Kill the Bill: Idiocy and Pork Dominates the Stimulus
Update: On the polling front, Rasmussen Reports has just released a poll that says half the country now believes the stimulus would make things worse, while only 39% of Americans believe it would be helpful.
I’ve been a bit quiet on the blogging front about President Obama’s proposed economic stimulus, which by the way is radically different than the stimulus bill Speaker Pelosi and her cohorts pushed through the House with considerable opposition (all 177 Republicans plus 11 Democrats opposed that bill). There’s now talk that the Senate version, which is just as bad if not worse, may also receive major opposition. I never thought I would say it, but Barack Obama’s economic stimulus vision is actually more conservative than anything coming out of Congress. To the right is a visual representation, put together by Suitably Flip, of the size (roughly) of the proposed stimulus compared to other major spending plans in our nation’s history. You’ll notice that the interest alone on this proposal is coming close to rivaling the size of the New Deal (adjusted for inflation) and the highly touted infrastructure program is only roughly comparable to the scope of the Space Race.
Americans for Prosperity are leading a movement to kill the bill and have set up a website to do so. The Senate version of the bill is on the front burner right now, and hopefully it will be defeated which will force a radical reform process. I can say, from the meetings and people I met with on the ground in Ohio this morning, that there is plenty going on at the grassroots level to oppose this stimulus. If the Senate version somehow passes, we need to work on pushing reform in the committees and if unsuccessful (which is likely at that stage), try to stop it in another round of Congressional votes. The popular support for real reform of the bill is absolutely there. Gallup released the following numbers regarding the bill:
While supporters of the current draft may have a plurality, a majority of Americans either want the bill dramatically changed or defeated altogether. This looks like it’s going to be a long battle and the more we expose the idiotic parts of the stimulus plan, the more public support we’ll gain in opposing it. To close out the post, here’s a video via Hot Air of Nancy Pelosi claiming that we’re going to lose 167% of America’s population worth of jobs every month. Learn how many zeroes are in each number before threatening to spend trillions of dollars Madame Speaker:
So, why not explain to use just where the “idiocy” and “pork” in this bill are, Justin? You’re quite good at the broad, nonspecific rant. Got facts?
Meathead, i’ll take the liberty on this one and share with you a Wall Street Journal article excerpt that adequately answers your questions. Here’s what they said:
[...] advice on the stimulus was to “kill the bill”, noting that public opinion is turning against it and the people pushing the bill cannot even get [...]
I find it humorous that the projects listed by ‘anonymous’ amount to a staggering .72% of the $900 billion stimulus package. This is what the wingnuts have found to whine about?
And I find it hilarious that, yet again, Justin Higgins cannot muster up the cojones to answer a challenge, but chooses instead to outsource the chore to an anonymous cut-n-pasting drone.
because i’m anonymous i’m a drone? Youre anonymous too, so you must be a drone, right? justin is better than you, which is why youre on his site and hes not on yours. the fact that it is .72% of the stimulus shows just how big it is, and its garbage. generational theft is what this is. whats your excuse for stealing a trillion dollars?
“Youre anonymous too, so you must be a drone, right?”
Translation: ‘I know you are, but what am I?’ Folks, what we have here is a wingnut with the mind and rhetorical skills of an eight-year-old. Pathetic.
“justin is better than you”
BECAUSE! ANONYMOUS! DRONE! SAYS! SO!
I love it when the wingnuts are so bereft of argument that they have no choice but to fall back on nyah! nyah! nyah!
“the fact that it is .72% of the stimulus shows just how big it is”
Yes — and just how little of it the wingnuts can find fault with.
“whats your excuse for stealing a trillion dollars?”
I haven’t stolen a thing, dickwad. Please continue to make obviously asinine accusations. I could not possibly discredit you this easily without your eager participation.
Still waiting, Justin.
Exactly where in this bill do the “idiocy” and “pork” reside?
Can you actually point out any, or are you simply parroting this week’s Limbaugh talking points?
Assuming, and it is a huge assumption, that there is NO MORE PORK in the bill, that .72% of the bill that is pork is the idiocy and pork justin is talking about. your question is already answered.
[...] effort to kill the bill is still underway, despite a compromise by 3 Northeast Liberals GOP Senators which is keeping the [...]
I agree with m.eat.brain.
People looking for black and white and who are inflexile will be continuously disappointed in both govt and life. There will be some money going to other projects that some will not agree with. However, remember what is one groups pork is another’s important project. In passing this bill the small amount of projects that SOME individuals don’t support is a means to an end. Politics and govt have always had to rely on give and take in order to get something done.
At this point it is only projection and theory on what will and will not work for our crisis. People be thoughtful, action is needed here and each party will have their opinion about the action to take. Until action is taken we cannot know the outcome. Its a waste of time to argue and insult because no matter what the facts are, people will ignore them in favor of their party’s stance no matter if its right or wrong. Again, that will not be known until the results of the stimulus project materialize. We had to put up with the ideas, choices and direction of republicans for long enough and to our detriment. Compromise on projects is what it takes to get the ultimate goal accomplished. Let our lawmakers govern, if you think you have better plans to govern, get involved politically and run for an office.
Here ya go meatybrain,
here is just a taste of the List of Pork In Stimulus Bill
special-interest spending has found its way into the stimulus in massive doses,
$48 billion goes to the Department of Transportation for various rail and road projects
Green golf carts. Ever rode a “neighborhood electric vehicle?” Well, you might want to now. The stimulus includes a tax credit toward the purchase.
The U.S. Coast Guard is getting a shot in the arm from the stimulus, thanks to $98 million for a “polar icebreaker.” That’s not a new gum flavor, but a ship.
$448 million for constructing the Department of Homeland Security headquarters.
$200 million to “design and furnish” the Department of Homeland Security headquarters.
While Obama has stressed the number of “green jobs” his stimulus will create, $3.4 billion of the $787 billion will be spent on old-school, non-green energy technology.clean coal?
A whopping $144 billion from the bill is flowing directly to state and local governments.
$886,000 36-hole disc golf course in Austin, Texas –
$150 million for parking improvements at a Little League facility in Cidra, Puerto Rico?
$6 million for a “snowmaking and maintenance facility” at Spirit Mountain ski area in Duluth, Minnesota.
$200 million for tatto removals for people who cant afford them.
$6 billion for wellness preservations, what ever that is.
$200 million for birth control
$6 billion for government buildings
$2.4 billion for carbon-catching demonstration projects.
$260 billion of discretionary spending that goes to various federal agencies, as well as to state and local governments.
$246 million tax break for Hollywood movie producers to buy motion picture film.
$650 million for the digital television converter box coupon program
$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
Makes you kind of giddy doesn’t it ?
I,am a straight Democrat,the Republicans put the economy in the toilet,thats for sure, but, We are going to have to admit the Democrats might just be flushing it down,it started with the oil companys greed then the housing market the two things they have done nothing about still, Obama Admin is not what we thought it would be, you can’t trust any party anymore,they all lie!