The “economic stimulus” plan being hammered out by Bush, Bernanke, and the Democrat controlled Congress is a farce and a scam, and a slap in the face of every American citizen-except maybe the top 1%. Worse, once passed, it will add another $145 billion debt on the backs of our children and grandchildren so that people can get a one time cash infusion of $500 – $800 a piece.

Hey, I’d like to have some extra greenbacks in my wallet too, but at what cost? At to what real benefit? And why are those people most likely to really feel some benefit from the money excluded completely from the plan?

Let’s look at the cost-$145 billion. Last time I checked we were running a deficit budget, so where is this money going to come from? The government wants to send every taxpayer a check for up to $800. That’s not a tax credit that would just decrease this years tax receipts, that’s cash out of the treasury, cash that isn’t there to spend. How will the government finance this? More borrowing from our foreign friends? The answer is simple- future generations of Americans- our children and their children- will bear the burden of this ultimately futile give-away. The government will get the money from somewhere-hell, they may just print some more currency and inject it into the system (which of course would make the dollar worth even less, making the “stimulus” part of the plan null and void at the gate)-and our progeny will have to pay. It’s just another play now, pay never kind of scheme that politicians love to pull out, because everyone feels good today and they get to say they did something helpful. The ‘pay never’ part means that they (the politicians) and the benefactors (today’s taxpayers) will be dead long before the debt borrowed for the “stimulus” is paid off.

To recap so far- THE GOVERNMENT DOESN’T HAVE $145 BILLION TO GIVE YOU. DO YOU REALLY WANT THEM TO SHACKLE YOUR KIDS’ FUTURE EARNINGS SO THAT YOU CAN HAVE AN EXTRA $800 RIGHT NOW? DON’T YOU LOVE YOUR KIDS???

Secondly, who really benefits from this “stimulus” package anyway? Well, ostensibly, every taxpayer will get a check from the government. Then there are tax breaks for businesses, so they can

“make major investments in their enterprises this year. Giving them an incentive
to invest now will encourage business owners to expand their operations, create
new jobs, and inject new energy into our economy in the process. ” –Bush,
1-18-08

The Democrats want an extension on unemployment benefits too. So far, both parties are embracing the worst element of the plan, the cash give-away. They are using the tax breaks for businesses and the social program extensions as bargaining chips so that each side can claim they did more. So at first glance, it seems that the beneficiaries of the “stimulus” plan would be Americans who pay taxes, maybe businesses, and maybe the unemployed somehow. While this may look good- after all every one benefits, right?-it is really just smoke and mirrors. The whole point of an economic stimulus plan is to stimulate the economy, but we don’t need stimulus. We need reform. The game of borrowing, shifting, bribing, and pandeirng is what got us to where we are- well, that and a bunch of spend-thrift dunces running the show-and this plan seeks to solve the problem using the same tried and failed strategies. “Give ’em a bunch of cash and they’ll forget how bad things are for a bit,” seems to be the political strategy of the day.

So who are the real benefactors of this “stimulus” plan? Well, Fed Chief Ben Bernanke gives it all away.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke entered the stimulus debate Thursday,
appearing before the House Budget Committee to endorse the idea of putting money
— as soon as possible — into the hands of those who would spend it quickly and
boost the flagging economy.

Especially important is making sure a plan can put cash into the hands
of poor people and the middle class, who are most likely to spend it right away,
he said, though the Fed chairman added that research shows affluent people also
spend some of their rebates. –AP

Gee Ben, why don’t you just have the government send all that money directly to the business community and cut the middle man out altogether? I mean, how can $800 really help anyone, except for the Chinese who make all the crap that they hope you will buy at Wal-Mart, or the oil barons and shieks if we use the money as the president contends, “to help meet their monthly bills, cover higher costs at the gas pump, or pay for other basic necessities.” Sure you could rush out and spend the cash on things you don’t need, or you could pay off a bill, maybe two, or maybe your $800 will help cover the overdue mortgage for one more month, thus forestalling the foreclosure man for another day. But beyond that first month, what kind of stimulus benefit does this really create? None at all. And if you believe that it will you should have your head examined. You’ve fallen for more of Bush’s fuzzy math.

Recap so far-THE GOVERNMENT DOESN’T HAVE THE MONEY TO GIVE AWAY. IF YOU LIKE THIS PLAN, YOU DON’T LOVE YOUR KIDS. $800 WON’T MAKE A REAL DIFFERENCE IN THE LIVES OF MOST PEOPLE ANYWAY-AT BEST IT WILL PAY OFF SOME CREDITOR OR END UP IN THE WAL-MART SAVINGS ACCOUNT. IF YOU THINK THIS PLAN WILL HELP OUR ECONOMY MUST BE A POLITICIAN.

Finally, since these “economic stimuli” are all aimed at taxpayers, the working poor and others at the lowest rungs of economic society get no “stimulus” at all, and these are the folks whose lives would most greatly be impacted by a cash infusion. $800 could rent a warm room, or maybe get a little extra food into the kids’ bellies for a change. It could provide comfort for a short time to someone who really needed it. But, nah, those people, many who are employed full time at several part-time minimum wage jobs and thus have no federal income tax bill don’t need help, right? They don’t pay taxes anyhow, right?

Final recap- THE GOVERNMENT DOESN’T HAVE $145 BILLION TO BEGIN WITH. YOUR KIDS MEAN LESS TO YOU THAN A NEW FLATSCREEN TV. THE $800 IS REALLY JUST A BRIBE TO YOU AND A GIFT TO BUSINESSES WHO ALREADY HAVE ALL THE MONEY. YOU LOVE POLITICIANS WHO WILL SELL YOUR CHILDREN INTO BONDAGE. STIMULUS IS THE BIGGEST WORD GEORGE BUSH KNOWS. ANYONE WHO LIKES THIS PLAN HATES THE POOR AS MUCH AS THEY HATE THEIR OWN KIDS.

So there you are happy campers. The economic “stimulus” plan that promises to keep things as they are, that is, in the shadows and out of control. A plan that does nothing to address the reasons why our economy is a shambles and does nothing to change the status quo. It is less than a band-aid on a machete wound. It is pandering to the public. And it a a complete bipartisan failure. I’ll leave with a few quotes…

“What he believes is that we’ve got to do something that is robust. It’s going
to be temporary and get money into the economy quickly,” Treasury
Secretary Henry Paulson said Friday on CBS’s “The Early Show.” “It’s
going to be focused on consumers, individuals, families — putting money in their
pocket. And it’s going to be focused on giving businesses the incentive to hire
people, to create jobs.”

te>Government must “spend the money, invest the resources, give the tax relief in a
way that again injects demand into the economy, puts it in the hands of those
who need it most and into the middle class … so that we can create jobs.”
–Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Representatives

“Putting money into the hands of households and firms that would spend it in the
near term” is a priority. –Ben Bernanke, Chariman of the Federal
Reserve

Here’s $800 bucks. Go create a job for someone this week-someone in China that is.

“By passing an effective growth package quickly, we can provide a shot in the
arm to keep a fundamentally strong economy healthy.” George W. Bush,
President of the U.S.A.

Fundamentally strong economy? Healthy? Shot in the arm? Can anyone say “delusional?”

All this will come to pass though, and the underlying problems will be papered over like yesterdays fish. And the hole will get bigger my friends, the hole will get bigger. Without fundamental reform and political restraint there will be no economic reform, only more economic tomfoolery. Without individual restraint and without a solid employment base, there will be no economic growth for the vast majority of Americans.

Enjoy your rebate, brought to you by Fuzzy Math Incorporated.

(cross posted at Bring It On!)