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Originally Posted by pocketkangaroo
I'm not arguing the spending aspect. I've said that I agree with a stimulus plan. I agree that creating jobs is necessary and would be beneficial. I'm not even arguing over the dollar amounts.
What I'm arguing over is what the money is spent on. There is a big difference in using stimulus dollars to build a state-of-the-art railway system and spending it to start a stop-smoking program. One will add to our overall infrastructure and be useful for decades. The other is a black hole of waste. So if you're going to spend a trillion dollars, why not spend all of it on stuff that will benefit us for decades to come? Rebuilding railways, roads, sewers, bridges, schools, government buildings, etc. That is where all the money should go. Not toward buying free condoms for people.
And please don't tell me that you really don't believe that these programs don't benefit contributors and supporters of Democrats. There is a reason unions, community organizations, and environmental groups are cashing in on this. I'm not saying that some of that spending isn't justified, just saying it's ridiculous to believe that these guys aren't paying off the people who helped put them in power.
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The article I linked to earlier addressed this. Of course we want the money spent on worthwhile projects......the problem is that time is of the essence.
A high speed rail system or new electric grid take years to plan, and the economy needs the stimulus yesterday....so they funded all the worthwhile projects they could find that were ready to go "NOW", and yeah, the rest of the money went to pet projects that have been waiting for an opportunity to get funding.
Like I said before, if republicans were in charge the price tag would be the same except the money would be spent on weapons systems the Pentagon doesn't want or need, prisons instead of schools, abstinence education instead of condoms, etc.
The more important thing was that the spending start quickly and the money starts working it's way through the economy now.
That's why I said if the Dems play games with the regular budget where they do have time to deliberate and hold hearings and make each program survive on it's own merit....then I'll agree that they're no better than the republicans.
For the stimulus though, they get a pass, because they had to spend a certain amount and do it quickly, so they went and grabbed projects that had been sitting on their desks for awhile now that were ready to go. That's just the way this one went down.
The republicans BTW had a chance to be part of the process, but if you're going to offer amendments, get them accepted, and then not vote for the final bill....then of course the conference committee is going to strip your amendments out. You don't get to play unless you have skin in the game.
This time, they chose to be naysayers and now have to hope the economy gets worse or else their minority is going to continue to shrink.
