Pig Pen: Obama signs pork package into law
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/02/05/art.getty.obama.jpg]Tony Perkins
President of Family Research Council
With one stroke of the pen, President Obama vaulted into the record books yesterday, signing what may stand as the largest spending bill ever passed in the history of America. The legislation itself is eight inches thick, so large, a White House aide joked, that it "needed to be strapped in with a seat belt on Air Force One."
Instead of relieving debt, President Obama's "stimulus" is expected to add $9,400 more debt to every family in America. According to the Congressional Budget Office, that may be a modest estimate. If the programs created by the stimulus are made permanent (as the late President Ronald Reagan said, "A government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth!") the 10-year cost of this bill will be $3.27 trillion–almost triple the initial amount. Let me put that into perspective. If we spent a dollar every second, it would take 31,688 years to spend one trillion!
Unfortunately for U.S. taxpayers, there seems to be no caboose on this money train. The ink had barely dried on the stimulus before President Obama called for another $50 billion to stabilize the housing crisis. The auto industry is also striking while the money press is hot, lining up for another $17 billion handout–on top of the roughly $20 billion carmakers already received from Washington. Wall Street's finest are not far behind, as plans for a TARP 2 (Troubled Assets Relief Program) are already underway.
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Filed under: 360° Radar • Economy • Raw Politics • Tony Perkins |
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Why isn't someone asking how much money is being spent on the war?
Isn't tha the real reason for our fiscal crisis?
The democrats have a leader that really doesn't have a clue.
I am embarrassed for Obama and the Democratic Party.
Why isn't Obama talking about it, Mr. Translucent.
And what are we going to say, when things start WORKING or going in the RIGHT direction, because he signed this stimulus. Good Gosh give this President a break......give him a chance to try and fix "STUFF" that has been broken since the Reagan Administration and things that nobody else had the B@lls to do previously. So what IF the Good Old Boys that have been ...ahem....Representing us don't get their pockets filled up like they used to.....
I love it when Pres. Obama went to that High School, in Mesa, Az., where was the (not)sogood Senator from that state? He Didn't even have the decency to greet the President....he should be ashamed of himself or was he afraid to show up, because of the problems they are having in Az.
Hi Tony, well it seems the kettle is still boiling. I forone must admit my pot is already spilled over. For the life of me, when are we going to wake up? Why can't we find the common ground? It seems everyone in washington is so absorbed with themselves, same with big business. Let me through one word out, responsibility! They don't know the meaning, and neither does big business. The long and winding road continues. I've seen children behavior better. I should mention I'am from the side of the road that believes if you are not with us than your part of the problem, boy do we have problems! Thanks for reading, Art
DAMNED IF YOU DO, DAMNED IF YOU DON'T FOR OBAMA
I turned on CNN tonight and found a very different discourse from a few weeks ago. A different perspective.
First, I hear l the criticism about the bailout package... To those who criticize, I ask: What do you want? The Bush administration created the worst economic chaos since the Great Depression, not to mention the international fiasco. Now, Obama has to fix it, it is imperative, critical. Yet, those very Republicans are nit picking the stimulus package. What would they do? Nothing? Continue debating for months until the American Empire crashes?
Then, a piece about the Attorny General speaking about race, then a piece about a black basketball team having a brawl (there must be such brawls every day but I've never seen it on CNN), a caricature about a Chimpanzi deemed to be racial, then the story of a chimp that went nuts and almost killed a white woman, with gory details.
I am a proud French Canadian woman, looking forward to your President's visit to Canada tomorrow.
The World is feeling incredible relief after the Bush administration, so at this poiint, unless he actually does something immoral or dangerous, I wll pray for him to prevail.
If not, I honestly think the USA will deserve whatever happens to them.
Anderson, I'm sick of hearing how there is no jobs out there. In fact there are jobs. What we need to do is get all the illegal aliens out of this country. They are draining our economy and the system. The jobs they have can be an american citizens jobs. There are millions upon millions of illegal aliens in this country and if we get the all out of here that will create more jobs for American, and in turn will help the economy. All i know is someone has to step up to the plate and say enough is enough GET OUT!
Pres. Obama said today that "we need to start living within our means again." I certainly wish they would take their own advice.
@ Dan Stewart... WELL SAID. It's so typical of Republicans to point fingers and condemn when "they" aren't doing the spending or if the funds are directed at their favorite target: rich people...
I suggest every single red state Republican opt out of the economic recovery package... just say no thanks to any money... and see where that gets you come 2010.
I am so disappointed in President Obama. I am starting to feel we have been sold a bill of goods from a very slick salesman. He said all of the right things on his campaign trail and still does. Unfortunately, he is doing the opposite. He promised no pork and yet the stimulus bill is predominately pork laced with some ridiculously expensive job creation. At this time of crisis, I can not believe that politicians (especially the House) would use this as an opportunity to power play there pet projects, perhaps long overdue in there mind, but betraying the taxpayers just the same. This is truly unbelievable at this time of economic crisis.
I want to support him and like most Americans I want to believe in him, but he is making it hard. The rhetoric is wearing thin. Ultimately, action speaks louder than words.
Mike Deist,
So what's your plan, jump on board the stimulus plan train and we will all ride it down in flames????? That's the beauty of this country, we have the right to question our leaders and hold them accountable.
Dan Stewart,
Dan, Dan, Dan, here we go again. For the life of me, Is there a democrat out there on the face of this earth that will assume responsibility for what truley got us here to begin with? You know the housing crap everyone should have a mortgage, who cares if they can afford it. !!!!!!!!!!!! I believe that it was Clinton and Janet Reno that pulled this brillant plan together. Every time someone cried that there could be a problem "Elmer Fudd" said there was nothing to worry about. Clinton even admitted being confronted about this and did nothing. Of course he knew by the time it all blew up he would long gone and could count on all his loyal dems and liberal media to point fingers at someone else. Pretty much par for the course for the Democrats and now the worst excuse for media that I have seen in my lifetime.
Anderson,
We (the United States funded by tax dollars) have both an annual deficit (spending more tax dollars than we bring in every year) and a growing debt (money we borrowed from other countries because we don’t have any). Since the U.S. doesn’t have the stimulus money to give out, my question is rudimentary: What countries are we borrowing the $787 billion from for the stimulus package, at what interest rate, and when will what year will we have it paid back?
Mark (Dulles,VA)
I wonder just how many stimulus like packages we will need before this is over. It bothers me quite a bit that we are already talking about another package before we can see any results from the one just signed – plus what do we look for to know that its working? I would hate to do 2 or 3 or even 1 more stimulus bill and then discover we went down the wrong path and actually made things worse rather than better. Why can we not wait a little while and see if this approach works before we go further down a road of what appears to be no return??
The stimulas plan is a spend & special interest plan that will grow the government more, add debt to our children and lead to tax increases within the next 2 years
Peter
Look the bill is now law. Get over it.
politics as usual in the old USA
these politicians think money grows on trees
when are they going to realize whats going on in this country, they are always looking out for their own benefit
Would you honestly expect anything else from Tony Perkins? The politicians and pundits on both sides continue to fiddle as mainstreet is burning!
The only"CHANGE" that we heard so much about during the run for the white house. The only "CHANGE" is who handing the money to the fat cats. I have yet to see where a single dime will directly help anyone making under $75 thousand a year. Most is going to those getting over one quarter of a million per year. Even more if you count the "Perks" most of the benificiarys of the taxpayer dollar are getting.
It is sad that America is so divided and has so many media pundits, radio and television talk show hosts and legislators that just don't get it. United we stand, divided we fall. This country is going down hard!
This is the biggest spending bill in history. It's not an accomplishment – it's a horrendous act by Obama to spend money WE DON'T HAVE.
Tony-
You sound like Rush and clearly you are trying to make the people of the USA live and "marry" as you see fit. Good luck with that one.
The time will come wil you and the rest of the country will not be able to stop peoples rights to have a civil union or whatever you want to call it.
PLEASE EVERYONE READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE VIA THE LINK. As for money waisted..uh thats the war, the government out sourcing our protective devices. Yeah money needs to be spent.
Do you want to live further into a depression? We are in a depression people.
Oh no, the government is spending money again! Lots of money! Oh no, the plan to get us out the biggest economic downturn in most of our lifetimes is a complicated one that fills up a lot of pages! Would you rather we did nothing? This is a well written article filled with graphic examples and interesting examples on just how much money if in question here. What it does not do is give even one alternative on what else could be done. I know that the idea of spending to get spending going may be an idea that sounds a little bizarre to library workers (me) and presidents of Christian lobbyist organizations (you). But neither of us are economists, and most of the economists I've seen address this issue agree that yes, we have to spend to spend. But maybe I'm biased – I do get paid (though I assure you not very much) by taxpayer money.
The newly signed American Recovery and Reinvestment Act includes a provision for the Temporary Suspension of Taxation for Unemployment Benefits, but the provision states that it is for taxable year 2009. Is this an error? I can't help but wonder why this provision doesn't cover those who were unemployed this past year (2008) and are now facing a federal tax bill?
Ah yes, Tony Perkins. Like any good Republican his economic policy consists of a single phrase solution to every problem "tax-cuts". Unfortunately Republican tax cuts are a very large part of why this country is where it is today. The totally immoral tax cuts that Bush pushed through combined with his staggering increase in Government spending helped double the national debt under his watch. Where was your outrage when that was going on? Where was your outrage when they squandered billions in Iraq? Unfortunately Obama inherited a country teetering on the edge after 8 years of Republican Governance, and an economy as close to ruin as anything witnessed in the last 80 years. The only solution is for the Government to spend, as much as running up debt is horrendously irresponsible, what other options are there? Your sudden concern for deficits is such blatant hypocrisy its sickening.
This is a shame all of this wasted money, when the whole problem in the USA, could have been fixed for less than 15 Billion dollars. Everything could have been up and running in less than 3 or 4 months,. maybe someday our elected officials will wake up and not just look to help the rich, who certainly know how to take what the government gives them.