Six Problems With The Spendulus Bill

Since the election victory, the Democrats have wasted no time in drafting a “stimulus” bill that will drastically grow the size of the government. The House Stimulus Bill is wasteful and it is laying the foundation for a massive expansion of government control and liberal policies. There is no urgency in this bill because less than half of it would be spent before the beginning of 2011.The revived Keynesian theory of economics holds that government spending can stimulate economic growth by temporarily increasing government spending. The problem is that there is nothing temporary about the trillion dollars in new spending being debated in Congress.This House bill perfectly demonstrates how the liberal left is using the economic stimulus bill as cover to accomplish its long-held desire to permanently increase the size of the federal government, with little or no benefit to the American taxpayer.The bills most devastating highlights include:* A Family Planning Loophole gives “hundreds of millions of dollars” towards the family planning (abortion) agenda.* Medicaid Bailout that give $87 billion bailout for state Medicaid spending. If we keep bailing out states, they will have little incentive to continue responsible spending.* Medicaid Expansion that expands the eligibility to cover unemployed workers whose income does not exceed 200% of the Federal Poverty Line.* Education bailout creates $79 billion to help pay for state public services, 61% of which must be spent on education. This money discourages states from making tough budgeting decisions and imposes new federal restrictions designed to advance leftist programs. Education shopping spree includes an additional $142 billion that nearly doubles the total outlays for the Department of Education.* Makes groups like ACORN eligible for a $4.9 billion pot of money for “neighborhood stabilization activities.”* Job creation? Despite Obama’s and Pelosi’s claims for the creation of new jobs other staffers shrug and admit that there are no accurate estimates that any jobs will actually be created. According to congressional economists, it will take years before an infrastructure spending program proposed by President Obama will boost the economy.It is time to realize that this “stimulus bill” is only a permanent implementation of the liberal pet projects for House and Senate Democrats. This “stimulus bill” is not temporary and it is certainly not stimulating. It is simply designed to make the federal government stronger and make Americans more dependent on the federal government.