Task Force of Middle Class Working Families reduce any financial struggles?

Yes
24%
18627

No
76%
58132

Real cute

Marges reply to me was marked instead of dgtempe, "distemper"

I know Marge didnt do it, it must have been one of the mods just for kicks.

adorable

reply to post by dgtempe


OH, my, sorry Dg, it was my ABC spell it always take the dgtempe and changed into distemper, its just that I didn't catch it in time to fix it.

It was me. my fault.

BTW in the issue of the thread the best thing to do is allow capitalism to reign and wall street to fix itself.

That means not borrowing to fix anything that obviously can not be fix and let time heal the gushing wound of economic decline.

Work on the bills and laws that has made this mess renegotiate NAFTA and all the leaching agreements that are the ones at fault here and bring America back to its formal glory.

An any country that doesn't like it well they can kiss Americas butt.

And for all those that put profits over America first let them sink and rebuild with new America agreements or else.

[edit on 31-1-2009 by marg6043]

What GOP Leaders deem wasteful in Senate stimulus bill

On Monday, House Republican leaders put out a list of what they call wasteful provisions in the Senate version of the nearly $900 billion stimulus bill that is being debated:


• $2 billion earmark to re-start FutureGen, a near-zero emissions coal power plant in Illinois that the Department of Energy defunded last year because it said the project was inefficient.

• A $246 million tax break for Hollywood movie producers to buy motion picture film.

• $650 million for the digital television converter box coupon program.

• $88 million for the Coast Guard to design a new polar icebreaker (arctic ship).

• $448 million for constructing the Department of Homeland Security headquarters.

• $248 million for furniture at the new Homeland Security headquarters.

• $600 million to buy hybrid vehicles for federal employees.

• $400 million for the Centers for Disease Control to screen and prevent STD's.

• $1.4 billion for rural waste disposal programs.

• $125 million for the Washington sewer system.

• $150 million for Smithsonian museum facilities.

• $1 billion for the 2010 Census, which has a projected cost overrun of $3 billion.

• $75 million for "smoking cessation activities."

• $200 million for public computer centers at community colleges.

• $75 million for salaries of employees at the FBI.

• $25 million for tribal alcohol and substance abuse reduction.

• $500 million for flood reduction projects on the Mississippi River.

• $10 million to inspect canals in urban areas.

• $6 billion to turn federal buildings into "green" buildings.

• $500 million for state and local fire stations.

• $650 million for wildland fire management on forest service lands.

• $1.2 billion for "youth activities," including youth summer job programs.

• $88 million for renovating the headquarters of the Public Health Service.

• $412 million for CDC buildings and property.

• $500 million for building and repairing National Institutes of Health facilities in Bethesda, Maryland.

• $160 million for "paid volunteers" at the Corporation for National and Community Service.

• $5.5 million for "energy efficiency initiatives" at the Department of Veterans Affairs National Cemetery Administration.

• $850 million for Amtrak.

• $100 million for reducing the hazard of lead-based paint.

• $75 million to construct a "security training" facility for State Department Security officers when they can be trained at existing facilities of other agencies.

• $110 million to the Farm Service Agency to upgrade computer systems.

• $200 million in funding for the lease of alternative energy vehicles for use on military installations.

Stimulus will lead to 'disaster,' Republican warns

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Leading Republicans warned Sunday that the Obama administration's $800 billion-plus economic stimulus effort will lead to what one called a "financial disaster."

"Everybody on the street in America understands that," said Sen. Richard Shelby, the ranking Republican on the Senate Banking Committee. "This is not the right road to go. We'll pay dearly."

This isn't going to turn out well at all.
The only change I'm seeing is from one greedy rich politicians hand in my pocket to another. Way to make the American taxpayers come up with even more of what we don't have...idiots.