Yesterday's Wall Street Journal's opinion page carried an analysis of the stimulus package. Please keep in mind that this article was written before the so-called-compromise. Also, please keep in mind that the 'compromises' worked out may not stand when the House and Senate bills are reconciled. According to the article:
"Mr. Obama chose to let House Democrats write the bill, and they did what comes naturally: They cleaned out their intellectual cupboards and wrote a bill that is 90% social policy, and 10% economic policy. (See here for a case study.) It is designed to support incomes with transfer payments, rather than grow incomes through job creation."
The article further states:
"We should add how different this is from the 1980s or even the 1960s. Democrats added business tax cuts to the Reagan package of 1981, while Jack Kennedy's chief economist (Walter Heller) promoted marginal rate tax cuts on stimulus grounds in the 1960s. Yet Mr. Obama, on Thursday, dismissed any such tax cuts as "the same tired arguments and worn ideas that helped to create this crisis." That's rhetoric for a campaign, not for a President hoping to rally bipartisan support."
This bill is not good for us, it's not good for our children, and it's not good for our grandchildren. The whole thing needs to be scrapped, and they need to start over with some ideas that will actually stimulate the economy--not just pay back political favors.
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