President Obama says Stimulus 2 will cost at least $150,000,000,000
Written by Michael Vass
Another thought I had about the new $150 billion proposal that President Obama has just announced (see Cash for Refridgerators is as bad an idea as Obama Stimulus version 2 for more) - which is an Obama Stimulus part 2 in all but a name. President Obama spent a great deal of time discussing how a huge part of the new money will be spent on infrastructure jobs. Building roads, bridges, and such. Does that sound familiar to anyone?
In fact that’s EXACTLY what President Obama said about the Obama Stimulus that was rammed through Congress by Democrats in February. The argument was that by re-building infrastructure new long-term job growth would be acheived. And roughly less than 10% of the entire Obama Stimulus was spent on this “vital” part of the recovery plan.
Yes, infrastructure was so important that it was virtually ignored. Most of the infrastructure jobs won’t even happen until some point in 2010 or later. This was so important, we must conclude, that it was obviously underfunded and delayed by at least a year. Because a road really brings in revenue to all sorts of families. Nevermind that President Obama plans to “skyrocket” the cost of energy so driving will not be an option. Nevermind that jobs bring in revenue and a road once fixed does nothing more than allow people to get from point A to B.
A similar realization can be made about tax cuts for small business. They also recieved a pittence from the Obama Stimulus, roughly $2 billion as I recall. Such a small amount, portioned out over 4 years and most not happening until 2010 at the earliest, obviously had no effect. So President Obama is now focusing more money on it. Suddenly it’s a priority.
But again there is an issue. If you own a small business what exactly are you supposed to do? The tax cut is temporary, lasting just 1 year as currently proposed. That means that after that year, small businesses will be faced with not only the current tax burdens, but all the goodies that will kick in for 2011.
Rememeber that the Health Care Reform that is being shoved through Congress by Democrats alone (and due to the Democrat super majority cannot be stopped or affected by Republicans) will create a NEW tax burden on businesses. Plus there is the proposed increase in capital gains taxes. Plus the increase in income taxes for anyone who is successful enough to earn a living in their business. Plus there is the increased cost of energy (some 150 - 200% by some estimates) due to the Cap & Trade Bill that President Obama promised would “necessarily skyrocket” energy prices. Plus, yep there is more, there is the loss of the Bush tax cuts.
If you are a small business owner like me, does the potential gain for 1 year in small business tax cuts outweigh the multitude of tax increases that are waiting for me once we hit 2011? How much growth must my business have to offset all those increased costs in a year, while the economy remains sluggish and unemployment remains in the 11% -10% range - as stated by White House economists - for the next 5 years?
Seriously, who is President Obama kidding. Who does he believe is buying all this? Perhaps all those acedemics at the Job Summit. You know the people in the Obama Administration that never held a private sector job, all 92% of them.
I’m sure this all sounds fantastic on paper. I bet this is an exciting experiment on a purely theoretical and cerebral level. But sadly my business, like those of thousands of others, does not operate in a theoretical world nor is it backed by Government spending. I suppose if I could rely on the ability to print money on demand I would be all for this, but I don’t. Do you?
So in thinking about all the aspects that have been proposed in this renamed Obama Stimulus 2, I come to a conclusion that seems apparent. President Obama, along with the Democrat led Congress, have no clue about the economy or business. They have every intention to sound like they have a plan, and in a speech without details it sounds nice. But in the world where citizens have to pay the taxes to fund this hair-brained idea, and to operate a business and employ people, none of this works for me.
The Obama Stimulus is a complete failure. If it weren’t, none of this would be necessary. That’s $787 billion down the drain for an acedemic think-tank experiment. Now President Obama plans to shove another $150 billion down the same drain. I can only hope that some Democrat politician can do math (not the Government math that creates and “saves” jobs in congressional districts that don’t exist) and votes against this along with Republicans. Otherwise it will pass like the first one did.
Anyone want to bet on how many Democrat read this one?
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