OK, now that I have that Right-Wing stuff off my chest, let’s get to the stimulus package itself.
As mentioned countless times before, I am a capitalist and I firmly believe in the capitalist system which allows the free market system to guide the economy. I have also said that we, as an economic society, have corrupted the system to the point where it needs to be cleaned and re-established even though the process might be painful. We must never forget why we are the mightiest and richest nation in the world, how we got here and how we will stay here!
The question with the Obama / Democratic Stimulus Package is will it stimulate the economy to return to normality or is this just an extension of our welfare program. Mark Sanford, the Republican governor of South Carolina called it the “Savior Based Economy”.
We know that economic sins have been committed. We have overextended ourselves and do not live within our means. We are basically consumers and our whole economy is based on our insatiable consumer appetite. We know how we got here and the proper thing would be to change our behavior and get back to economic reality BUT our government does not want to allow that.
Our government wants the banks to lend more money out even to people with questionable credit – again. They want us to start buying new cars even though we can’t afford to; the government will give you a tax credit if you do. Basically, our government wants everything to go back to the way it used to be and I find that idiotic and irresponsible; things need to change dramatically, they cannot remain the same or nothing will be fixed for the long term.
Tax cuts will help eventually but not immediately. As a business owner, I will not spend tax cut money to immediately grow my business; I will be cautious and stay low for a while until I feel confident again. Regular tax payers will probably feel the same and will pocket the money (at least the sane ones will).
The rest of the stimulus package appears to me to be more of a welfare check to institutions and individuals that are suffering and I agree that some in our society need help but I question that help coming through a stimulus package.
The infrastructure jobs will create temporary employment and perform projects that are needed like bridge building, etc. I especially like the money going to make our whole health system electronic. That will fundamentally change how things are done in our health system reducing costs and errors and making the system very efficient BUT it will not create jobs or demand.
The capitalist system must be allowed to do its job as painful as it may be for the short term. GM is a good example. I mentioned before that it should have been allowed to go bankrupt with the government stepping in with bankruptcy financing. Bailing out a sinking ship only postpones the inevitable and this week the inevitable needs to happen. GM will come out stronger, leaner and viable, something it is not currently.
The banks should have been handled in the same fashion and Paulson and Bernake should have not been allowed to scare everyone to handing out nearly a trillion dollars with no supervision or accountability going along with the handouts – stupid!
We have already made some horrendous mistakes with our economy, let’s slow down and take a breath of reason.
Democrats are flaming socialists but I don’t believe Obama is. I think he has a good grasp of the economic issues in front of us and will act responsibly; the stimulus package was not altogether a responsible act in my estimation and I hope it doesn’t make things worst or last longer than they have to like in the Great Depression.
More later…………….
I am going to IXTAPA, MEXICO next week; can’t wait!!!!!!!!!
As mentioned countless times before, I am a capitalist and I firmly believe in the capitalist system which allows the free market system to guide the economy. I have also said that we, as an economic society, have corrupted the system to the point where it needs to be cleaned and re-established even though the process might be painful. We must never forget why we are the mightiest and richest nation in the world, how we got here and how we will stay here!
The question with the Obama / Democratic Stimulus Package is will it stimulate the economy to return to normality or is this just an extension of our welfare program. Mark Sanford, the Republican governor of South Carolina called it the “Savior Based Economy”.
We know that economic sins have been committed. We have overextended ourselves and do not live within our means. We are basically consumers and our whole economy is based on our insatiable consumer appetite. We know how we got here and the proper thing would be to change our behavior and get back to economic reality BUT our government does not want to allow that.
Our government wants the banks to lend more money out even to people with questionable credit – again. They want us to start buying new cars even though we can’t afford to; the government will give you a tax credit if you do. Basically, our government wants everything to go back to the way it used to be and I find that idiotic and irresponsible; things need to change dramatically, they cannot remain the same or nothing will be fixed for the long term.
Tax cuts will help eventually but not immediately. As a business owner, I will not spend tax cut money to immediately grow my business; I will be cautious and stay low for a while until I feel confident again. Regular tax payers will probably feel the same and will pocket the money (at least the sane ones will).
The rest of the stimulus package appears to me to be more of a welfare check to institutions and individuals that are suffering and I agree that some in our society need help but I question that help coming through a stimulus package.
The infrastructure jobs will create temporary employment and perform projects that are needed like bridge building, etc. I especially like the money going to make our whole health system electronic. That will fundamentally change how things are done in our health system reducing costs and errors and making the system very efficient BUT it will not create jobs or demand.
The capitalist system must be allowed to do its job as painful as it may be for the short term. GM is a good example. I mentioned before that it should have been allowed to go bankrupt with the government stepping in with bankruptcy financing. Bailing out a sinking ship only postpones the inevitable and this week the inevitable needs to happen. GM will come out stronger, leaner and viable, something it is not currently.
The banks should have been handled in the same fashion and Paulson and Bernake should have not been allowed to scare everyone to handing out nearly a trillion dollars with no supervision or accountability going along with the handouts – stupid!
We have already made some horrendous mistakes with our economy, let’s slow down and take a breath of reason.
Democrats are flaming socialists but I don’t believe Obama is. I think he has a good grasp of the economic issues in front of us and will act responsibly; the stimulus package was not altogether a responsible act in my estimation and I hope it doesn’t make things worst or last longer than they have to like in the Great Depression.
More later…………….
I am going to IXTAPA, MEXICO next week; can’t wait!!!!!!!!!
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