More economy fixins.
This entry is written for Napoleon, as a continuation of this debate, but anyone should feel free to jump in.
I saw an article this morning about the economic stimulus. Since the author is a better writer than I could ever be, I'll just link to it. Hopefully it'll help explain why things like infrastructure projects aren't supposed to be a separate debate from economic stimulus.
What is real stimulus and what isn't?
The author links to another article that he wrote previously, but I'm going to link to it as well, because I think it's really good and important.
How to spend a trillion dollars.
Also, as a side note, the CBO came out with reports on both the House and Senate versions of the stimulus package, and concluded (at least for the Senate version (warning, pdf)) that 78% of the money would be spent within two years. The House's version (also pdf) has 64% spent within the first two years. Certainly not 100%, and I prefer the senate version's number, but it's a far cry from 10%. As for it not being 100%, I would still argue that in order to boost short-term consumer confidence, consumers need to be confident about the long term. Therefore, having some spending planned after the next two years is a good idea.
Edited to add:
And here we have an example of what the Republicans are spending time doing on the floor of the Senate.
Ugh. More substance, less posturing, please. I can't believe this guy is wasting the Senate's time with this.
CNN List of GOP Stimulus worries
There we go! That's substance. Let's add up all those grievances, shall we? ... 19 billion. Wait, 19 billion? That's it? Out of $820 billion? That's 2.5 percent. We're getting lectured about the literal size of a trillion dollars all because the GOP has deemed 19 billion of it wasteful? We spend $19 billion every couple of months in Iraq.
Now let's take a look at some of the items on that list.
$448 million for constructing the Department of Homeland Security headquarters.
$500 million for flood reduction projects on the Mississippi River.
$6 billion to turn federal buildings into "green" buildings.
$88 million for renovating the headquarters of the Public Health Service.
$500 million for building and repairing National Institutes of Health facilities
All these are construction projects. Construction projects create jobs. Immediately. The best construction projects are the ones that save us money in the future, too - like saving on energy costs by turning federal buildings into "green" ones.
$600 million to buy hybrid vehicles for federal employees.
$200 million in funding for the lease of alternative energy vehicles for use on military installations.
Wasn't one of the points of the stimulus to pump up demand for goods? I think infusing $800 million into the hybrid car market will do nicely for that.
$400 million for the Centers for Disease Control to screen and prevent STD's.
$75 million for "smoking cessation activities."
$25 million for tribal alcohol and substance abuse reduction.
These are arguably the least immediately stimulative parts of the bill. However, they will save us money in the future in terms of health care costs. Avoiding anti-stimulus is a way to create net stimulus.
So. Let's subtract out those ones from the GOP's list (and I'm being generous, I didn't put anything on here that I couldn't immediately see the stimulative effect of, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's wasteful). Now that list is down to $10 billion.
I'm not saying that everything in the stimulus isn't wasteful. I'm sure there are some legitimately stupid things in that bill. But the Republicans are wasting all of our time by debating the overall merit of the stimulus package instead of spending time on individual parts of the stimulus bill that they consider wasteful. The Republicans could be a real help to this bill, trimming waste where they see it, etc. But instead, they call it crap because they only agree with 97.5% of it, and that's just not enough.
I saw an article this morning about the economic stimulus. Since the author is a better writer than I could ever be, I'll just link to it. Hopefully it'll help explain why things like infrastructure projects aren't supposed to be a separate debate from economic stimulus.
What is real stimulus and what isn't?
The author links to another article that he wrote previously, but I'm going to link to it as well, because I think it's really good and important.
How to spend a trillion dollars.
Also, as a side note, the CBO came out with reports on both the House and Senate versions of the stimulus package, and concluded (at least for the Senate version (warning, pdf)) that 78% of the money would be spent within two years. The House's version (also pdf) has 64% spent within the first two years. Certainly not 100%, and I prefer the senate version's number, but it's a far cry from 10%. As for it not being 100%, I would still argue that in order to boost short-term consumer confidence, consumers need to be confident about the long term. Therefore, having some spending planned after the next two years is a good idea.
Edited to add:
And here we have an example of what the Republicans are spending time doing on the floor of the Senate.
Click to viewUgh. More substance, less posturing, please. I can't believe this guy is wasting the Senate's time with this.
CNN List of GOP Stimulus worries
There we go! That's substance. Let's add up all those grievances, shall we? ... 19 billion. Wait, 19 billion? That's it? Out of $820 billion? That's 2.5 percent. We're getting lectured about the literal size of a trillion dollars all because the GOP has deemed 19 billion of it wasteful? We spend $19 billion every couple of months in Iraq.
Now let's take a look at some of the items on that list.
$448 million for constructing the Department of Homeland Security headquarters.
$500 million for flood reduction projects on the Mississippi River.
$6 billion to turn federal buildings into "green" buildings.
$88 million for renovating the headquarters of the Public Health Service.
$500 million for building and repairing National Institutes of Health facilities
All these are construction projects. Construction projects create jobs. Immediately. The best construction projects are the ones that save us money in the future, too - like saving on energy costs by turning federal buildings into "green" ones.
$600 million to buy hybrid vehicles for federal employees.
$200 million in funding for the lease of alternative energy vehicles for use on military installations.
Wasn't one of the points of the stimulus to pump up demand for goods? I think infusing $800 million into the hybrid car market will do nicely for that.
$400 million for the Centers for Disease Control to screen and prevent STD's.
$75 million for "smoking cessation activities."
$25 million for tribal alcohol and substance abuse reduction.
These are arguably the least immediately stimulative parts of the bill. However, they will save us money in the future in terms of health care costs. Avoiding anti-stimulus is a way to create net stimulus.
So. Let's subtract out those ones from the GOP's list (and I'm being generous, I didn't put anything on here that I couldn't immediately see the stimulative effect of, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's wasteful). Now that list is down to $10 billion.
I'm not saying that everything in the stimulus isn't wasteful. I'm sure there are some legitimately stupid things in that bill. But the Republicans are wasting all of our time by debating the overall merit of the stimulus package instead of spending time on individual parts of the stimulus bill that they consider wasteful. The Republicans could be a real help to this bill, trimming waste where they see it, etc. But instead, they call it crap because they only agree with 97.5% of it, and that's just not enough.