The Republicans’ Economic Stimulus Package Theme Song

This is the Obama Plan.

* Provide an immediate $250 tax cut for workers and their families.
* Provide an immediate, temporary $250 bonus to seniors in their Social Security checks.
* Provide an additional $250 tax cut to workers and an additional $250 to seniors if the economy continues to worsen
* Provide relief to homeowners hit by the housing crisis.
* Provide aid to states hardest-hit by the housing crisis to avoid a slash in services.
* Extend and expand Unemployment Insurance.

But there was a peculiar logic to there defense: tax cuts would not be as effective in encouraging job growth, but they would make up a major portion of the legislation anyways.(Quote from Huff Post)

I am really at a loss for words as to the smoke and mirrors the Democrats are trying to use here to stimulate the economy.

FOLKS...its a recession. Recessions have to run their course. The best thing to do is to work to shore up the economy. Get it back on sound footing for the long run. You could infuse a trillion dollars into the economy tomorrow and it will NOT spur this economy back to health.

When you as an individual earn 1000 a month in income and you have managed to acquire 1000 a month in bills you no longer can spend any more money on anything else until a couple things happen.

1. You pay off some bills to free up more money to spend.
2. You earn a raise or find another way to have more money to spend.

Stimulus checks, tax cuts, are nothing more then finding new ways to raise more money.........THEY DO NOT SOLVE ANYTHING. The underlying problems remain. Once the stimulus money is used up. The debt remains.

Thus I for one continue to be opposed to trying to stimulate the economy without......WITHOUT shoring up the underlying fundamentals of the economy.

The GOP is returning to their roots now that BUSH is gone. The GOP is trying to return to fiscal conservative and sound financial reasoning now that Mr. Bush and his neocon spend and spend bretheren are gone.

Greendreams,

There's a lot of logic in your $ 1,000.00 example. For years, people bemoaned the low savings rate of the American public. Now, the public is finally starting to save, and what's the reaction? "What! Don't save, spend!"

BTW, you're right in criticizing Bush about his spending ways. He didn't veto a single spending bill when the Congress was controlled by the GOP, but let's remember: It was the GOP that sent those pork-laden bills for his signature. In fact, that's when I dropped out of the Republican party. They lost me when they lost religion on curbing spending.

You are right.

GWB refused to even say that we should conserve. He once even made the comment that we should consume.

During Ronald Reagans term in office he encouraged people to save. The reason. The economy received a huge boost from having the tax rate reduced from 70 percent. There was no other reason to stimulate the economy. Now, today their is ample reason to not encourage people to save. Saving means no consumption. No consumption means a stagnant economy.

this is why I continue to preach shoring up the fundamentals of this economy and you dont do that by cutting a check and telling people to spend. Thats WHAT got us here to start with.

Better late then never. At least the GOP is trying to reclaim what was lost to them for the last 8 years.

WITHOUT shoring up the underlying fundamentals of the economy.

What are the underlying fundamentals that need to be shored up?

The underlying fundamentals of any nations strong economy is to put it quite simply for that country to do what that country does best.

Outsourcing is not new. For years, American companies have focused on core competencies and contracted out activities that could be accomplished better, faster and cheaper by outside, specialized providers. It is projected that the USA will lose 3.5 million jobs by the year 2015 due to outsourcing.

The reason a company outsources is to make their products competitive. Building new bridges and roads makes the bridges and roads new again but the long term financial gain of such infrastructure revamp is to simply stimulate the economy by putting people to work and not by ensuring the long term viability of the economy by replacing the outsourced jobs. Eventually the roads are rebuilt and then those people building them are once again out of a job.

The reason Mr. Clinton was so successful with the economy was not that he was so brilliant, but rather he simply was the president when the internet boom took off. Phone companies laid millions of fiber optic lines. Cell phones exploded. Pagers run amuck. Technology craze created millions of long lasting, long providing, economy sustaining jobs. The internet revolution provided for long lasting and economy feeding jobs that supplied income. These jobs added to our economy and did not take away tax dollars.

Building bridges does not supply anything to the economy other then short term boosts in employment until the job is done and the job ends. Waiting in the wings is the GREEN ecology that is just waiting to explode with new jobs and new technology much as the internet boom of the 1990's. Once again Barak Obama is in the position to benefit from this underlying strengthing of our economy.

So to put it simply. The fundamentals of the economy that need to be shored up are the productions of jobs that create wealth, not absorbe wealth from our economy. We need to replace those outsourced jobs and this is the perfect time to work on doing just that.

The underlying fundamentals of any nations strong economy is to put it quite simply for that country to do what that country does best.

Grow food(bad but cheap), make movies & sell Weapons Systems built with other peoples microchips, good luck!!!

The reason Mr. Clinton was so successful with the economy was not that he was so brilliant, but rather he simply was the president when the internet boom took off. Phone companies laid millions of fiber optic lines. Cell phones exploded. Pagers run amuck. Technology craze created millions of long lasting, long providing, economy sustaining jobs. The internet revolution provided for long lasting and economy feeding jobs that supplied income. These jobs added to our economy and did not take away tax dollars.

The internet boom was the result of forty years of non-stop military research into communication & computers. Do you know of any other military field in which Uncle Sam is investing a ton of money and can be converted to civilian use?

Waiting in the wings is the GREEN ecology that is just waiting to explode with new jobs and new technology much as the internet boom of the 1990's. Once again Barak Obama is in the position to benefit from this underlying strengthing of our economy.

Have we invested in Green Technology?

We need to replace those outsourced jobs and this is the perfect time to work on doing just that.

With what? I don't see nearly enough businesses doing what you suggest to actually make a difference.

No. The government wants to spend billions on roads and bridges.

Simply put. Spend those same billions on wind turbines, solar panels, creating university programs to teach, and instruct green technology.

Put billions to work rebuilding the power grid infrastructure that will return a profit to the companies, lower our utility bills and put that much money back into the economy.

Or not.

Just sit around and bemoan how hard it is and pour billions into jobs that will end and in a couple years we will be right back here. Once again.

Simply put. Spend those same billions on wind turbines, solar panels, creating university programs to teach, and instruct green technology.

wind turbines designed and engineered by Europeans companies, manufactured and assembled by Chinese labor. solar panels designed and engineered by Europeans and Japanese companies and built with Chinese Labor.

Not to mention that if we deploy enough Solar Panels, quite a few utilities could go belly up real fast.

The objections raised here are exactly why the democrats and its ardents simply want to build BRIDGES TO NOWHERE.

Perhaps we could manufacture our own turbines. Set up some companies to do just that.

Perhaps we could establish college programs that hire professors and teach students how to work on solar, wind, geothermal.

Perhaps we could put our men and women to work rebuilding the power grid with much more efficient energy transmission.

Perhaps we could help the utility companies to buy those solar panels, wind turbines and establish many more jobs.

Perhaps we could do nothing and build more bridges. Perhaps we could say its too hard and not try. Perhaps we can just fail, like we fail every 10 years and then complain about jobs being farmed out overseas.

Perhaps it is just too hard. I mean after all Obama and the Democrats campaigned hard on alternative energy. Green. Wind, solar, anything but oil. Perhaps that was all lies. Perhaps it was just a misdirection.

Perhaps this is why the GOP is opposed to the bozo bailout of the economy. Knowing their votes wont count but being able to say I told you so when The LAWYER Obama tries to become an ECONOMIST.

Perhaps it is too hard. That has after all been the Democrats stance on most everything worthwhile since Jimmy Carter tried and failed. They decided it was just easier to not try then to fail and suffer at the polls.