The House version of the economic stimulus package was passed 244-188 almost entirely on party lines (so much for bipartisanship) with every Republican voting against it.

Republicans wanted to strip spending for rebuilding roads and bridges and upgrade healthcare and schools, and instead provide only tax cuts of about $478 billion.

Ed.note:  I didn’t think so during the campaign, but Obama was right.  The Republicans are out of touch.  The members of Congress don’t see the need for upgrading health care, since they are part of the Federal Employees Health Benefits program that gives them top-level health care with many choices, mostly paid for by the government.  They can’t see roads and bridges in need of repair from private jets and limousines.  And they don’t need jobs, but what good is a tax cut to the millions that are out of work and have no income to tax?

There are also aggressive groups against the stimulus, collectively known as the “Do-Nothings.”  Their arguments include that the stimulus money is aimed at getting consumers spending and borrowing again where spending and borrowing were the problem in the first place.  I would feel better if they understood the problem was centered on borrowing to spend, not spending by itself. 

Our economy relies on the balanced and even flow of money.  For the individual, this boils down to monthly payments.  The economy collapsed because the supply of money in paychecks, etc. suddenly failed to keep up with the speed of the stream of capital required to pass from debtor to creditor.  Since everyone is both a debtor and a creditor, the flow slowed to a trickle for all, and creditors stopped extending credit.

The opponents quote the government regrets spending in crisis, quoting the Iraqi war (preemptive strike against a dictator with a history of attempted genocide by poison gas?), the Patriot Act (more than 700 thwarted terrorist attacks?), and the $700 billion bailout plan (still in process, but judged a failure by opponents).

Many of the Do-Nothings argue that a painful recession is the best way to cure American’s runaway culture of irresponsibility and debt and the government should allow the economic chips to fall where they may.  It is brutal but it is called capitalism and it works, where the alternative is socialism and it doesn’t work.

Ed.Note: These are all Republicans speaking who would do anything, including the destruction of America to make the other party look bad.  And Socialism is not an all or nothing policy – that’s called Communism.

Full-page ads against the stimulus will include the names of 250 economists who oppose the stimulus.  According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are 12,740 working economists (SOC code 19-3011) in this country, at an average annual salary of $86,700.  That is less than 2% that have a dissenting opinion; hardly a mandate. 

The Do-Nothings advance that it is morally improper to deliver a crushing debt load to the next generation.  The thought passes my mind that the next generation will be a lot fewer if people feel they have no economic future and refuse to bring children into that world. 

It is also historical fact that these bailouts are mostly recovered by the government over a period of time through an increased tax base and compliance from working Americans.  What better way to spend our money than to attempt to provide for our children’s future, especially by improving the educational system, which is the lion’s share of the spending.

The Do-Nothings point out that housing sales rose 6.5 percent from November to December and this could be an indication that lower prices will draw buyers into the system.  They minimize the point that the increase for that month was based on the strength of bargain hunters picking up foreclosed properties. 

Ed.Note:  I am not sure I trust an economist who considers a single month a trend.  I know two young couples, both with high-paying jobs and no children who have purchased five foreclosed properties with the intent of renting them.  They are not exactly a portrait of the average American family.

On the other hand, to be fair, the Do-Nothings point out that without the stimulus, corrections are being made naturally.  Weak companies are going bankrupt.  It is hoped that the stronger ones will pick up their market share and laid-off employees.  Other companies, like the automakers are facing the facts that they haven’t been making the products that customers really want. 

American families are paying down their enormous debt.  This helps the economy because the money is paid to the credit card company or bank, where it can add to its reserves and extend more credit to those who need it.  When backs are against the wall, Americans know the right thing to do.

“Our standard of living must come down to the point where it can be supported by organic output,” quoting an interview with an investment consultant.  Weren’t those guys some of the ones who helped topple the economy in the first place?

The Do-Nothings fully expect to lose their argument, but put out the ads because they feel they have to Do Something.  And even though they are against it, they think it won’t work because it is not enough.  ??

His two-year $820 billion economic recovery blueprint includes plans for computerized medical records, a national electricity grid to distribute renewable energy, lower taxes for everyone under his ‘affluent’ income line, modernized schools, and education initiatives.  The House bill includes roughly $550 billion in domestic spending and about $275 billion in tax cuts.

The goal is to advance the policies the president laid out in his campaign, including education improvement, health care cost reductions, moves toward energy independence and aid to low and middle income workers.

When passed, the legislation will require all business funding recipients to publish a plan for using the funds, along with purpose, cost, rationale, net job creation, and contact information about the plan to a new website Recovery.gov so that the public can review and comment.

About $275 billion is designated for tax cuts sent directly to the states to protect the jobs of firefighters, local government employees and public health workers as well as tax credits for education and first time homebuyers.

Job-creating road and bridge funds ($90 billion) will favor repairs to existing structures rather than funding new ones.  Repair jobs can be initialized faster, quickly injecting payroll spending into the economy, as well as curtailing urban sprawl leading to increased fuel consumption.

There will also be jobs created for clean energy development ($58 billion), a national electric grid, and funds to weatherize homes and public buildings.  It is hoped the recovery plan will spark energy efficient thinking and building as well as renewable energy technologies.

There is close to $142 billion allocated for education to protect the jobs of teachers as well as attempt to stop the “dropout crisis” and provide an easier path for many American youth to become productive taxpayers.  Studies have shown that cutting the dropout rates in half would pay back $9 for each $1 invested, representing new tax revenues and savings in welfare and incarcerations.

Funding will also go toward expanding wiring providers and implementing universal broadband service to extend Internet service to rural areas.  Internet access will allow companies to hire remote workers to work at home, saving on office expenses as well as allow individuals the opportunity to run small businesses on the Internet.  It will also be a vehicle for coordinating expanded health care records.  It is estimated that for each $1 invested in this area will return about $10 in increased productivity to the economy.

Health care investments ($111 billion) to the states to expand Medicaid will result in cost reductions connected to the medical industry’s expanded use of information technology.  The expanded use of technology to coordinate medical records ($20 billion) will minimize duplication, re-entering the same data, and “doctor shopping” for multiple issues of the same prescriptions.  On the negative side, this technology expansion has people concerned over privacy on a national network, but tight encryption methods are readily available.

President Obama’s election mandate, along with a party majority in Congress, presents him with an opportunity to spend and cut taxes more than any president in our history, with the possible exception of Franklin D. Roosevelt in the Great Depression. 

To highlight the momentum of the recovery proposal, we can compare it to the $16 billion stimulus Bill Clinton asked the Democratic-controlled Congress for in 1993 when he had just come into office, and they turned him down.

So far, this Congress has only cut out a $3,000 tax credit for businesses for each new hire.

The size of this package is annually nearly half as much as the total federal annual discretionary spending budget with the exception of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. 

The package is expected to be on the president’s desk by February 13, a scant three weeks after he took office.

He soon expects to sign legislation against gender pay discrimination (signed 1/29/2009) and for low-income child health care.  He has already issued an executive order removing the ban on federal abortion funding and expects to soon revive federal financing for embryonic stem-cell research.

Ed.Note: The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Play Act of 2009 was signed into law after passing both houses almost strictly along party lines.  The Republicans are acting like spoiled brats, voting against any Democratic legislation, no matter how it advances the causes of right and good for the country.  This was a vote by Republicans against Democrats, but it comes across as a vote against women and minority equality. 
I am ashamed of the Republican party.

President Obama will spend a lot of time himself lobbying for the passage of this bill.  He wants to go to the American people and report that this is a package passed by both parties in Congress.  However, Republican ‘nay Sayers’ claim this package will not work, so they are voting not to do anything with regard to government spending and have no positive suggestions of their own, except tax cuts.  The Republican approach is to offer tax cuts, and let the social economy recover and advance at a natural pace, a process that could take decades.

The package passed the both the House Appropriations committee and the committee on Ways and Means strictly along party lines and it is likely the bill will pass Congress along party lines as well.  This is another example of one Party driving while the other becomes a dragging anchor.

In addition to the $820 billion stimulus package, better known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment plan of 2009, the president will oversee the distribution of the second half of the $700 billion TARP program.  He has said he will have a strong message for bankers about sitting on any taxpayer bailout money, reminding them of their commitment to restart credit to both business and individual and work with struggling homeowners to avoid foreclosure.