Obama’s Economic Stimulus Plan Mapped Out

Wow, I’m surprised that most of it is for tax cuts. With all the moaning in the senate about how we need to cut taxes, not spend money, I was assuming that there was no tax cut portion of this.

Wonderful, wonderful tax cuts. Now the wall street billionairs can buy those new jets, and speed boats, and dine at the finest resort restraurants. Just think how that will stimulate the economy! It’l put hundreds back to work!

I’m amazed that we can sit here and look at a graph that shows BILLIONS on superfluous things and think…”oh..that’s not bad…look how small the circle is.” Imagine if all of that money was tax cuts?

Stimulus, is that spin for pork? Why haven’t I heard anything about throwing out the Federal Reserve Private Bank that charges us interest to use our own money? If we did that there would be no need for an income tax.
Spending $825 billion dollars of borrowed money will at best inflate what little money working people have. Why is it that the only solution to problems for politicians is always throwing money at it?

Unlike the tax cuts of the Bushians, these cuts go more to the middle class and less to the rich. Thus, these cuts should actually work.

Though according to most economists (not of the payroll of the rich by the way) the bang for the buck from tax cuts will still be smaller than the bang for the buck from the infrastructure investments.

But even with liberals in charge, our government still belongs to the rich. Less so maybe than last year, but still so.

Shane, you should read the actual breakdowns of each section. They aren’t (just) the Bush tax cuts, and in fact most of the money in that section is distributed in this form to quell some of the whining in Congress. The payroll holiday gives all working Americans extra money to put straight back into the economy, the business expense break affects small AND large businesses, and the rest of it is either in place to be the stimulus check for those who received the Bush cuts, or is set up to help the environment and education.

See the problem isn’t what is in the Stimulus Plan, but the political posturing. These politicians are sitting in their Ivory Towers telling the people bs just so they can get elected again. The supposed waste in the Stimulus Plan only amounts to about 1% of all the money, but if you listen to what you are being told you would think it is most of it.

This looks like a fine ‘stimulus plan’…as long as the idea of stimulus plans actually being beneficial is right.

Um sorry that chart is complete bull.

You’ve got to be kidding with this bill. How does it help my family. I havea middle class family whose economy is upside down yet we won’t qualify for help because we have an up to date mortgage,
barely and we’re lucky if we can pay our daughters college and school bills. This is typical Liberal Tax and Spend but they always had what it takes to take what we’ve got. Bankruptsy cant be far behind.
Hundreds of thousands of Kentuckians are still suffering from the Ice storm. It took Fema a week to help. Where’s OBAMA. With people on office like this, we’re all screwed and mark my words, in a year Bush 43 is going to look smarter and smarter.
God help us all! Oh Can I say that? Almighty something that might or might not be helping oversee mankind problems. Please help us . That is if you really feel like it because you don’t exist.

Obama’s threats of doom and gloom Arrogant and Ill but with people like Pelosi and Reid who is surprised

Good Luck to us All

No, most of it is not for tax cuts. Look at the numbers: Tax cuts are less than a 30% of the stimulus plan (244 / 825), whereas government spending is over 40% (309/825).

The bitching is from Republicans, because the tax cuts are going to the wrong people–to the middle class instead of to the wealthy.

This will fail. We don’t need any more tax cuts. We don’t need anymore social programs.
We don’t need a stimulus that is put on our childrens tab. We need a better economic plan.
Only through taking the pain and adjusting will we get back on track.

I agree about the tax part. I was under the impression, the way it is being fought against as a tax and spend plan, that there going to be tax cuts. I also was surprised at how much is given directly to the states. Interesting to see it laid out like this.

Cause the tax cuts are for the people who don’t make 100k a year- they are the ones upset about “no tax cuts”

Republican Politicians have no bargaining power at all if they quickly accept the stimulus plan.

Hence they complained in a way that created emotional drama amongst the masses… they proclaimed it to be extremely wasteful (shamefully ironic when you think about the amount of taxpayer dollars wasted by the last republican administration).

What the republican senators were actually saying to the democrats was: you have to change the stimulus bill a little to make it look like we still have some power… or else we’ll drag our feet.

Many of them want Obama to fail… if the stimulus bill doesn’t work (or doesn’t work fast enough) they can crow about how they were right… and Obama was wrong. Again, shamefully ironic when you know the stimulus package is designed to hopefully fix the huge mistakes made by the GWB administration.

The 2 party system if a wasteful farce… It needs to be replaced with something that works.

that’s because a lot of those ‘tax cuts’ are welfare payments.

It’s good to see he is not sppending too much on Energy Efficiency/Infrastructure etc- small amounts well-targeted would be wiser here. Giving the bulk in tax cuts and directgovt aid is more sensible as it empowers people to do the right thing. That aid for state govt is really sensible because Bush really neglected the states.

Not enough is for education.

No, Obama’s always said tax cuts would be a big portion. Problem is, it’s payroll taxes that get the biggest chunk, which means people who work get it. Unless you see income taxes fall so that those living off of the stock market don’t have to pay as much, you’re still going to hear the whining.

Scratch that – the people bitching right now will never be satisfied.

Its a good idea, but I’d like it better if the numbers were represented by the area instead of the diameter of the disks. I find the images a bit misleading.

Yeah, there is some good stuff in there, but how much of it is NECESSARY? It has been said that we may never recover from this if we don’t pass this stimulus now. Is it necessary if most of the money won’t even be spent in the next 18 months? Why is $3 billion for scientific research a necessary part of the plan? Is there really a $20 billion need for food stamps?

Now, not to just criticize, I’d like to suggest solutions. How about we uphold the current laws and deport everyone who is in this country illegally. They are a burden on the taxpayer because their children go to our schools and burden the system because they have to learn English. They burden the health care system because they usually don’t pay for their own care. They burden the law enforcement system because they commit crimes at a higher rate than the average American.

If we enforce our current laws, we will come out of this problem without having to place a financial burden on our children and grandchildren!!!

I dont understanding giving more money to banks/businesses, they are not passing the help on to the consumer. Why not just use the money to pay off the debts at the banks/morgtage companies. Everthing starts over even.

I can understand your confusion. First, the tax cuts only represent 30% of the total. Then notice that of the 224 billion, only 25 billion is dedicated for income tax relief. The U.S. currently has a population near 300 million which if you divide up that 25 billion among everyone is only $83.33 per person.

Tax cuts? When we have to borrow the money it’s not a cut it’s a deferment. This is the same illogical crap we have been falling for for almost 30 years. I never believed Obama to be any different so I am not as surprised as some that he will follow the same economic trickle down crap that our last several presidents have been duped into. Until we realize that multinational corporations run the show and fight back “change” is an illusion. The reason we now have 401k now is not only that it is cheaper for big business it’s so we give a damn about the markets. Otherwise who cares only the super rich get hurt. Now that our retirement future is stuck in this cheap smoke and mirrors show we swallow bailing these clowns out. How about lower market returns and more salary to the workers. There’s no demand because our wages have been steadily dropping. The only yhing thats kept the house of cards up is debt. What a sham we have fallen for.

This is terrible. Bush set up the charges, now Obama is about to pull the switch. If education is key, then STUDY AUSTRIAN ECONOMICS!

Obama has no idea what he is doing. This is just more money we don’t have. It doesn’t matter who is in charge, dem or rep. They are all the same and they enrich the wealthy. Look how Obama has already disgraced America by appointing a guy who committed tax fraud in charge of the IRS and Treasury (Geithner). If you want to know the truth about America, read “America’s Financial Apocalypse.”

The first version was released in late 2006 before anyone had a clue what would happen. The author is the most knowledgable expert in the world and he has no agendas.

I completely agree with you Ryan this is ridiculous,Im 22 and haven’t had health care since I was 17 yet i still pay medicare tax on my paycheck for others. Major corporations do run everything. The politicians dont really care about us. Come on everyone think about it, its like an ant hill were the workers and the gov is the queen.Last bailot I remember they took our money and went on vacation with it so whats up. I think its to the point where no ones going to help us but ourselves so lets actually do something about it instead of talking.Actions speak louder than words my friends. Its what our country was founded on.(Besides fat rich aristocrats not wanting to pay taxes) Pretty similar eh?

sure cut taxes , but wait are we not we at war , how are we gonna pay the troops , oh , let them pillage okay , back to Empire building …….

Hmmm, isn’t a Payroll Tax Holiday just taking money from a woefully underfunded ‘retirement’ program? In other words just taking more money out of a failing Social Security program?

And I really hate to break it to all you who are whining about how the rich keep sticking it to the poor, but wealth is a relative term. Even the homeless guy on the corner is wealthier than Obama’s brother in Kenya. There is someone who is always poorer than you and to whom you look wealthy, consider that when you think of binding the mouths of the oxen who live in ‘fancier’ stalls than yourself.

When we decide that Congress knows best how to spend our money, how many steps removed from socialism are we? Stop stealing my money in the form of taxes and welfare programs and I’ll start spending that money in the local economy, buying things that people earn their living by providing and the economy will be stimulated, immediately.

Yeah, seeing the smaller amounts tabbed for infrastructure and energy efficiency is a downer, but I’m encouraged by the sizeable amount going to state/local governments – who can also put those dollars to use for spending on infrastructure, energy, green tech, etc.

You people are all wrong. Lets get back to the point where government only does what is provided for in the Constitution. History is about to repeat itself. FDR tried this crap and it was a huge failure in the 30′s. The only thing we are getting is a huge government spending bill. And guess what, next year the politicians who can never cut spending will want to add on to this deficit. The Constitution limits the powers of government and provides rights to the people. As we move closer and closer to Socialism and Communism all of our rights are being taken from us.

Ridiculous that we keep cutting taxes. It has worked so well over time. When are we going to learn that investing in infrastructure and services improves quality of life. Also wish that the Federal Govt, would wake up and eliminate tax loop holes for companies as well as tax shelters like peanut farms.

I might be a little naive, but who is paying for the $825 billion? am I expecting a tax increase next year? this year? who is funding it?

Why should my tax money be rewarded to the irresponsible? The stimulus should go to Americans who spend their money wisely as an incentive to actively benefit the economy. Not to frivolous spenders knee high in credit card debt and behind in mortgage payments.

It’s not rewarding “irresponsible” people, it’s giving the money back to the people who were smart enough to vote for this guy in the first place. The selfish hoarding of money is what has caused the downward spiral of an economy that we’re currently in. It’s quite obvious that Bush’s favoring the wealthy did No Good for the whole of this country, only the greedy ones who continued voting for him. And now they squabble and continue pulling partisan crap, rather than caring enough about their fellow Americans to act, and help anyone but themselves.
I really don’t see why people are scared by the price tag, ignoring the billions we can’t even account for with the war we are in, and considering how much THAT is costing us on a daily basis, both in money & lives.

Wait, explain this to me…

Why are tax cuts included in a stimulus package? If I understand right, everything above other than tax cuts is essentially government spending. But the tax cuts are basically saying “here’s money we would have stolen but we’re not stealing it from you the taxpayers, so we’re going to equate that with spending AKA part of the “stimulus package”…”

I mean, is there something I am not understanding? I mean, but tax cuts and spending increase deficits but it seems kind of strange that tax cuts get included in a “stimulus package” as if they’re a form of cash they’ve collected and then are giving back…I mean, if everything is paid for by taxes, how can you count tax cuts as part of spending?

“By instating a temporary tax holiday, we could electrify the American economy and provide overwhelming relief to taxpayers, all for less than the cost of the current failed Paulson-Pelosi bailout system,” Gohmert told CNSNews.com in an exclusive interview on Wednesday.

Anyone who thinks this ‘tax relief’ or ‘tax cuts’ is such a peachy idea…think of this…you better really enjoy those trinket tax cuts now…because when the taxes go up..you’ll be paying them..and they taxes will go up…you can’t take out a loan intrest free…someone pays this bill..it’s not worth it!!

We will never have great leaders as long as we mistake education for intelligence, ambition for ability, and lack of transgression for integrity!

Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.

I don’t want a leader who scares me sensless..I want one with a plan. so far all I have heard from this group running the country is..’golly gee this is getting worse and worse..oh my’
for the love of all things good and holy I want a leader that tells me he has a plan (this stimulus thing..isn’t a plan btw). I want a leader who says he has the best and brightest working on it..again not what he’s saying…I see a bunch of tax cheats getting jobs. HHMM sounds like a battle commander who say I have a mission, we’re all gonna die a slow painful death…any volenteers..no? ok your all drafted. GOODY, GOODY…sign me right up!!!

One more quick thought….this past week my motor in my car died (’94 ford escort) and it’s not worth repairing the car, my oven died(new in the 50′s) again not worth fixing. Do I get a stimulas check for this..I mean if we are going to give birth control and condoms to Africa me being a USA citizen shouldn’t I get some help. On the bright side thanks to the gas prices of last summer I have a used motorcycle now so I can still go to work…55 miles one way..and it was a warm 23 degrees for the ride in..it was exhillerating. Any day now my fingers will thaw out enough so I can feel them. I believe in change…(reaching in my pocket that’s all I have left..change {pennies})

In the Obama plan, “tax cuts” means handing-out money almost exclusively to non-taxpayers. As for actual tax rate reductions, what honest people mean by “tax-cuts,” there are none; not very little . . . none.

I am 15 years old and I am doing a persuasive essay on this topic, the stimulus plan. I am saying how it is not something that will help our economy, if anything, it will make it worse. I am also saying that there is way to much money going to things that there is already enough money going to, such as food stamps and welfare. My family is middle class, by the way.

This SPENDING BILL is nothing but making the Government more powerful over the people. More
Government, less individual rights Wish the Masses would understand Government is NOT THE ANSWER. Unless you want a hand out and relay on the government for all your needs. YOU CANT
Spend you way out of a recession/depression get a clue OBAMA/NANCY/HARRY.

If you cut taxes people will spend more. However that usually only works in a free market economy. We haven’t been one, truly been in since Teddy Roosevelt was President. The states should have to figure there own stuff out and its kind of misleading to say its state and local government aid, part of that state and local government aid is 400 million for planned parent hood, 3 million to “green” a country club, etc. Only 5% of the total package is for actual job creation that takes effect within the next 12 months. This is a 30 year old wish list. And the tax cuts in thie package are pretty much what Lyle says they are. This is buying votes for 2010. This is the biggest load of crap since FDR’s new deal, Trumans “Marshal Plan”, etc. I am a small business owner. If it wasnt for the fact that I hadnt taken a paycheck in a year and a half and had been able to stay open with laying most people off I wouldnt have been able to keep the doors open. The government already is the only one making a profit, between payroll taxes, state taxes, county taxes, etc. I am amazed. One of the hardest things in being a small business owner is paying taxes when you wont make any profits on average for the first three years and thats in a good economy.

There are lots of issues, and lots of people will not be satisfied with this plan, but alot of you who are bitching are only doing that; BITCHING. Got a better idea? Obama hasn’t even had TWO months. This issue has been comming at us for DECADES!!! It will take time and sacrifice, a message Obama has said OVER AND OVER. It’s not about you or me, it’s about US as a UNITED STATES of AMERICA. I just don’t see how funding green tech, schools, roads, and health care can bee seen as something not good for the nation? Greedy selfish LAZY americans! Troops die while you bitch. SICK

yeah, and 13,000,000 for more policemen when crime is at it’s lowest point per capita and has gone down steadily since the early 1990′s. Bailouts for private prisons, no details here, this makes it sound good , but it is misleading and mushy

charlie says:
February 7, 2009 at 2:15 pm

“Stimulus, is that spin for pork?”

Actually, Charlie, economic stimulus is spending,that’s what stimulus is. Perhaps a basic economics lesson is in order here. In a slowed economy people aren’t spending and there is no demand for the goods that have been produced. Therefore companies lay off workers who themselves can’t now afford to spend. And the problem worsens. As it turns out, what we need is more spending. Therefore what we need is an injection of money into the system. The people who spend the most are the poorer folks, since they can’t afford to save, while the wealthy who would be the largest beneficiaries of a payroll tax holiday, for example, are more likely to save that money since they don’t have to spend every last penny to make ends meet.

Perhaps what Charlie has failed to notice from these very clear visuals of the stimulus plan, is that the large majority is still devoted to tax cuts. So the first question I might ask, is what did Charlie miss when reading this? This is more a tax cut bill than a spending bill. As all independent economics experts have shown, it is continued reliance on tax cuts that helped propel us into this crisis, and it is the same tax cuts that will not inject the necessary capital to move the economy forward, but in an effort to appease people like Charlie, the government has returned once again to an emphasis on tax cuts that will be saved by the rich and not injected into the economy. So I think people like Charlie can’t complain about a bill that’s meant to appease them, while not stimulating the economy as much as is needed.

Phil,
your right about one thing only…. Our troops are dying while we bitch. Someone has to bitch, you said its for the people??? What US people?? All I know is I am not playing what have you done for me lately. I just don’t want to pay more out of MY pocket for NON working, government help me by sending me weekly checks ppl. If ppl want a socialistic economy/government maybe they need to move to Europe. Its a joke ppl. its not the rich get richer its the government gets stronger the individual gets weaker. . Thats whats sick
and by the way GOD BLESS AMERICA. And god help her with these ppl in power today.
More of a tax cut?hahahahaha please. not even close.
and GOD Bless out troops.

Now I am by no means educated on finance or economics outside of the 2 classes I had to take in college but….If we are about to throw around 825 billion dollars (which is a shit ton of money) why we don’t do something very simple. Something like I don’t know there are how many people in the US something like 300 million, well why not just wipe the slate clean or something. I mean lets start over. I’m 29 and have 33k in student loans, wipe it out and you just stimulated my economy.

We need this country to get motivated again. We have too many people who want the easy way out and depend on welfare and government funded programs. What happened to living the dream and making the best of ourselves? Everyone complained about Bush and his trillion dollar deficit. Obama is going to put the new defict almost another trillion in one day! He might as well keep on going! You just can’t dump money into the system. Especially borrowed money. The more money that floats around the weaker the dollar gets. Remember those 4 dollar a gallon prices? We blamed that on a weak dollar, then we blamed the economy. Recessions come and go. We just have to wait this one out. Things will get better and we need to start believing that things will get better again. Maybe if we start saying that things will get better instead of scareing the country we actually might start turning this around.

I also wanted to add, we need everyone to get rid of their credit card debt. You can’t live with debt. Alot of our money is going to credit card companies who allow people to spend way to much money they don’t have then pay outrageous interest rates. I myself even pay hundreds a month into credit card debt. I will also be debt free in a year but that is alot of money I am paying back to a company instead of spending it out in the community. Credit cards need to be regualated more. I think the banks giving too big of loans that people can’t handle and credit cards are much to blame for this.

For all of the tax cuts, where is all of my money going to? The stimulas package talks about what we get back but not specifically who gets the payroll tax. what is the cut off? Is it for small income familys or does it apply for all of us. there are many gaps not fully expland in obama’s overall plan to get the united states back with a surplus.
I only can stand by for now and see where this rollarcoster takes us.

I dont know how much money all of you make but let me speak for those of us who are NOT “middle class”. I make just a little above federal minimum wage. I have no debt and no credit cards but I am struggling just to make ends meet. I dont qualify for any public assistance because I live alone. Tell me what Uncle Sam is going to do to help me!

Obama and his administration is a disgrace to American taxpayers and business owners who work there ass off everyday trying to live there dreams.. There trying to take away out freedoms and I’am not going down without a fight!

This message is for Colby. Basic biological science research is almost exclusively done by academia, which is funded almost entirely by grants. This basic scientific research identifies new targets for drug discovery, better treatment options for patients, and simply a better overall understanding of biological science and medicine. In this economy, researchers are struggling to secure funding. The research that is being funded is much more restricted and focused than it has been in the past. Researchers are unable to take risks and pursue scientific alternatives to current medical/biological issues because the funding is unavailable.

Five years ago, a class of Ph.D. candidates were asked what they wanted to do when they finished their dissertaions. 90% wanted to remain in academia and continue basic scientific research.
Two months ago, a class of Ph.D. candidates was asked the same question; only 20% considered staying in academia, citing the fear of not being funded as the reason for leaving academia.

Colby, you wanted to know why scientific research is in the stimulus plan. I would like to know if you would like a better understanding of the causes of cancer, a cure for Parkinson’s disease, treatment for MS. Without government funding of scientific research, scientists will find more lucrative positions at pharmaceutical companies, and basic scientific research will suffer

Personally, I would love to see the Administration restrict or entirely abolish outsourcing, as a means of stimulating the economy. Since about 2002, outsourcing labor to India and China has been rampant.

I was unemployed for two years due to my job being outsourced to India. I finally managed to get a comparable job back with the same company, and every day (now five years later) I continue to fight with the same people in India to keep this same job. Month by month, more and more of my duties continue to slip overseas.

If the Administration is really concerned about job loss and about ‘creating’ jobs, regulating or getting rid of outsourcing would bring back hundreds of thousands of good-paying jobs in IT, call center/customer service work, and data entry, just to name a few, that we once had here just a few years ago, and desperately need back.

I have noticed a lot of people complaining about others getting a free ride off the government. People are over exhausting the state funded programs mostly because work is so scarce these days, people are getting laid off everywhere, a lot of jobs are being shipped over seas. If someone wants to “Bitch” about people not working or having jobs let’s please take a look at how fat the crooked politicians wallets are getting, dirty cops and pocket judges seem to be doing well also. The people in power are indeed reigning with absolute power! It’s not about the rich getting richer?? Since when!?! You could ask someone that same question from the middle class if it wasn’t already extinct! There seems to be only two classes of people anymore, Low and Upper Class, Middle class is no longer an option. Someone is always going to have it better than you, also remind yourself that means someone will also have it worse than you. Debt…People are talking about please take my 30k debt away from credit card bills or student loans. Let’s talk about erasing the million dollar bailout, how about the Wall Street bailout? Even if the debt is suspended or banished we still are barely making it due to cost of living, inflation, and low minimum wage standards, jobs being shipped over seas amd this recession closing down so many businesses. I don’t think there’s anyone who would rather make a fraction on welfare then have a working wage, so please don’t flatter yourself. Hm, $300 bucks a month compared to say $1,200 a month, that’s a no contest. Some of the people on here think that people would rather live on welfare, you probably came from a wealthy family with a silver spoon crammed in your mouth. There are people who work themselves to death, though they may not drive around Luxury vehicles for 60k it doesn’t make them any less important or valuable. I come from a prominent family but I am no fool to hard work, I worked from the age of 14. I wonder how some of you would feel if you say worked in a restaurant waiting on people like yourselves. I wonder what it would feel like to be viewed from the end of the snout of someone else! God bless our troops. What we need to do is concentrate on helping one another and doing the best we can until the economy picks up. There are a lot of very good points on this page but also a lot of people who fail to walk in another persons shoes before they judge them or post their opinions, thanks.

After reading some responses I couldn’t help but to comment. A personal favorite of mine is “what can Uncle Same do for me?” Did you ever think about what you could do for Uncle Sam? C’mon people.. we need to stop looking to the government to solve our problems. From the looks of it, they are the ones causing them. Our country was founded by men who wanted minimal government involvement. We look to politians for the answers. They aren’t gods. America is made up of PEOPLE not POLITICIANS. But most of us feel the need to look to them for answers, and by doing so, we are giving up our power. This stimulus package is trying to fix things up. Let our economy fix itself by the people. The weak will eventually fail. We are bailing out companies who are bad at buisness. SO LET THEM FAIL. Soon enough another, stronger, well-minded company will take their place. Its the way it works. Lets just let THE PEOPLE get it done. Lets not fund the monster.

Wes, that is just ridiculous, and very Fight Clubesk of you. I think that it is a cool idea and all, but not practical by any means.

It is actually called the “free market system”. It is the basis of our economy. If the companies are failing at business then they should be allowed to fail period. What we have done with the banks and wall street is National Socialism. Pretty soon kids will be reading Marx in school for God sakes.

A lot of ranting not even associated with the facts at hand. Citizens took out risky loans on their house with full knowledge of both the terms of the agreement and the risk that historically comes with recessions.
Citizens took out large amounts of credit card debt knowing the interest rates they would need to pay and what the monthly payment would be, in exchange for the latest TV, $40K kitchen, whatever.
Historically, which approach has worked the best? Tax cuts have never statistically proven to stimulate the economy, only the coffers of politicians re-election funds. In combination with spending increases, tax cuts serve only to increase the national deficit. We are one of the most creative cultures on the globe and these are the only two ideas being discussed? One that I heard was to lower the percentage rate that we pay on our FICA tax but then extend the payment schedule to a ceiling of $150K instead of %100K. Keeps the fund in good health but gives people more in paycheck every single week. Make the change temporary until stabilization.
For more than 30 years, we have been warned that non-renewable energy was a finite resource. Our reaction? Live like energy addicts that could only envision life as in the 1950′s.
Sooner of later the note comes due. Adjust your lifestyle, send creative ideas to politicians (who clearly have no creative staff in their generous employment roles) and get busy building a New America that the world can see as a disparately needed leader in a time when respected leaders are non-existent. Forget about the politicians for a moment and think about the role model that we are setting as a culture. Whiners or Winners? Lackeys or Leaders?
Re-envision America.

I don’t see how some are complaining that the stimulus package puts MY money into pockets into non working people and welfare recipients. As the chart above shows, welfare is getting only $3 billion of the $825 billion package. That’s less that 0.5% of the package. You want to complain about the giving money to non working or welfare? Complain about the money that went to the hundreds of billions that went to the banks. The largest part of the stimulus plan is TAX CUTS ($351 billion). Buisness tax cuts, personal tax cuts, not spending.

If You don’t like socialist government programs? Then why not complain about eliminating social programs like SOCIAL Security, Medicare and Medicaid, Unemployment Insurance?? These are all government spending programs. Don’t like this stimulus package for its spending? then complain to cut away the spending for highways, school renovations and education credits. Let those who use the highways pay for it. Let those who use bridges and schools pay for them. I guess you don’t like your dollars going to social assistance in paying for highways, schools and bridges. The list goes on and on.

I don’t know about this plan, but I do know that I am disgusted that somehow we can find the money to fund this, but have never been able to fix our healthcare system or our educational system. Beautiful programs in both those areas would never have cost this much, and would have helped every single citizen of this country. Our priorities are just sad.

The numbers don’t add up…

“Who Does It Go To” comes to a grand total of $797 Billion. The break down of each of the “What Is It For” color blocks matches this [when rounding]. What happened to the $28 Billion that makes this a $825 Billion Dollar Economic Stimulus Plan?

I don’t know much about economics and such, but I do know that something is missing. What are they providing funding for that “We the people” get kept in the dark about??

I was just watching the Fort Meyer speech. He annouced the Senate passed the Stimulus and the stock market began to fall? I don’t think this plan is going to work. I don’t think there is really any answer to fix this problem….

I briefly watched his speech yesterday and he was trying to make the reporters understand that spending on energy updates to federal builders was going to stimulate the economy since it would put $$ into hands of employees working there, and at the same time have the government lower its energy useage. BS What does that do for the other 49 states populations who are struggling? How does that affect our job creation or increase business here? I understand that working out ways to cut down energy use and dependence on foreign oil is valid, but the President could have given out additional examples or more valid examples of how a government spending project broke down into how many more regular long term jobs get created, or long term how much energy spending is cut and what that cost reduction is.
My wife had a unique proposal back when the banking disaster swirled and started bringing everyone down: Stimulate the economy by giving every tax payer $100,000 ! Then each tax payer could be paying mortgages, paying off credit cards, buying houses, things, etc. That would have put money back into the economy, the banks would be flush(and would not have to get rid of their precious bad habits or companies rid themselves of airplanes or golden parachutes, etc.)

America is a nation of instant gratification with very few people on the street en even less so in Washington having the faintest grasp of macro-economics, or just economics for that matter. Furthermore people should look at an administartion or two ago for the root problem to the current financial crisis when it was propagated that every American should be able to own a home and sub-prime mortgages were born. Not only did the “poor” bought homes they could not afford but the wealthy as well. It seems to me that the Stimulus Plan once again is to favor the “poor” with borrowed money and the postponement of another financial crises.
The other falacy is the whole “do away with credit card debt” – rather do away with irresponsable use of credit cards and living beyond our means. Spending money stimulates the economy, is it notthe total curtailment of debt by the banks that is creating a lot of the current econimic woes?

guess what people, our tax dollars are meant to do something great that we are not capable of alone. everybody thinks it is their money, but if you or someone you know has received a grant, government insurance, used a road, bought a gallon of gasoline, or used the internet to bitch about something like this, then you owe something to the collective.

you say it is a crap load of money because your parents taught you the value of a dollar.
the real value of a dollar is what it can do for your community, you know, the people you have to look in the eye every freaking day. wake up tomorrow and take pride that you did something for somebody other than yourself, and be thankful that somebody greater than you had the balls to put it all together.

FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO INSIST ON COMPLAINING STOP COMPLAINING ABOUT ALL THIS SERIOUSLY>>>>>>WHAT ARE YOU DOING FOR THE ECONOMY???????????? I DIDNT HEAR YOU………..UMMMMM NOTHING MUCH ARE YOU………….I HAVE 4 KIDS, MARRIED, AND LIVE IN AN APARTMENT AND IN THE MEANTIME MY HUBBY IS GETTING LAYED OFF AND I STILL DONT GET HELP FROM THE STATE AT ~ ALL ~……….ATLEAST HE IS DOING SOMETHING……BEFORE YOUR QUICK TO JUDGE THINK ABOUT WHAT EACH OF US COULD DO TO HELP…….AND I MEAN LITTLE THINGS….LIKE TURNING OFF EVERY LITE THAT WE DIDNT NEED ON OR VOLUNTEERING TO HELP NEEDY FAMILIES OR ANYTHING ABOVE AND BEYOND THOSE THINGS….COME ON AND DO SOMETHING INSTEAD OF COMPLAINING…..WE ATLEAST HAVE SOME KIND OF FREEDOM AND FOOD UNLIKE OTHER PEOPLE AND OTHER COUNTRIES…….HELP DON’T COMPLAIN

I think we need to put money into education. It’s amazing how few people commenting here can spell! An educated workforce will be able to hold its own in the world.

Nobody seems to notice (especially Congress) that these bail-outs are un-Constitutional. Federal funds for education are also un-Constitutional (education is a states issue). As is federal spending for health care. Read the Constitution and make sure you know the difference between “provide” and “promote”. Had our government followed the Constitution, we wouldn’t be in this mess. In fact, quite the contrary.

Hey Onesbit,

Why is it the states responsibility to pay for your 4 kids. Here’s a clue, if you got 4 kids and living in an apartment, buy some condoms and become less of a social burden. It’s not my fault you refuse to use birth control, why should I have to pick up the tab for your life choices?

We are all in this together folks. None of us is more important than the whole. We are a nation that has been encouraged, not to find solutions, but to blame someone. That only divides us. I have some good friends who will never accept anything this administration says or does because they are Democrats. While I do not agree with that thinking I realize it is widespread in this country. If this administration fails, we all fail, Democrats, Republicans, everyone. There is no time to be an obstructionist, there is no time to stand on some outdated philosophy, or some hatred of another group. We are in this together. We succeed together, or we fail together. God help us all.

Some of you people have no clue what you are talking about. I am a food stamp caseworker and I see people everyday who are getting benefits and get a job just to quit that job when they find out their food stamp benefits are getting decreased. We are talking about $1500-$2000 a month in income compared to $300 a month in food stamps. Then there are the ones that say for months and months they just can’t find a job–which is incredibly false because I pass at least 5 fast food restaurants with now hiring signs on the sign out front everyday. But they don’t want those jobs. Then you have the ones that are claiming all kinds of depression and bipolar problems that say they are disabled and just want SSI. Even the illegal Mexicans have learned to come in and lie about their incomes and get benefits for their legal kids because you can’t track where they are working or what money is actually coming in. People want and expect the county offices to give them something just because they walked in the door. People who make 4 times the amount of money I do and just look at me in complete dismay when I tell them they are not eligible for benefits. They ask me what to do but have a fit when I tell them to cut off the satellite tv, get rid of half the bill on their cell phones, and get budget counseling. No one wants to be responsible for themselves and what they do anymore. Granted there are those out there with special needs and are unable to provide for themselves but the higher percentage are ones that can do but won’t do.

why not slash taxes by cutting goverment? seems like a much better cheaper stimulas plan to me.

Brilliant plan!

Kat I must say yu have great points. There are no taxes on food stamps? Correct. Groceries are expensive to the average working stiffs like you and I. I think folks preference of those benefits is not that absurd but if they give up 2000 a month salaries it is ridiculous.

Kat I must say you have great points. There are no taxes on food stamps? Correct. Groceries are expensive to the average working stiffs like you and I. I think folks preference of those benefits is not that absurd but if they give up 2000 a month salaries it is ridiculous.

HELP! DON’T COMPLAIN….THE PRESIDENT DID NOT MAKE THIS MESS>>HE’S TRYING TO FIX IT. LET’S PITCH IN!!!

Are you kidding? He just announced another TWO TRILLION in spending and you think he’s trying to FIX it? Hitting the bong a little early today, are we?

hey well my take on it is Obama is just throwing money at the problem its not going to go away. Think about it this way. If there is 2 trillion more dollars floating around in the economy that lowers the value of the dollar and inflation will go through the roof and then what? More people will need money because the people who are working will not be able to make ends meet anymore and will need help. Soon all companies that offer cost of living wage increases will have to lay off workers and more unemployment as more people need more money from the government. Then what? tell me where the incentive is to work anymore? whatever happened to the free worker and capitalism is the best way to produce an efficient and quality work force. History says so. The slaves in the south did shitty work cause there was no value no incentive to work hard or to improve themselves. The free labor system is the way to go. How is it possible to be 5th or 6th generation in this country and still be poor? The opportunities are there it just takes hard work. Giving people money to do nothing is not helping anything and is an insult to the hard working men and women of this wonderful country who are trying to make a living during this rough time. This country is the most powerful and Influential in the world. Lets keep it that way. I love my country and i respect the new commander and chief he has inherited a lot of problems. but i think he needs to re-look at some key issues. I have faith that this country is still under God Indivisible With Liberty and Justice For All. God Bless America and the brave men and women fight for mine and your freedom to write whatever you want on this page. Good luck Mr. President, and God Bless.

Pete – you are exactly right. Cutting government is ethe best way to solve the problem…stating it in an oversimplified way. How do we (the people) clean up our lives? By getting out of debt, saving, and spending money we actually have in hand. The government needs to massively cut spending by regular amounts annually…this is the only way to dig out. This method would take years and years, but might eventually work. But no. They want to slap another “stimulus” band-aide on it and hope the “spend/borrow your way out” method works. History proves that it won’t. Someone will eventaully have to pay the price. Keynesian economics is total fubar.

no matter how you see it the only people getting anything are the rich,the corporate bigwigs and the government.people who work and struggle to make what little life they have better are getting screwed as usual.you’re only kidding yourself if you believe the so called relief package is going to do anything but make government richer,they bailed out the banks and their greed is what got us here,not to mention the bushes and reagons

Sam: Define success, please. Is it successfully implementing socialism? is it successfully bankrupting America?? If you look at his plans, his success means the destruction of our country. I wish success for the U.S.A., and if it means the failure of BO, then I hope he fails big time.

I use all to take a close look at the bill. Look at all of the junk, the “little things” that they keep telling us is not important & that we do not care about. Why are they telling us not to care? because it revelas the truth. Look at the missing provision where only legal citizens get jobs & money. Take a look at all the crap in the bill.

Obama is nothing but a puppet for the NWO crowd, the great deciever which will lead our country into destruction.
http://www.obamadeception.net/

You all want something for nothing? It’s called BANKRUPTCY.
Sure, you have to pay a lawyer to get the ball rolling for you, but if you’re struggling with bills, credit cards, house, etc., then your best bet is bk. It’s a government program and everyone is eligible.

If the truth were known, if every person’s debt in the U.S. were totalled up, there wouldn’t be enough American money to pay it off. That, my fellow Americans is illegal and fraudulent, brought to you by none other than your friendly credit card company. Citi Financial, Bank of America, etc.

They took the risk and you were dumb enough to jump in the pool with them. File bankruptcy on your debt, keep all your stuff and make smaller payments for 5 years. It’s a no-brainer.

I am 14 years old. This “bailout” plan is the most ridiculous thing on the face of this earth, besides global warming, of course. If the federal government would just cut taxes instead of raising them, it would boost our economy. If the federal government would let us keep our money, we would SPEND it, not take it out of the stock market. Thus, this would solve our problem, though it would take time.

DON’T BE FOOLS. STOP BICKERING AMONGST YOURSELVES AND MOBILIZE. OUR BELOVED COUNTRY HAS GONE TO HELL AND ALL YOU ARE DOING IS COMPLAINING ON FACEBOOK. OBAMA IS A SYMBOL. IF YOU WISH TO POINT FINGERS POINT THEM AT YOUR CONGRESS, OR FURTHERMORE POINT THEM AT YOURSELVES WHO ELECTED THEM… MAKE THE CHANGE YOU DESIRE… GET REAL… LOOK AT THE HUMAN CONDITION. LOOK AT THE BATTLE OVER RESOURCES, THE HAVES BITTEN-AGAINST THE HAVE-NOTS. LOOK AT YOUR CONSTITUTION RIDDEN WITH PRINTS OF MISINTERPRETATION. LOOK AT YOUR GOVERNMENT CRUMBLING OVER BIPARTISAN FISSION. UNDERSTAND CHOMSKY, UNDERSTAND MARX, UNDERSTAND PLATO, UNDERSTAND HOBBES, UNDERSTAND LOA TZU, UNDERSTAND YOUR NEIGHBOR. e pluribus unum. TAKE ALL YOUR HOLY TEXTS AND SCRUB THEM FOR PURITY, THEN TAKE THEM SERIOUSLY, FOR THEY HAVE ALL BEEN EMBELLISHED BY THE NATURE OF MAN’S CREATIVITY AS WELL AS THE NATURE OF MAN’S LOVE AND DEVOTION (I WISH MY LOVE FOR MY COUNTRY COULD MATCH THAT OF SOME PEOPLES LOVE FOR THEIR RELIGION, DON’T YOU?). EDUCATE YOURSELVES AND ALLOW YOURSELVES TO BE EDUCATED BY EACH OTHER. TURN OF YOUR TELEVISION. WALK TO THE GROCERY STORE. STOP BUYING USELESS THINGS. FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS IN THE MEADOW AT DUSK (ITS BEAUTIFUL). TURN OFF YOUR PHONE AND RELEARN HOW TO COMMUNICATE WITHOUT ONE. PICK UP ONE PIECE OF LITTER IN YOUR LOCAL NEIGHBORHOOD EVERY DAY, IT’S EASIER THAN YOU’D THINK. STOP LIVING IN A STATE OF FEAR. FLY OUR COUNTRY’S COLORS WITH CONFIDENCE, ONLY WHEN YOU’RE CONFIDENT IN OUR COUNTRY. SAY HELLO, BE PERSONAL. STOP BUYING WHAT THEY’RE SELLING!!! PAY FOR WHAT YOU NEED. BUY LOCALLY, SELL LOCALLY, PRODUCE LOCALLY. MERGE PROPERLY IF YOU MUST DRIVE. SAVE OUR CHILDRENS’ MINDS, MAKE SURE THEY’RE LEARNING IN THEIR SCHOOLS… DON’T RUIN THIS, THERE MAY BE ONLY ONE CHANCE. UNCHAIN AMERICA!!! I MUST CUT MYSELF SHORT, THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME. PEACE TO YOU AND ONE LOVE. UNCHAIN AMERICA!!! [bmw]

Americans can never have enough.. Greed runs through your veins. Im not saying everyone is this way. But try and place yourself into a different and worse situation. Be grateful for what you have now, And start living within your own means.

Government doesn’t understands how to fix a problem anymore. All they know to do it print money and throw it at the situation or problem. But what’s another 825 billion compared to 10,727,710,460,609.02(I’m not positive on how accurate that is I just got it off some site)

These are words to the nation from the South. The Federal Government never bailed out the textile industry in the region when they started going belly-up. Why does the big companies have the opportunity to receive “rescue” money without any help for the stockholders? The idea of common sense government left the building with Elvis…

The stimulus plan will also provide a 60% subsidy on COBRA payments (compared to 80% employers subsidize). This should help a lot.

Right or wrong, a few tangential observations on the Obama plan and socialist economics:
1. The previous administration pushed all the traditional economic buttons and pulled all the traditional levers until they broke, and it barely brought us out of freefall. If a new approach works, awesome, if it fails, everyone who hates it will have the concrete evidence they need to justify reinstating the old guard.
2. It’s not just the people who put their faith in risky loans who are getting bailed out by the bank bailout- it’s everyone who had money in the banking system. Imagine if the bank you had all your money “stored” in failed because they made risky loans. A newer, stronger, more prudent bank may rise in its place, but your money is still gone. Similarly, I would imagine, with other sectors getting bailed out.
3. Whomever gets money from this is going to be happy to get money. Whomever the money comes from is going to be pissed at losing money. No single plan is going to make everyone happy but not piss anyone off.

hey sean just to through it out there. all your money in the banking system is insured by the federal goverment up to im not 100% sure but i believe it is up to $50,000, per account.

for what it is worth- ” it is what it is. Since the money is already gone to the banks – what we need to demand is that the banks such as WAMU and many others bring exported jobs back to USA from call centers all over the world” it is a disgrace to have our major companies exporting our entry level jobs to the Filipines, India., Malaysia etc. Here are some: AMEX, WAMU, DELTA airlines, EXPEDIA.COM, AND MANY OTHERS LAW FIRMS, MRI CLINICS AND THE LIST GOES ON AND ON.

I think we are all missing the point here. The President’s reasoning for promoting this bill, that clearly has little stimulus value and much payback to those groups that elected him, is that it promotes the very far left wing agenda he believes in. National health care, environmental funding, teacher salary issues, tax checks to those who don’t pay taxes (welfare) yet no check for those who earn $100K individually or more and pay a ton of taxes, and very little in personal or small business tax cuts. You can read the conference report yourself if you aren’t sure what’s in this. There is no hope and change in this administration, but old ideas that we’ve reformed once and are now heading back to. For those who voted for him, his promises are not reality. You may support him, but hold him to the fire… make him deliver the bipartisan, optimistic tone he promised. I certainly don’t hear it.

One more thing… for giggles, google Community Reinvestment Act. It’s the government mandate given to banks by Democrats that forced them to lend to those who would not have been approved in regular underwriting, but instead required relaxed underwriting to promote homeownership to every family. That is where this trouble started…

People like us, who are doing the right thing…. paying TAXES, paying there MORTGAGE, working everyday and not charging up there credit card are going to suffer the most. We can expect higher taxes to pay for the dumb asses who decided to buy a house they couldn’t afford, charged up all there credit cards and haven’t payed for any of it. They should have to file bankrupt. I think the whole world has gone mad. When we bought our first house, you actually needed some money down… called collateral…. what happened to those days. This stimulus package is going to put us further in dept and isn’t going to help the people who really need it… THE MIDDLE CLASS! The direction we are going in… we will all be bankrupt!

I have never taken advantage of any government welfare program but am tired of hearing the argument that all welfare is bad; it can serve a necessary purpose. For instance, there are a lot of hard working Americans who to no fault of their own have or will lose their jobs due to the bad economy. Many simply can’t afford to be out of work for 6 months to a year (which is realistically what is taking most people to find a new job these days). I think that an important distinction needs to be made (which never is) between people who take advantage and live off of the government for their lifetime versus those who take advantage of unemployment of other governmental programs temporarily during a difficult time. On the stimulus, Republicans seem to think of all spending as waste. I am not fully supportive of the Obama stimulus package but on the other hand don’t think that Republicans in particular give it enough credit. There is of course some “pork” in it but there is in every bill. However, the bulk of the package includes tax cuts (the part Republicans always like the best and wish there were more of), direct spending to state and local governments (this can be used to reduce their deficits, create jobs at the state and local levels) and direct relief (critical things such as extended unemployment benefits to allow people who lose their job a way to hang on and time to find a job in this economy, an increase in food stamp funding which is critical to assist those most in need, and a tax credit for home buyers to encourage home buyers to stop waiting on the side lines for prices to drop further and consider buying to get the housing market going again). I can’t tell you that Obama’s plan is perfect but I get sick of the universal statements I hear from critics that it’s ALL pork, that ALL spending is bad. Economists agree that there must be a stimulus and no one has offered a better alternative.

Bob: absolutely. The banks are insured because they all melted down some decades ago and Uncle Sam decided to step in. Not, perhaps, in the same way Uncle Sam wants to step in now, but all the same it was the folks who saved their money prudently in mattresses paying their taxes into a government program to help folks who had invested less intelligently.
Mitch: On point 1, that’s exactly what the liberal fringe felt the conservatives in charge were doing with tax breaks for big oil and other heavyweight supporters. I’m a little disappointed that that read was left open for this bill, but it’s not exactly unprecedented in government. On point 2, I’d actually prefer to see the liberal groups (MoveOn et al) rallying to force Obama’s campaign promises rather than even more radical changes, and hopefully once the stimulus goes through (even with all the liberal stuff that’s been building up in the pipeline for 8 years), they’ll be able to push for more bipartisan and accountability type stuff as the term progresses. Not perhaps likely, but hopefully. And I still don’t see why folks who did weather the crisis with nice secure $100K salaries are even so unwilling to give a little to the folks who were completely bankrupted by it
[various]: Legal bankruptcy does fix a number of problems, but from the individual’s side, it leaves a nasty imprint on credit histories, and credit does tend to help the economy if used in moderation, so I’ve heard. From the system’s side… I don’t pretend to know, but where exactly does the money come from to even out what the individual owes? Does the government pay anyway, or is it all the businesses the individual paid, who thought they had money in the bank, who foot the bill?
Nathan: Indeed, the best thing I have heard, repeatedly, out of Obama’s mouth is “If you can think of another good idea, tell me.” Okay, he may be biased in what he considers ‘good,’ but the offer is on the table, so by all means, do the research, run the numbers, and make a pitch to your local representatives. It can hardly hurt!

LET ME TELL HOW ME AND MY WIFE FEEL, WE ARE BIG PRESIDENT OBAMA SUPPORTS, WE BELIVE LIKE THIS THAT WE AS A PEOPLE ARE TO BLAME FOR THE MESS THIS COUNTRY IS IN. IF WE ALL UNDERSTAND THAT WE ELECTED THE PEOPLE THAT REPRESENT EACH AND EVERY ONE OF US, AND OBVIOUSLY THOSE PEOPLE FOR THE PAST 8 YEARS DID NOTHING FOR THE COUNTRY AS A WHOLE OH I’m SORRY THEY DID PUT US IN A WAR, CONTIUE TO PUT A DRAIN ON THE NATIONAL DEFECIT, LET BILLONS OF DOLLARS FLOAT OUT TO NOWHERE AND TO PEOPLE AND COMPANIES THAT DIDN’T NEED IT. THE PLAN THAT THE PRESIDENT HAS MIGHT NOT BE A QUICK FIX IT IS MORE OF A LONG TERM FIX. IT MIGHT NOT BE THE BEST OR WORST PLAN BUT FROM A MAN WHO IS IN BUSSINESS SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO FIRE AND LET ALL THE DEAD WEIGHT GO SO YOU CAN RENUILD AND BECOME STRONGER. GOING INTO MORE DEBT IS NEVER THE FIX. I STRUGGLE FROM DAY TO DAY, I DONT DRIVE A $100,00 CAR OR LIVE IN A $2,000,OOO HOME, BUT I DO WORK HARD FOR THE LITTLE BIT I DO HAVE AND ATLEAST THE PRESIDENT IS DOING MORE FOR OUR FUTURE THAN THE PEOPLE ELECTED INTO OFFICE 8 YEARS AGO. ONE LAST THING ASK YOURSELF THIS IF YOU COMPLAIN SO MUCH ABOUT ALL OF THIS WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO COMPLAIN FOR YOU ELECTED THE PAST 8 YEARS? SO SUCK IT UP AND DEAL WITH IT OR RUN FOR AN ELECTED OFFICE

“You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the rich out of
freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must
work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything
the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the
people get the idea that they do not have to work because the the other
half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea
that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what
they work for, that my dear friend is about the end of any nation.”
“You cannot multiply the wealth by dividing it.”

Con. Mitch is Right

This Entire Plan is a WASH-OUT !!!
Not enough Tax Cuts and $600 Billion of Wasted Spending. Harry Reid did get his $8 Billion for his Pet Project (High Speed Railway) Though. Obama has the Rest to Pay off his Supporters !! The reason Senator Gregg stepped back is because of this Plan and the fact that Obama took the Census out of the Dept. of Commerce and gave it to Rohm. This has never been done before.
We need an Economic boost, tax cuts, jobs and money in the hands of the people NOW. Not in 2 yrs!
The Promises Obama made and the Results of his Promises DO NOT MESH, this will be his downfall !!!

for all yall that want tax cuts get real man that just means your a greedy person and the last time i read the bible it states for the of money IS THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL your telling me that tax cuts are the answer you sound like every other greedy republican. get a grip and stop crying. its time for a change throwing money at the problem didnt help reminder bushs bailout plan nobody knows where that money is

@ Wes

I’m not sure if you’re advocating killing all of the creditors (and banks, essentially) or if you’re advocating run-away inflation.

We can’t print our way out of this mess. We are a broke and broken nation. We have been borrowing from the China, Japan and anyone else who would buy our worthless treasuries for the last ten years and now the party over. Wake up America, cheap credit is now a thing of the past. But our Government is lost for answers and short on solutions. The only thing they can come up with is to throw money at the problem and that never works. Savings rates need to go way up and we all need to live within our means. The government’s attempt to prop up the over priced phony housing market and bail out banks is just going to waste a lot of money and put off the inevitable. The banks that are insolvent need to be allowed fail and home prices need to drop to 3x average income which is the historical norm.

Wanna write in ALL CAPS a little bit more? The only way for this economy to truly fix itself is… by itself. Adam Smith anybody? You can’t artificially control the market by throwing money at it. It will eventually fail if it isn’t allowed to control itself. The invisible hand of the economy will eventually right itself but not with so much government interference. It’s like overbearing parents who never let there child make a mistake. He/she will grow up to be a weaker and less-successful person because of it.

Echo Robertson. Obama is just another puppet president for the American sheeple to ooh and ahh at, while the Federal Reserve pulls the strings, makes him dance, and steals whatever purchasing power is left of the dollar.

9/11 was an inside job.
The Fed imploded the economy.
The New World Order is at our doorstep.

How much longer can we collectively deny what is right in front of our faces?

I keep up with the news in any way I can, but still was hazy on how the stimulus plan was actually structured. In an era of insight and analysis-based newscasting, I thought this posting was helpful, easy to read, and fact-based.

Which is why I’m so surprised to see vehement, political replies attached to it! Commentary on whether you do or do not like how the money is being spent– as in, what amounts DO you think should be allocated– make sense. Democratic or republican dogma has little place here.

How will payments work under COBRA? Since the plan is for the goverment to pay 65% and I pay the other 35%, how will payments be made?

First, the “Tax Cuts” are not Tax Cuts – they are transfers of wealth. The vast majority of recipients of the “Tax Cuts” will receive more than they paid in. We are creating a huge class of people who do not pay taxes at all. This is wrong.

Don`t worry,be happy! Why worry? Each day after any one of us born,it could,or might be our last. I`m not being sarcastic either,that`s the way it is. One day your all here,one split second later,your gone forever. Within only 30-40 years,after your dead,no one remembers you ever lived at all,you were ever here. Your children? They now are in their late 50`s,early 60`s. Oh sure,they remember you,and think of you,from time to time. But with their own age starting to get up there,they are thinking more and more,about themselves,there own mortality,their own kids,Grand kids,you name it. Big money,will always get it`s way,and the big dough is overseas now, we`ve been shipping it out of country for 30 plus years. It`s going to take more than just Obama,to help the country. It`s going to take all of us,Americans working for years,living under our means,saving 15%-20% of take home pay each month. Eating at home, not out somewhere. One last note to chainsaw,who wrote in above also,on the 16th. Sir,you haven`t told this comment page,who you are,what country you are from? To generalize me,as a “sheeple”,who ooh`s and ahh`s, at Obama`s puppet show. “While the Fed pulls the strings”. 9/11 was an inside job? New world order is at our doorstep? Collectively deny,how much longer? Tell ya what. You have read to many books,and you feel all radicalized inside the head. Hey,and where have you been on this “Fed Reserve pulls the strings”,business?? Don`t look now honey but,it`s been that way since 1971 when then Pres. Nixon took America off the Gold standard,and devalued the dollar by 10% over a weekend,on a Sunday,and you say,Obama`s a puppet!? Just how old are you anyway? In your 20`s 30`s,what? Having lived in Berkeley,California during the late 60`s,early 70`s,and Yes,I was there when Peoples Park came into being. At 20-21-22 years old I,had already lived,what you seem to dream about,and think you know it. While everybody else is a sheeple.******* The Fed,prints all the paper money(it`s their job remember)their asked too,by not only printing for banks in the States,but also for world demand,(half the world uses our money anyway)so please pipe down,I heard all the same kind of talk,there and then 38,39 years ago. It was just as stupid then,as it sounds now. Take it from a aging hippie longhair who made good. John Lennon said, “It`s all in your mind”. 60 years of life on,I can say,we are all our own minds,and our minds are what we are,have become,what we sound like,and look like to others. 50 years from now,it will be 2059,all of what we`er living through will be history. So don`t worry,you`ll most likely be dead.I know,I will be,either that,or I`ll be 110.

this comment is for tusteps1307, wake up pal, start reading the newspaper instead of sleeping under it!! im not a business owner getting the bail out, i am the working class, working for guys like you for the amount of money you feel is sufficient enough to sustain life. if tycoons like you dont offer raises to employees and overtime, health care coverage costs are next to impossibe when you are already struggling hand over fist to buy groceries on the table to feed your family and try to keep you head afloat to pay the bills. if money grubbers like you dont put money in peoples pockets the consumer cant stimulate the economy very well with unemployment benefits and welfare checks. Ill bet you live better than most you selfish money grubber!! slavery has a new name in this day and age its called a job. people have no choice but to work for what they can get anymore.

Give money to the banks to start loaning again?
–Free money. They hold onto it. No services rendered.

Give the wealthy more tax cuts to ‘create jobs’?
–Free money. They hold onto it. No services rendered.

Directly hire the contractors yourself to perform a service, like infrastructure, that you already desperately needed?
–Money that must be … Read Moreearned to perform an actual service and paid to people that basically live paycheck to paycheck who, collectively, consume far more food, goods, and services by sheer numbers than the fewer that would be getting these large tax cuts.

Money circulates. Services rendered.

Looks fairly good to me,funny how when times are tough people complain, when something is done about it people complain – stop complaining and cut up your credit cards – pay them off. Demand better quality products, not cheap ones from wallmart and the like.

Build a better community and start donating your extra time to local causes. If we all took responsibility back America would start to change. Its our own fault it is as it is now it is our responsibility to all fix it and then some – good luck if you are up to the challenge.

i’m already sick of hearing people complain about this stimulus package. anyone who thinks government spending on national infrastructure is such a horrible thing, please do the following:
- do not drive on expressways. they were built by the federal government.
- do not go to public universities. they were set up by government programs.
- do not accept social security payments. it’s government money.
- do not use electricity. much of it comes from dams and other facilities built by the government.
- do not live in any of the 30 states (plus DC) that already receive more government money than they pay in taxes and are already wards of the federal government.

we’ve now spent $600 billion destroying and rebuilding iraq, and the conservatives think that was money well spent. god forbid we spend a similar amount to rebuild this country and put our own people to work.

I have wondered as a Republican, who voted for Obama, how the GOP can even show their faces. THEY put us into debt. THEY made poor choices for 8 years by squandering our money and now THEY want to scream that government is wasting money on a stimulus plan? Give me a FREAKING break! IF the GOP had done THEIR job right while THEY were in control we would NOT be in the mess we are in now.
Obama is not perfect and I do NOT agree with everything in his plan BUT he is at least attempting to do something right which is MORE than those poor excuses for Republicans are doing or have done! Reagan is rolling in his grave. I mean come on! We are suppose to listen to Rush the Magic Blowhard who things women invite sexual abuse or David Vitter who gets caught in a prostitution ring????Or Sarah Palin whose parents HAD to be breeding for stupid when they had her?????
This plan will not be enough but even if we have to have more? It will still be LESS than Bush squandered over 8 years in office.
Shame the GOP did not stop him.

I have wondered as a Republican, who voted for Obama, how the GOP can even show their faces. THEY put us into debt. THEY made poor choices for 8 years by squandering our money and now THEY want to scream that government is wasting money on a stimulus plan? Give me a FREAKING break! IF the GOP had done THEIR job right while THEY were in control we would NOT be in the mess we are in now.
Obama is not perfect and I do NOT agree with everything in his plan BUT he is at least attempting to do something right which is MORE than those poor excuses for Republicans are doing or have done! Reagan is rolling in his grave. This plan will not be enough but even if we have to have more? It will still be LESS than Bush squandered over 8 years in office.
Shame the GOP did not stop him.

You’re all such greedy buggers in The good old US of A. You’ve borrowed, lived on credit and bought stuff by borrowing from other countries. You’ve put your trust in the American dream that has become, commit fraud by Ponzi and get rich quick schemes .
Well, the bill has to be paid now and quite frankly 5 trillion dollars will not ease your situation, or mine for that matter. You have an automobile industry that has never managed to sell abroad and only at best had combined 40% market share at home! If you can’t sell at home then you have no chance of selling abroad. Your debt to The world is 350% of GDP!The only way now is to devalue the dollar, swallow your pride and make sure that the fat cats don’t put you through this again. But then again we never learn do we.
Start saving and paying cash instead of credit!
By the way don’t blame George Bush. You put him there twice. But it was your own greed that got you where you are today. Unrealistic dreams. Ahhhh dream on friends and get real.
Take care The baldchemist

One last addendum (sorry I haven’t been able to track the discussion for a few days):

http://www.recovery.gov/

A similar breakdown of the bill, and promises to add updates and tracking info as the dollars actually get spent. Maybe it doesn’t address complaints about where the money is targeted, but it’s certainly a bigger effort at transparency than I ever recall seeing from any administration.

My problem with the spending package is that only a small portion goes to “Infrastructure” and “Incentives”. I am all for those!

Most goes to Congressional pet projects and social spending that will not stimulate the economy. They are nothing more than a capital shift from one segment to another… with high interest penalties and all the money shaved off by bureaucrats (Federal, State and Local) as they doll out the money to friends and family (jobs and contracts).

One thing is for CERTAIN ! ! !

IF this package does not meet it’s goals, THEY will be back taking more of our money and the cycle continues.

In the end… WE WILL ALL PAY in inflation (increased costs of goods and services), higer interest rates (increased costs of goods and services) and high unemployment (Study the Carter years and his monitizing the debt. And just remember, these cost increases hurt the poor and middle class more than the wealthy… it’s called “cutting your nose off…”

Folks, this is not a silly football game between the Democrats and the Republicans…. it’s our Freedom versus Big Government!

Perhaps these all hail The One types can explain “why” so few including the G7, Wall Street and credit rating services think this stimulus bill stinks on ice.

Doing “something – anything – and quickly” is no reason to celebrate if it puts the nation into hock so deep, we may not recover.

tusteps1307 – get your biblical verses right; “love of money is the root of all evil.” Stop quoting what you’ve been told and read.

Here’s my limited understanding of what is happening to us currently. For quite a few years, we, as a country (and most of the developed world) had a negative savings rate. This essentially means that we were borrowing more money than we were making. Ok, that’s easy enough to understand.
Now because the typical consumer was spending so freely, and consuming more, naturally companies across the world ramped up production to meet this accelerated demand. Supply and demand working together as usual.
What we are going through is simply business (mainly banks) and many consumers realizing that they simply cannot continue their own deficit spending. There’s no money left! Naturally demand wanes, and companies are forced to cut supply, contracting drastically across all markets.

I realize that this may seem fairly obvious to most educated readers, however I bring this up because one of the goals of this stimulus plan is to encourage consumer spending, to bring it back up to pre-contraction levels. I simply cannot support that because all it does is encourage the same type of consumer behavior that got us into this mess in the first place.

I cant claim sides with either party during this whole debacle, mostly because I am a firm believer of personal responsibility. For those “homeowners” (I use the term loosely; anyone who owes money on their mortgage doesn’t really own their home) who cant make payments on their loans because they didn’t take the time to see how they would be able to afford payments, I, as a taxpayer, don’t expect to be on the hook and liable for your mistake (i.e. the homeowner’s mortgage bailout b.s.). Likewise, I would hardly go looking for a handout. I am disgusted by the increasing feeling of entitlement and victimization among Americans. Accept a little responsibility and move on.

Lastly, if you made it this far, congratulations. Parting shot –

Why can we easily spend $30 billion on highway projects which provide short term, low paying wages (plus, honestly, these extra contracts will allow current paving companies to continue operations as normal, they aren’t going to expand capacity immensely) but the production of the F-22 and the F-35 as replacements for our decades old air defense is up in the air? Most F-15′s and F-16′s are 20 years old or more – who drives a car for that long even? The jobs supporting production of these weapons platforms are well paying, high quality, long-term jobs – and if you include every single job affected in some small way by continued production of these planes, you’re somewhere in the neighborhood of 90,000. Can someone explain that to me?

Argue while you can. The fact of the matter is both sides of this coin are bad. Politician and Bank Executive comes together too often these days. The powerful float in and out of the same seats of power, sucking us dry. The “FED” or United States Federal Bank (there is nothing federal about it) just keeps this stranglehold to choke the masses of true freedom. Trust not any politician or banker. And any plan of hope from these people may seem to work but in the end will fall short as always. Get out while the getting is good.

What people tend to forget is that the government is not supposed to bail people out. The government is for protection…. foreign and domestic. This plan is doing little to actually help “stimulate” the economy. It is punishing the rich and helping people who cant support themselves. I understand that a few percent of the population are incapable of supporting themselves but the deadbeats who are living on welfare need to wake up and smell the coffee. Every time the government tries to put its nose in something, it generally ends up failing. As my history teacher says, “once the nose of the camel is in the tent, the whole camel is in”.

People let me ask you ONE simple question. Where is the money comming FROM? I cannot find it anywhere. Everyoune is excited about profits. That I can understand. But let’s talk about costs. What are thay? Does anybody knows that?

what happens to homeowners who are running out of their credit line with their lenders? how does this plan save homeowners in this situation? Why doesnt anyone ever mention the home less problem in this country?

I am so sick of hearing about how the dems are punishing the rich give me a break if you make over 250,000 a year you are not rich but you may be comfortable. My sister and her husband made 36,000 last year try to live on that and then complain because your taxes are too high and do you know how much of a tax refund she recieved 400.00 there is something very wrong in our country when someone who makes 250 is paying less taxes than a person making 36 and don’t give me that stuff about go to college the truth is that some people can’t or aren’t capable so does that mean they should suffer. these people are hard working and do the best they can to pay bills and go to work everyday they are not asking for a hand out just a fair tax base. I find it so hard to believe that people are this greedy that they don’t want to pay a little more tax for making that much more money. We have voted bush is out live with it!!!

I have a problem with this whole plan I mean 1) it really is just throwing money at the problem to put it simply. 2) its going to push the national deficit to more than Bush spent in the last 4 years in just 1 year. 3) that is going to just be a short term gain because now lets track what happens to all that money…1st it goes into the peoples pockets who need them the most. (oh boy!) then prices rise through the roof according to a simple economic theory proven over and over again to be true. So as prices continue to rise bc money will be basicly worthless, the money you are giving all these people is worth less and less and has less buying power or real value. So the middle class who will be getting much less financial help then the bottom 15 or 20% will be worse off bc since we all use the same money, their money’s real value and buying power drops too. except they arent getting hand-outs. but wait there is more what about the Tax system you say? here it is! 1) taxs will be cut (yay!) but that just puts more money in everyone’s hands (refer to part 1) =( 2) now lets think 15 years in the future how are we going to be paying for all of these programs, and stimulus? hummm lets ask future bob- How is the USA paying for past president Obama’s stimulus back in 2009? Bob- “well i have a job cause of him, but the taxes have got so bad because China is now cashing in on their over $500 billion dollars of US bonds that have just matured over 15 years” ouch that is rough on the next generation, and probably the next 4 presidents after Obama, but why would he care he is going to go down in history as the man who gave out more money then the lottery has ever. and gave so many people jobs too! so i guess its too bad we wont have him to save the USA from that future disaster. its not that hard to figure out, money has to come from somewhere and if it is from the government its eventually going to come from your pocket. i would think twice before letting Obama spend the next 2 generations of my children and even my children’s children’s money (sorry that last part sounded awkward). But who cares? i know he doesnt.

I do not know the answers and there is plenty of blame to go around it starts with me , us and most. I think the last depression we pulled out of had nothing to do with all the things tried by goverment. It happened when we were attacked and everyone said I don’t care what it takes but I will stand no matter what with my follow americans. I have not heard one thing positive for 15 years about this country . We have let our greed and selfhsness to destroy our faith in ourselves and is not the whole problem confidance?

To an extent, yes confidence and attitude can influence the direction in which the country moves but I wouldn’t agree that it’s necessarily the whole problem. It’s a matter of deregulation v. regulation. Firstly, the government under Clinton’s administration adopted a very deregulatory status that allowed financial instututions to, in essence, operate as they see fit. It was around this time that banks started to combine with mortgage brokers and offer a larger variety of services, hence the outrageous loan policies that are partially to blame for the crisis. Along comes Bush whose administration freaks when these companies start to tank, an inevitable outcome of their actions and one that is not necessarily bad when concerning a free market economy. Rather than letting these companies, who no longer benefit the market due to a lack of demand, fizzle from their own stupidity, the government props them back up with bail-outs and then attempts to jumpstart the economy by throwing money at it. In simpler terms, the demand for Good A was high, and the companies producing Good A were allowed to expand accordingly. The shift became towards Good B which caused Good A companies to fail. The government decides to give money to Good A and create jobs (think infrastructure) to produce Good C. What the hell happened to Good B? The Obama administration has the right idea but they need to stop treating jobs like a commodity. Regulation is important to protect the people from the economy and also to protect the economy from the people. But over time the market fixes itself. Imagine a pan of water representing the economy. It’s sloshing back and forth (Democrat v. Republican views) and the government is attempting to smooth it out. The only problem is, whenever you touch the water it just creates more ripples. Only leaving it alone allows it settle naturally.

Why is there so much emphasis on highways and not railways? We can no longer subsidize automobiles without having a huge drain on the economy! Public transit is more efficient and cost effective.

This is an old beef, but it really ticks me off when a poster adopts a condescending tone, presumes to “teach” some other poster about economics, then proceeds to spout utter nonsense. So here goes, my comments follow the curvy brackets }}}.

>>>workingmom says:
February 9, 2009 at 9:54 am
charlie says:
February 7, 2009 at 2:15 pm
“Stimulus, is that spin for pork?”
Actually, Charlie, economic stimulus is spending,that’s what stimulus is. Perhaps a basic economics lesson is in order here. In a slowed economy people aren’t spending and there is no demand for the goods that have been produced. Therefore companies lay off workers who themselves can’t now afford to spend. And the problem worsens. As it turns out, what we need is more spending. Therefore what we need is an injection of money into the system.

}}}}Stimulus is spending, but not all spending stimulates. Government spending that inefficiently rewards favored voting blocs runs the risk of merely redirecting resources, and it’s nearly impossible to predict the point at which excessive government deficit spending becomes merely inflationary — though if Obama gets his million budgetary wishes, we’ll likely find out. Economists and pundits point to underemployment in the economy or “slack,” and they suggest that we can safely continue deficit spending so long as the economy still has unused capacity for growth. They said, in short, if you don’t have growth, you won’t have inflation. And they were wrong. It’s called stagflation, and it’s Jimmy Carter’s legacy.

>>>>The people who spend the most are the poorer folks, since they can’t afford to save, while the wealthy who would be the largest beneficiaries of a payroll tax holiday, for example, are more likely to save that money since they don’t have to spend every last penny to make ends meet.

}}}}Nonsense. A basic payroll tax holiday as entertained (and ultimately rejected) for the stimulus plan provides everyone with the same relief in dollars, not as a percentage of total income. As a result, it disproportionately benefits “poorer folks.”

>>>>Perhaps what Charlie has failed to notice from these very clear visuals of the stimulus plan, is that the large majority is still devoted to tax cuts. So the first question I might ask, is what did Charlie miss when reading this? This is more a tax cut bill than a spending bill.

}}}}Nonsense. The “very clear visuals” show $244B of $787B as “tax cuts.” That’s 31%. A lot of politicians will be relieved to hear that’s a majority. In addition, $55B of the $244B is actually “tax credits,” much of which will be paid to people who don’t pay income taxes — reducing the “tax cut” portion to about 25%. This is a spending bill. To paraphrase, “Perhaps a basic math lesson is in order here.”

>>>>As all independent economics experts have shown, it is continued reliance on tax cuts that helped propel us into this crisis, and it is the same tax cuts that will not inject the necessary capital to move the economy forward, but in an effort to appease people like Charlie, the government has returned once again to an emphasis on tax cuts that will be saved by the rich and not injected into the economy. So I think people like Charlie can’t complain about a bill that’s meant to appease them, while not stimulating the economy as much as is needed.

}}}}Nonsense. Please provide the names of the experts — and since it’s “all,” we’ll understand if it takes some time. Better yet, name one economist who suggests tax cuts alone are the problem. If it’s anyone with an ounce of credibility, and not a byline in the New York Times, the Nation or Mother Jones, you’ll have a start on your mission. Charlie may not have fleshed out his thought about “pork” in much detail, but workingmom, your response is half-baked tripe. Please get your facts together before convening your next economics lesson.

What about where it's all coming from?