Speedy stimulus- why it is a bad idea
There has been much controversy over the proposed stimulus plan recently and it is with due cause. The proposal is huge in terms of both money and scope. Yet, many supporters of the plan are saying that we should just pass it quickly because it is an emergency. Is this really the way huge government decisions should be made? That is like saying a doctor should quickly give a suffering patient any medicine he or she sees because it is an emergency. Obviously, that is not a good choice because there could be side-effects, which could be avoided. It is the same thing with this plan. We can’t jump into a near-trillion dollar expenditure just like that.
Some of the money in this plan is just ridiculous, going to things that really aren’t important at all. It has been loaded with pork spending and thankfully Senate Republicans are fighting it to reduce the cost. Meanwhile, a lot of the opposition, including the President, insists on passing it as soon as possible. Do these people really think we have an unlimited supply of money? Trying to boost the economy is one thing (I don’t agree with many of their plans on that either, but that’s another story,) but adding billions in random costs really isn’t acceptable considering our immense debt and financial condition. We need to learn fiscal and monetary responsibility as a nation if we hope to return to prosperity.
Even if you want to spend the money, please at least take the time to think over where all the money is going. As we saw with the TARP, speedy stimulus often leads to money basically disappearing. You can make the argument that waiting a week or two to further review the package would mean a week or two of more grief in the marketplace and more job cuts (although that is still going to happen sooner or later,) but even then, wouldn’t you rather have that then realizing a month later that most of the money was wasted and it really hasn’t helped with the problem? To everyone fighting for a fast stimulus: think about it first for the sake of not losing the money.
Update 2/06/09 (later the same day): Apparently, the bipartisan group of Senators working to reduce the cost of the plan have agreed to a new $780 billion plan, which will go up to vote sometime tomorrow. All of the details have not been released yet, but atleast they cut it down. Of course, personally I still oppose most of the money being spent, but at least it was cut a little. I still think more time should have been spent on reviewing and cutting down the bill, but I doubt that will happen again as it will probably pass this time around (although I’m still hoping it won’t.)
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