Alright, if you missed it, here it is again. Council of Economic Advisers’ chair Christine Romer’s observations about the stimulus package. Romer said that “the government’s economic stimulus spending has already had its biggest impact,” and will (in Romer’s words) “likely be contributing little to further growth by the middle of next year.”
Wow, an honest statement that should have plenty of us worried. We spend 400 billion out of almost 800 billion, get negative growth in the quarters that follow, but must understand that it’s “done it’s job”????????? And, by the way, don’t expect anything better going forward…How about giving us the money back or using it to reduce the out of control deficit?
I’m sure they are currently working on the next “stimulus” since this White House doesn’t have a clue.
NewsBusters.org takes on this issue at http://newsbusters.org/blogs/tom-blumer/2009/10/24/ap-waters-down-impact-romers-stimulus-has-had-biggest-impact-remark-igno
We keep hearing that the stimulus is working even as 10% of the population remains unemployed. We keep hearing that our healthcare is screwed up and needs the government to make it right, yet the government can’t take care of the current medical programs that have been around for decades. They are basically bankrupt.
So what’s the answer? I screwed up, give me another chance? The government is not efficient at running ANYTHING. The only employment numbers that are going up are government numbers that add to the incredible waste we continue to see.
Oh, and as it pertains to waste…isn’t it interesting that we are going to be able to fund a huge amount of this healthcare fiasco by cutting out waste and fraud in medicare, etc…if that’s truly the case, why not simply cut those things out now?
The solution is less government, not more. Tell your Congressman to read the Constitution.
It started out as the only way to save our economy, yet here we are and the economy is improving…without changes to healthcare and without any real stimulus spending getting to work yet.
It then became a story about reforming our health care since it was so completely screwed up, according to the administration. The people spoke and said they actually like their health care plans just the way they are.
It then became the story about health insurance reform and those evil businesses that actually make a profit. God forbid, a profit!
The CBO and and every day Americans make it clear that this thing that the Democrats so want to shove down our throats is nothing more than a Washington power grab. There is a method to their madness. Control your access to healthcare, control your votes…it’s that simple.
Don’t let this government stomp on the Constitution. The Constitution does not guarantee people homes, food, healthcare, retirement income…it guarantees your ability to pursue those ends. That’s it.
Over the past seven decades, this has gotten blurred as government has expanded it’s reach well beyond the limits imposed by our founders.
Let’s help those who are truly in need of help. That’s the American way…not handouts for all.
Let’s give it to Paul Krugman. He can find a way to twist things to utter amazement. For instance, in his opinion at http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/10/opinion/10krugman.html?_r=1&ref=opinion he states: “From the beginning, I argued that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, a k a the Obama stimulus plan, was too small. Nonetheless, reasonable estimates suggest that around a million more Americans are working now than would have been employed without that plan — a number that will grow over time — and that the stimulus has played a significant role in pulling the economy out of its free fall.”
If anyone is paying attention, the “stimulus” has barely been touched. Indeed, numbers show that less than 10% of it has even been put to work. What we have in play here is the market, after an extended recession, beginning to right itself. It’s not a shock that the liberals will choose to ignore these facts as they attempt to claim victory for their big government initiatives.
How is this going over with the public? Not so great. Simply tune into the many town hall meetings to get a flavor for how the people that elected these officials feel about their actions.
Here’s a suggestion. Return the 700 billion dollars to the people who are on the hook for it: taxpayers. It is our money, in reality.
This headline has been associated with the Bush administration for years. Using fear of terrorism and attacks on U.S. soil gave Bush the ability to execute on his foreign policy. Many on the left have bitterly attacked this strategy.
Ironically, we are seeing the exact same approach with the Obama administration. Instead of wars on foreign land, we are waging a domestic war on capitalism. We’ve been told over and over how we “must act now” to avert disaster…regardless of what it is we need to act on. That includes buying banks and auto companies as well as “fixing” healthcare.
The policitics of fear are back in action again, and have been for quite some time. Ironic indeed.
Remember the campaign promises from Obama that the bottom 95% won’t see their taxes go up? That is about to change as the massive spending that’s already taken place in just six months comes home to roost…on top of the proposed spending that Congress and Obama are pushing hard for.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Obama-officials-Taxes-may-apf-1522318830.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=1&asset=&ccode=
The top 5% can’t pay for everything. That’s not a democracy. Everyone needs skin in the game for democracy to work. And now, you’ll have it, whether you like it…or even voted for it.
When the President and Congress tell you that you can keep your current insurance and continue to see your existing doctor if you want to, they are telling a complete lie. They tell you this in the hope that you’ll not listen to the truth and believe what they tell you until it’s too late.
How do I know? As a business owner with 50 employees who are eligible for our health care plan I will consider the government option if it becomes available. The decision will be mine alone, but will affect everyone of our employees. They will not have a choice in whether they get moved on to the government plan. That decision will be up to me.
It’s remarkable that people, even in my own company, don’t see this. We are rushing towards a change that will negatively impact this country, in many ways, for decades to come. I rarely see the television shows talking to people like me that employ the vast majority of people. Instead, it’s so called pundits and politicians who think they know what’s best…on both sides. Most of these people have never run a business or even gone through the process of choosing an insurance plan for employees or a company. Yet here they are creating healthcare reform in the dark.
The vast majority of Americans have health care and of those that do, 80% say they are happy with their current plan. The issue is getting the bottom 5% who aren’t eligible and can’t afford insurance into a program that they/our government can afford.
Let’s not screw it up for the other 95% to fix this problem.
When will our politicians ever learn? The Congress is now threatening banks that are foreclosing on mortgages that aren’t being paid. It was the Congress that created these foreclosures when they forced banks to loan money to people who couldn’t pay.
They did this through the Community Reinvestment Act in 1977 (look it up so you understand how this played a major role in the current crisis) and by buying these loans via Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (GSE’s with implied backing via the government).
Now, Barney Frank is threatening to force banks not to foreclose on bad loans, more of the government intervention that got us here in the first place.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Frank-threatens-banks-to-stop-apf-1701955541.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=4&asset=&ccode=
Do the politicians in Washington think that you’re ‘rich’ because someone handed you a bucket of money? Or that you hit the lottery?
The vast majority of the ‘rich’ are self made…meaning they built a business over decades with their own money and hard work. While they were getting ‘rich’, they paid a disproportionate share of all income taxes. Now that they are ‘rich’, they’ll pay more so that people who didn’t work as hard, or take as many risks, can have the same benefits as those that did.
Welcome to the new version of the American Dream.
