Obama’s new stimulus bill
The U.S. House is due to take up a new $190 billion spending bill this week, and they had to put seven words in the title to avoid using the S-word. Instead of another stimulus, we are getting the American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act. Because, you know, tax loopholes are the reason the economy is stuck in neutral.
Keith Hennessey has a better name for it: The Hypocrisy Act of 2010, because it violates the ruling Democrats’ ballyhooed pay-as-you-go rules by adding $134 billion to the deficit. How do they justify this violation? House Ways and Means Chairman Sander Levin (D., Mich.) says the deficit spending comes from “emergency provisions.”
So, it’s been 15 months since the passage of the big stimulus bill, which has since been increased by $75 billion to a total of $862 billion and which, to hear Democrats tell it, has been a great big success. Yet, we’re still talking about “emergency” deficit spending in a single bill that nearly equals the entire federal deficit for 2007. With that kind of success, it’s no wonder they didn’t want to call this one another “stimulus.”
What’s in this bill? Aside from about $55 billion in unemployment benefit extensions, the bill includes:
- $65 billion in Medicare physician payments — the so-called “doc fix” that Democrats left out of ObamaCare so that it could be officially scored as a deficit-reducing act rather than a deficit-ballooning one;
- $24 billion in Medicaid funding for states so that they can keep up with the unfunded mandates they already faced, much less the additional ones that will flow from ObamaCare;
- $1 billion for summer jobs for 16- to 24-year-olds, which effectively is an admission from the feds that the market couldn’t support the minimum wage increases forced upon employers starting in 2007 (the unemployment rate for this age group has hit 25 percent);
- corporate subsidies for recipients including, according to The Wall Street Journal, “municipal bond traders, cotton farmers, yarn producers, sheep growers, Hawaiian sugar cane cooperatives, motor sports businesses, renewable energy firms, the steel lobby, and so on.”
When people ask how I can blame President Obama and the Democrats for the deficit, this is what I’m talking about. You don’t stop digging by continuing to dig.
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
90 comments Add your comment
No More Progressives!
May 26th, 2010
9:58 am
Saul Good
May 26th, 2010
6:46 am
Say what you want…but the stimulus plans are WORKING. GDP is going up, and instead of LOSING jobs we’re slowly gaining them.
That’s why undemployment went from 9.7% to 9.9%.
retiredds
May 26th, 2010
10:00 am
Kyle, I am one of those who think the stimulus bills (TARP and the second stimulus) were not enough. The hole that was dug by past administrations was so deep that it is taking everything we have to dig out. I have stated before, as the economy gains traction (it is and will), the deficits will correct. Then if the Congress will do its part and begin some serious work toward balanced budgets, which will entail spending cuts, even of sacred cows, and targeted tax increases (some of which are already happening), tweaking Social Security, bring (or force) health care costs in line, then and only then will we have sane fiscal policy. Oh, and my projections are that it will take the U.S. 20-25 years to get there. As most people want their candy now (the immediate gratification crowd), we more than likely won’t have the staying power to get the job done.
Saul Good
May 26th, 2010
10:00 am
And the 300,000 jobs we added last month? Tell those people that it’s not working.
I guess you believe that McLame and Sarah (I Quit) Palin would have fixed the economy by now…..right?
Show me EVIDENCE….
No More Progressives!
May 26th, 2010
10:02 am
Saul Good
May 26th, 2010
9:57 am
Robert….but the TRILLION DOLLARS we spent in the first 5 years in Iraq (over there, instead of over here)… that was okay with you?
Sure it is. We didn’t spend the money “over there.” The money for the military is largely spent on American industries that supply the military, and those industries are “over here.”
Economics ain’t your thing, is it?
Saul Good
May 26th, 2010
10:04 am
btw… No More Prog….
Please tell me WHICH administration added the MOST jobs in the History of our nation?
Hint: It wasn’t the 12 years of Reagan/Bush41
But feel free to tell us all here HOW we should have handled the economy. What was the “better” solution?
No More Progressives!
May 26th, 2010
10:04 am
Saul Good
May 26th, 2010
10:00 am
And the 300,000 jobs we added last month? Tell those people that it’s not working.
Are those “saved” or “created?”
Saul Good
May 26th, 2010
10:06 am
Actually it IS my thing… So, the Military Industrial Complex WORKED? That money was spent HERE huh? … If it worked…..WHY did we LOSE 8 million jobs???!!! Keep digging your own hole deeper and deeper by writing more…
Saul Good
May 26th, 2010
10:07 am
They were ADDED… the “saved” jobs are not counted…but there are many.
Rob
May 26th, 2010
10:08 am
Time to bring the troops home from ALL overseas posts, cut the Departments of Commerce, Education, Energy, Agriculture, and all “czars”. Surround our borders with troops, cut taxes, put folks to work building fences using unemployment money or that $500 million Obama wants to use, somehow, for border protection. Let’s try to stop the decline of America and let the rest of the world fall apart. Then, every November, vote out all incumbents.
Saul Good
May 26th, 2010
10:14 am
No More… I also forgot to add… you stated that the TRILLION DOLLARS we spent over there…that helped “stimulate” our economy… please show me a graph or chart showing me the following:
-Jobs added per month from 2003-2008.
-GDP from 2003-2008.
-Price of a barrel of oil from 2003-2008
-Price of a gallon of gas from 2003-2008
-The deficit from 2003-2008
-Number of jobs created and/or lost from 2003-2008
-Stock Market from 2003-2008
Seems to me the stock market is up nearly 40% since the day Obama took office… so if you invested $10,000 in the DOW on his first day…you’d have $14,000. Tell me what your 10,000 investment would be worth from Bush’s first day until his last.
No More Progressives!
May 26th, 2010
10:16 am
Saul Good
May 26th, 2010
10:06 am
Actually it IS my thing… So, the Military Industrial Complex WORKED? That money was spent HERE huh? … If it worked…..WHY did we LOSE 8 million jobs???!!!
Economics is your thing, huh?
Sectors of the economy did well, in spite of the recession/depression, or whatever we’re calling it these days. Just like FDR didn’t end the great depression, WWII ended it, and in grand fashion. I guess that didn’t work either, did it?
No More Progressives!
May 26th, 2010
10:25 am
US Will Hit 94% Debt to GDP Ratio Next Year, Surpassing the Level Where Debt Starts Reducing Economic Growth
http://www.prisonplanet.com/us-will-hit-94-debt-to-gdp-ratio-next-year-surpassing-the-level-where-debt-starts-reducing-economic-growth.html
You better hope King Barry the Magnanimous adds 3,000,000 jobs per month; somebody has to pay for all this stuff.
Saul Good
May 26th, 2010
10:43 am
It will be paid off… just as the last one was being paid off by every administration (until Reagan/Bush…and then baby bush)… but all you did was PROVE that I’m correct. It took MASSIVE spending.
While you didn’t answer ANY of my questions, I’ll gladly point out that the tax rate for the “wealthiest” Americans was 90%… but you didn’t hear any of them complaining. So sad to see the right not want to do ANYTHING to contribute to getting us out of the hole they created… your votes created it in the first place…
people make “sacrifices” during severe economic down turns and most of all…when we’re at WAR… Bush’s answer to this? No sacrifice needed by the American public…only by those he sent to a never needed war in Iraq.
But I still would LOVE to hear what YOUR suggestion is for getting us out of the recession…and what you believe SHOULD have been done (because Tax cuts to the rich and the corporations DID NOT get us out of the depression…)…
John
May 26th, 2010
10:44 am
RAMBLE ON!!! You wanted evidence that Reagan blamed Carter for the economy 20 months into his first term? Well here it is:
http://blogs.ajc.com/jay-bookman-blog/2010/05/19/when-does-the-bush-economy-become-the-obama-economy/
So you’d rather be a dawg than a democrat? That’s funny, because you just got schooled by someone who’s both.
No More Progressives!
May 26th, 2010
10:44 am
TehranDawg
May 25th, 2010
3:30 pm
“Got money for wars, but can’t feed the poor”
-2Pac
GAO says we’ve spent between $9 and $13 Trillion on “The Great Society.” How much more feeding do you need?
Saul Good
May 26th, 2010
10:44 am
Also… what is the COST going to be involved in the future to care for all of our brave vets who went to Iraq? That too is a “debt” that never needed to happen (but you’d never think of that would you)?
Saul Good
May 26th, 2010
10:50 am
No more…that link…gee… let me say, it shows NOTHING but what someone “thinks” MAY happen… Now go answer my questions.
(most of all what YOU think should have been done to get us out of the crater dug by the republicans)….
somewhereinga
May 26th, 2010
10:56 am
This past weekend I had a customer in my store telliing me how bad the economy was. I own a small retail store in North GA. When I told him my March, April and May (so far) were above last years in sales he told me I was wrong.
Stores are going out of business! Look around!
I told him to “Look around this town.” There are NO empty store fronts. Look in the next town. There are no empty store fronts there (that I know of). He simply refused to believe it and kept to his mantra that the economy was crashing. Don’t believe what the TV people are telling you. “They” are lying. (My lawyer said he had more real estate closings recently than in the past years!)
I really wanted to look the guy in the eye and ask “You’re a Republican, aren’t you?”
No More Progressives!
May 26th, 2010
11:03 am
America is on the verge of financial disaster.
America’s financial situation is unsustainable. In 2009 the federal government spent $3.5 trillion but collected only $2.1 trillion in revenue
http://reason.com/archives/2010/05/11/our-unsustainable-debt
somewhereinga
May 26th, 2010
11:05 am
BTW hate to break it to Joan and a few others but a recent study showed we are now paying LESS taxes right now than we have since the 1950’s. No, I don’t have the source but I’m sure it can be googled since it probably wasn’t reported on Faux News. I know I am paying LESS taxes in my business than I have ever paid.
One point: Taxes are the income of the government. If you are trying to buy a new car or you’re a little short this month, do you ask your boss to give you a CUT in your paycheck so you can make your life a little easier?
Saul Good
May 26th, 2010
11:08 am
No More….show me those SAME figures from years: 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008… were you “complaining” then?
Still you offer no answers…and BEST of all…NO solutions.
somewhere… my wife’s store has sales up over 40% from last year. In fact she just had her BEST sales day ever this past Saturday… yes consumer spending and “confidence” is UP. But “No More” doesn’t like that… he wants so so badly for Obama to fail.
retiredds
May 26th, 2010
11:12 am
somewhereinga, what you are describing about your customer is: denial. It is very closely tied to perception, which is my reality. If I deny something than it never happens/happened.
No More Progressives!
May 26th, 2010
11:14 am
somewhereinga
May 26th, 2010
11:05 am
One point: Taxes are the income of the government. If you are trying to buy a new car or you’re a little short this month, do you ask your boss to give you a CUT in your paycheck so you can make your life a little easier?
This is “Pretzel Logic Personified.” Liberals fight this notion at every opportunity. When the populace (you and I) have more discretionary income in our pockets to spend, the economy is stimulated, becuase we tend to buy things, paint the house, etc. Why is this so hard to understand?
Saul Good
May 26th, 2010
11:17 am
retiredds… I’m NOT making it up when I state that in 6 years of owning her own business (a retail store in John’s Creek)… her sales are up over 40% and doing better then ever. Could be the “type” of business she’s in…but hey…Wally World (Walmart) has better sales as well over the past several months. Home Depot? Not so much…but then again… it was the real estate bubble that crashed our economy and all those businesses tied to it.
Care to explain why the DOW is up around 40% since Obama took office?
No More Progressives!
May 26th, 2010
11:19 am
Saul Good
May 26th, 2010
11:08 am
Still you offer no answers…and BEST of all…NO solutions.
You keep throwing deck chairs off the Titanic, Saully. I’ll check with you in a year or so.
I can’t say you’re a font of enlightenment either. You’re good at screaming, but not so hot at solving.
Saul Good
May 26th, 2010
11:20 am
No More…in your last response you talked about “consumer spending”….well it’s UP…as is Consumer Confidence… tell me HOW the Bush “tax cuts” stimulated our economy while losing 8,000,000 jobs.
And I’m NOT going to stop asking: WHAT do YOU believe should have been done different to stimulate the economy?
If it’s: ” I don’t know”…then just SAY so my friend!
Saul Good
May 26th, 2010
11:21 am
I AM good at solving…bc I believe what Obama is doing is WORKING…. (yet still YOU offer no alternative solutions)…
retiredds
May 26th, 2010
12:36 pm
Saul, you missed my point. I was not referring to your customer being in denial. It is those who refuse to believe the growth numbers that stare them in the face. Even if your customer produced his/her audited books or tax returns, the deniers wouldn’t believe. They deny the numbers because they are either: 1. confused, 2. can’t stand the fact that the stimulus plan might just be working, 3. they, like Rush the lush Limbaugh, will say anything to make it seem like Obama is failing, 4. if Obama does not fail where does that leave the “party of no”, the Palin worshipers, and the supporters of the failed Bush/Cheney policies, or 5. they enjoy their “la la land” of make believe.
Saul Good
May 26th, 2010
12:41 pm
Retiredds…. “I” personally don’t have a customer… Yet after reading your reply…I “believe” were on the same team…no? Feel free to read my posts above and let me know…
Kyle? So silent? Sheeesh!
Saul Good
May 26th, 2010
1:02 pm
btw AmVet…GREAT list!
Saul Good
May 26th, 2010
1:04 pm
opps….wrong thread…
RAMBLE ON!!!
May 26th, 2010
3:02 pm
John, Reagan said “No we haven’t solved 20 years of problems in the first 20 months”, and “But we have made a beginning where others have failed to act”? You call that the same as Obama blaming Bush every time a mic is put in front of his mouth?
If that’s “being schooled”, than no wonder GA. Is ALWAYS 49th in public education.
You lie to your self.
No More Progressives!
May 26th, 2010
3:20 pm
AMERICA’S NATIONAL DEBT TOPS $13,000,000,000,000; DEBT PER TAXPAYER – $117,975;
US DEBT TO GDP RATIO – 90.3%
http://drudgereport.com/
No More Progressives!
May 27th, 2010
8:50 am
US money supply plunges at 1930s pace as Obama eyes fresh stimulus
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/7769126/US-money-supply-plunges-at-1930s-pace-as-Obama-eyes-fresh-stimulus.html
No More Progressives!
May 27th, 2010
11:43 am
Private pay shrinks to historic lows as gov’t payouts rise.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/income/2010-05-24-income-shifts-from-private-sector_N.htm
No More Progressives!
May 27th, 2010
12:19 pm
Study finds increased gov’t spending results in unemployment.
http://hotair.com/archives/2010/05/27/study-finds-increased-govt-spending-results-in-unemployment/
No More Progressives!
May 27th, 2010
12:43 pm
America Following Greece to Economic Ruin?
Greece has given us a stark picture of where endless government deficits lead. Faced with national bankruptcy after years of deficit spending, Greece is raising taxes, slashing pension benefits and cutting government wages.
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=37137
StevenCee
May 28th, 2010
5:32 am
Kyle, you’ve really outdone yourself on this one, I guess it’s just so easy to throw rocks, even at something, or someone, that’s actually making progress, or at the very least taking action he believes can help us, in the face of an obstructionist opposition, bereft of any real alternatives, but the tired & impotent “cut taxes”, then “cut more taxes”, oh, and “leave it to the private sector to solve all our problems”, yeah, right…..
You write: “$24 billion in Medicaid funding for states so that they can keep up with the unfunded mandates they already faced, much less the additional ones that will flow from ObamaCare”…… Here your intellectual dishonesty shines brightly, as you clearly state the fact, these are “unfunded mandates they “ALREADY FACED”, yet so conveniently lay the blame on Obama-created “additional ones”, that “WILL flow”, at some later date! That’s a good one….
And you also said, “$1 billion for summer jobs for 16- to 24-year-olds, which effectively is an admission from the feds that the market couldn’t support the minimum wage increases forced upon employers starting in 2007 (the unemployment rate for this age group has hit 25 percent)”…… Oh, it IS “effectively an admission”, says who, says what facts, where do present evidence of this at all? Because he wants to toss some stimulus money to help put teens at work during the summer, this “proves” the minimum wage is simply much too high? Wow, I missed this method of logical reasoning if it was part of my high school curriculum, cause this stands on sand, barely. I suppose the hundreds of billions, vs this ONE billion, handed over to those poor, needy Wall Street investment (gamblers) bankers & brokers also proves THEY can’t afford to pay employees the minimum wage, as well?
I mean, if money for jobs equates to burdensome minimum wages, that should apply to all those who need money to keep their jobs, or companies afloat, for it’s evident that $7/hr salaries are the cause of all unemployment.
Finally, you wrote: “When people ask how I can blame President Obama and the Democrats for the deficit, this is what I’m talking about. You don’t stop digging by continuing to dig.”
This is perhaps the biggest stretch of credibility & extrapolation. Please, how does spending money to keep many more jobs from being lost, funding various work projects, seeding green energy development, etc, qualify as “CREATING” anywhere even close to what was an existing, huge gaping hole in our economy, when he took office? You really feel justified, based upon quantitative facts I can’t see, in blaming the new kid in town for all this???
We’re supposed to view one rock-throwing column of unsubstantiated blame & partisan rhetoric after another, as stimulating, intellectual presentation of your perspective, based upon at least of modicum of reasonably arrived at conclusions? How I long for more William F. Buckley, Jr.- like writers/thinkers to arise. Why must it be so difficult finding commentators of the conservative persuasion willing to rely on reason, a sincere concern for, & eagerness in striving for the truth, above all else?
No More Progressives!
May 29th, 2010
7:11 am
U.S. Stocks, Oil, Euro Tumble; Dow Ends Worst May Since 1940
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=apgUzNgFGKLA
U.S. stocks slid, capping the worst May for the Dow Jones Industrial Average since 1940…………..
Robert Lyon
June 18th, 2010
12:05 pm
Your commentary mentions stimulus funds to help with teenage summer employment. I remember reading a few days ago about a recent study linking rising summer unemployment among teenagers in the ten states (Georgia included) with the highest numbers of illegal immigrants. Every day I see dozens (sometimes well over a hundred) illegals seeking work on the side of the road here in south Atlanta. They’re breaking an anti-loitering ordinance that Atlanta police choose not to enforce (I know because I’ve called numerous times). It doesn’t make sense to borrow money from China to cretae summer jobs for teenagers and fail to remove these illegal immigrants who are exacerbating the problem (not to mention all the other costs associated witht their presence).