American Morning
Economist: Obama's stimulus doomed to fail
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/07/15/morici.peter.art.jpg caption="Peter Morici of the University of Maryland says President Obama's economic stimulus plan is doomed to fail."]
It's been five months since President Obama signed his stimulus plan in to law. It includes more than $250 billion of government spending and tax breaks meant to create jobs. Yesterday, the president said unemployment may get worse before things turn around.
Peter Morici is a professor of international business at the University of Maryland and former economic director for the United States International Trade Commission. He says President Obama’s stimulus plan is doomed to fail. He spoke to Kiran Chetry on CNN’s “American Morning” Wednesday.
Kiran Chetry: The nation’s unemployment rate hit 9.5% last month. There's debate on whether the stimulus is working and if it's working quickly enough. The White House says we are on target. But a lot of people are asking when are we going to see the effects? You, though, say it's doomed to fail. Why?
Peter Morici: The stimulus money is very badly spent. We knew the tax cuts from the Bush stimulus don't work. People are simply saving it. If you wanted stimulus to work, spend it mostly on shovel-ready projects, infrastructure, schools, hospitals, etc. But only $100 billion of the $800 billion is spent there.
Chetry: When you say shovel-ready – they found it a challenge within the administration to find shovel-ready projects, at least that’s what many are saying, in these various states. How do you get that better organized so indeed if the money is there, only 10% has gone out, they can get it to projects that are ready to go?
Morici: I'm no Republican, but what President Obama is discovering is how slow the bureaucracy moves. It's very hard to push this kind of money through the system. Also, all of the red tape that the government has created doing construction has made it very difficult. I could get the money out there. But Obama doesn't seem to be capable of getting it done. The advisers don't seem to be able to get it done. What you got to do is just hand it to the mayors and county executives and say, “You got to spend x by the end of this year.” Then give them another chunk for next year – “You got to spend that by the end of the year and so forth or you don't get to keep the money.” Most municipalities and counties have a long list of renovation projects they’re holding in abeyance because they don’t have enough cash. That’s the way to get it out. President Obama is not thinking in those terms. Instead, he beefs up the Department of Education.
Chetry: What they're saying within the administration is some of this money has actually been going to plug budget gaps. We know a lot of these local municipalities and state governments are suffering right now. If it's not sort of earmarked for something, it’s going to go to plug the budget holes. How do you make sure it’s actually going to go to things that will create jobs, like building roads, jobs, schools, construction?
Morici: You have to require it. You have to say, “We're giving you $100 billion by the end of 2009“ – you divide it up by population – “it must be used for the following kinds of projects: renovating schools, reconditioning hospitals, things of that nature.” And you know, the state and local governments for all their crying, and all of Mr. Obama’s exertations, weren't laying people off. Employment was growing through the time the stimulus package was signed. Both education, noneducation, state, and local. And since it's been signed, it’s continued to grow at approximately the same pace. I can find no discernible effect in the Department of Labor statistics for state and local employment that would indicate the stimulus is having any effect whatsoever. It’s an absolute fraud in that regard.
Chetry: Yesterday, the president said we have to have patience when it comes to this and the plan was intended to work not in a couple of months but in two years. You say, though, that patience would fix a normal cyclical problem, a downturn and then an upturn in the economy. But you're calling this a structural problem – and it has to do with the fact that we don't manufacture enough here. What is the solution?
Morici: Well, we import too much from China without selling there. One of the best-selling cars in China are Buicks, believe it or not. But they won't buy any Buicks made in the United States. They have a 25% tariff and they require General Motors not only to make them there, but to move their suppliers there. That's why the Midwest is melting down. Because it’s not just Buicks and cars, it's all manner of high-end industrial products for which China's cheap labor doesn't provide an advantage. That’s about 50% of the trade deficit. The other half is oil. President Obama's windmills are not going to solve that. We need dramatically higher mileage standards right now. And we need a real clunker subsidy to get the big cars off of the road. For example, replace the Tahoes with Traverses – very big car but it gets twice the gas mileage.
Chetry: The other thing you talked about is the private sector shedding 6.6 million jobs, half of those being shed in manufacturing and construction. We know the housing market is struggling. What's the solution if you use that stimulus money to try to get people back to work and beef up manufacturing here in our country?
Morici: Well, essentially, you have to recalibrate trade with China, one way or the other. You have to get it to unhinge its currency and stop manipulating its currency. It's buying about $400 billion a year of U.S. dollars with yuan that it prints, basically giving them to us and then that basically keeps their currency cheap and makes those products artificially cheap in our markets. With regard to construction – we really have built too many houses. We're over-housed right now. There’s an excess supply. So what you need to do is move those construction workers, as I said earlier, in to infrastructure – rehabilitating schools. The same guy that can put a roof on a house can put a roof on a school.
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Atlas Shrugged coming true. Hold on tight.
This in response to Tom:
Learn how to read. They are not talking about The Economist magazine in this article. They are talking about Economist Peter Morici. It's pretty sad when economists in his own party say the stimulus won't work. What's even more sad is that the Obamanots crucify anyone who goes against their savior.
Bottom line, whether you want to admit it or not, the Obama stimulus is garbage. Jimmy Carter Part II.
Very good article professor Morici.
Yes, we need to fix the trade imbalance with China. This is a little complicated. Americans are spending too much on credit, both individuals and government, so need China to buy our debt. Americans need to save more, even though this does hurt GDP in the short term. Yes, bring up to WTO the protectionist policies.
You are also correct about the Oil problem. We can't keep shipping $700 billion overseas. Cash for clunkers is ok, but raising the Federal Gas Tax will have the most direct effect because then even the higher mileage cars will be driven less. One thing for sure: CAFE will not work, so Congress should repeal it, not increase mileage standards.
This guy knows the bulk of the stimulus is being spent in the 3rd quarter, right? He seems like he is putting the cart before the horse, expecting to see results before the action has been taken. Yes, it is good that they take the time to make sure where the money is going. That might have taken a few months, but that is to be expected if we want don't want the money to be wasted.
China's economic policy has hamstrung the American Dollar in all its various manifestations. The United States is going to have to bring back manufacturing as the primary means of funding this country.
We live in a world of instant gratification and start out with the microcosm of the world we awake to and sleep to. So its easy to just see our own personal view and complain heartily about all the problems that have churned up from the economic downturns right now that is affecting our daily living- that is how our lives are rolling along now-a-days.
I am tired of the complaints from the fan-folks of the popular political parties that shower all the problems on elected incumbents with all the things that are being done wrong or judging their capabilities. Complaining is easy, but do you really know how money is spent in government (at any level)? You'd be amazed how the government systems work out there especially when lots of money is involved. Its screwed up at times so I agree that a small percentage of funds gets to its intended audience while most of the funds pays for the political processes.
What's interesting is to research and find out how the money gets moved around in your state first. Fixing the economy includes fixing how we live, eat, breathe, and not to mention fixing how the government does its business from your local state government all the way up to the federal level. So go ahead blow off steam and complain and pick easy targets to make you feel better (just my opinion on all the complaining reviews I've read here)- just focus on making life better after you do and DO IT not just complain or blow-off steam. Get involved in how your government works (its our tax money after all).
the stimulus plan is BS...perhaps all of the idiots who supported it will wake up before we as a nation are in worse shape.
Does anyone realize or care that the stimlus is being used to pay us for our labor. Money that WE have to repay to china!
Our government is borrowing money to pay us...and WE have to repay it!
That means stimluas workers are paying their OWN wages!
I think the point being made here is that the Obama administration really doesn't have a clue. Obama's leftwing policies are going to leave this country in a hole so deep we will have to import sunshine from Mexico. This is a clear example of inexperience in action. Trying to push the Leftist agenda through while then enjoy this temporary power advantage in congress.
You people kill me. The only reason all this is being said is because Obama is black, and for those who try to pretend they are not racist just waiting on him to fail. He may not be getting everything right, but my GOD he is trying to do something to get us on tract besides lining his own pockets, like the previous presidents.
@ notamused July 15th, 2009 10:58 am ET
"...in any compasity is a smart thing to do"
now this guy knows what he's talking about
Nick, your math is as indicative of (and as faulty as) the bulk of the reasoning in this comments section, as well as the article itself. Even if there were 435 million people in the U.S. (there were about 306 million in February), your numbers are way off. Assuming a typo in your entry, even if only half of the 435 million people were working adults (say 220 million) and we gave each a million dollars, the total bill would be $220,000,000,000,000. That is $220 trillion. Now, we could give each $1,000 (either as a check or a tax cut) for a total bill of $220 billion. However, you would not be able to buy a house, a car, and all the other things with $1,000. It would be helpful for each of us, but I do question its ability to stimulate (as I, for one, would either pay off debt or save it instead of spending it). I suspect many of us would do the same or spend it on food and other essentials just to survive.
The idiot president, Tyrone, was another Democrat by the name of Bill Clinton. Get your facts right.
Morici is correct. China does not offer a level playing field to US companies. Obama's stimulas plan takes way too long. Americans will dig themselves out before his plan provides any help. Obama lacks the experience in Federal government to move things faster. Most people lack the savings needed to remain unemployed more than a couple of months before tapping retirement funds, or credit cards. A two year recovery plan will bankrupt millions of Americans.
I think some stimulus money would be better spent teaching bloggers writing skills such as proper grammar and correct spelling.
"You say, though, that patience would fix a normal cyclical problem, a downturn and then an upturn in the economy. " that is exactly right. this farcial solution was not advertized as be patient solution. now the arguments a plenty will fester over what actually has happened when this monster turns around, normal cycle, or joke of a fix. 750BBILLION of our money is going WHERE????????????
I am a plumbing contractor, in the biusness for 34 yrs., I have not had a job in 7 months!! Perhaps I suck at it but I don't believe so. I do believe the banks DO suck at what they perform, I sugjest taking all the residential buisness away from them and give 2% mortgages to anyone with 20 or more % equity underwritten by the fed. Then we will see some real stimulous!!!
Nick,
430,000,000 X $1,000,000 does not equal $430,000,000.
You're missing a couple of zeros, slick.
Problem, Reaction, Solution....
Financial System
The government forced banks to make bad loans which in due time led to the collapse of the financial system. The people reacted, the government stepped in with a solution....
Auto Industry
The government places unfair regulations on the US Auto Industry (for the better of the environment, I agree) that make the price of an automobile here much higher than other countries. This in turn leads to less auto purchases in uncertain economic times. The industry suffers, the government steps in with a solution.
Government Intervention is not the Answer....
The last thing the Administration actually wants is for the crisis to be over.
We are pretty much all screwed. Congress doesn't seem to want to try to fix anything, the previous and current administrations have been failures, and the next "leaders"? Ya well you already know how they will turn out. I'm going to start planning my exodus to Europe. Bye America, nice knowing you.
Until people and corporations get the greed out of them then nothing will ever change. Greed drives this country and always will.The rich will keep getting richer no matter what the cost to the average person.
One major problem here is that Obama (and the people themselves) believe that people should somehow have well-paying jobs and nice homes when they choose to drop out of school at a rate approaching 50% for urban youth. How can people who drop out of school and have no skills, limited literacy, and a poor work ethic, be expecting anything but unemployment? This country will continue to go downhill until we have a system that rewards people for good decisions that contribute to the country rather than for bad decisions that drain the country. I have been a mentor for a young man who lied around drunk most of last year, earning only $3500 for the year. He was eligible to get a $400 stimulus payment. I, on the other hand, worked about 70 hours a week, paid many thousands of dollars in taxes, and got no payment, because I earned too much. When the government starts reversing that, this country will make progress.
The stimulus is a huge failure. Go to stimulus.org and look at the projects it is aimed to fund. And anyone who blames the economic problems on Bush is a total idiot. One needs to remember there was a democratically controlled congress headed by none other than the radical Nancy Pelosi, and in the senate by Harry Reid. Along with hteir cohorts named Barney Frank and Chris Dodd they created a housing meldown which we will never recover from economically.
I thought the stimulus money was designated for creating certain jobs and that was why Vice President Biden was in place to inforce that... Was there a breakdown in communication to the states?... I know of a couple states who act as though they don't know how to create Jobs at all... Do we have to depend on OBAMA to THINK for Us All. Replublicans want small gov't . BUT if you need another group of people to come to your states and sit down and tell you how to create jobs and what jobs to create( ie... security positions at schoolls ant Offices etc. rebuild/repair schools BEFORE SCHOOL STARTS ) and how to spend the funds, how can the gov't get smaller? President and Economist stated the money was to help CREATE JOBS,.. WHAT ARE THESE STATES DOING?
Stupid is as Stupid Does!!!!!!!!!
It is not soley the fault of Bush that put us were we are. The Clinton administration implemented many of the policies that got us here.
BOTH PARTIES ARE EQUALLY TO BLAME, and that is an undeniable, unarguable, fact.
The divide the two party system has placed on our nation is by far the biggest problem we face.
Neither party cares about us and neither party ever will. Both of their paths lead to the same destination.
First thing to respond to is the BUSH Stimulous was also the Obama stimulus-Bush had major input from Obama on it. So lets clear that up first.(Melissa)-The Obama bashing has loads of merit- He has done absolutely nothing.
The way to fix this economy is simple and straightforward. Reduce taxes by a significant measure ditch the crap and trade bill and the Healthcare agendas until we are stabilized. By reducing the taxes on EVERYONE you will spur new spending ergo businesses will rehire ergo more money entering the system- Nice cycle. This is how to fix it. Not by bailing out companies that should fold, not by trying to introduce new legislations that will add more tax burdens to everyone- Yes people not just the rich will feel the tax increases if they pass this. Do you really think Businesses/Affluent people won't raise the costs of good and services or worse yet layoff more people to cover the increase??
Those who know anything -know Bush's cuts helped the economy and it was Alan Greenspan and Now Ben Bernanke that caused this nightmare.
some of you on liberals and conservatives don't get it. this has nothing to do with left or right. this has everything to do with you being a sucker and the feds and bankers holding on and centralizing power/money.
And what REALLY got us into this mess wasn't the easing of lending practices... but the funneling of mortagage applicants into Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARMs) and then the banks raising interest rates thru the roof!!!
The people could afford to pay their mortgages... they just couldn't afford to pay the high interest rates the BANKS jacked up. The greediness of BANKS are what caused the domino effect of forclosures... put the blame where it is earned!!
Of course spending money will in no way fix our economy, it only works to devalue our currency and create a massive debt burden for the future. The only positive result could be a short-term bump in the economy which would still be very costly.
Other countries have had good reason for criticizing Obama's policy.
Professor Morici's article is most enlightening, I am intrigued by his comments on China, their trade and monetary policies. Buick is one of their most popular cars, but if you purchase one made in the United States, the Chinese government's imposition of of a 25% tariff would make the cost prohibitive. That's why Buicks, for the chinese market are made in China . This approach requires General Motors to move their auto plant and parts manufacturers jobs to China. Midwestern jobs, moved to China, as a reward for them having manipulated their market for job creation in their country.
The professor points out that "Well, essentially, you have to recalibate trade with China, one way or another. ..It's buying about $400 billion a year of U.S. dollars with yuan that it prints." Their paper currency, worth little, keep chinese products priced cheap in our market.
"Recalibrate" is a gentle term when we need to use another word. We are "changing" our trade policy regarding China until that country responds, limited trade and true evaluation of the yuan must be observed. My former friend, Lee Morgan C.E.O. of Caterpillar in the 80's, would often remind us that the Japaneese were devaluing their yen causing Americans to lose money and jobs. Isn't it time we get out of job creation for foreign countries.
It is time to confront unequal trade practices with any country, it requires strong will, leadership, determination and strategy. Telling auto workers that their jobs will never return is nonsense. This proclamation must be replaced with definite goals to bring lost jobs
back to America. Frankly, autos are still being made and Americans know how to make them. We can ill afford to be in the business of job creation for China or anyone else. Companies that bring jobs back to America should be rewarded with tax and growth incentives. China's reward for building a level playing field for our products should be proportional access to American markets, "Recalibrating" must be replaced in our vocabulary with the "changing" of unfair trade practices. These jobs can and must come back to this nation. When it comes to job creation and restoration, Americans first!
Dr. Alan G. Phillips, Sr.
Bloomington, IL
The root of the problem is money. Money cannot exist without debt. Debt is money. If there were to be no debt then money would not exist. The last time this country was "debt free" was when the government disbanded the central banking system, sometime before Lincoln was President. Economists are just speculators that make educated guesses based on the past. Might I suggest we just support the President in charge and work toward his vision? Dissent is patriotic but there has to be a point where we just step forward without looking back.
It amazes me how much blame is placed on Bush when the real problem began when the lending stardards were relaxed during the Clinton administration.
It's entertaining now that all these people posting comments are saying things like "I would suggest Mr. Peter Morici being such a great professor should provide suggestions to Mr Obama than critisizing it." Haha. Why do people continue to try and shelter this administration from the bashing that was common in the last? I don't remember too many people over the past 8 years saying things about Bush like "well lets not criticize, lets take some time and see how this plays out. Lets offer some good suggestions for 9/11, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Katrina." Instead they relentlessly attacked and criticized. THIS IS RIDICULOUS. Why should Obama's administration not be held accountable? I hope the man can fix things, but the fact that his blunders are sheltered and not criticized like past Presidents' by the media is outrageous. Where were all of you offering up ideas during the last 8 difficult years in America? Exactly, you just sat back criticizing. No one had the answers, so you blamed Bush. However, for some reason, now that no one has the answers again, you won't blame the Obama Administration. Ridiculous.
I am not saying that "Obama" has all of the answers, but by repeatedly using Obama's name Morici is making it sound like some other President would. He,or the interviewer, should have made a point to note that the manufacturing losses, the housing problem, the trade imbalance, etc. were all caused by former Presidents.
Also, as far as getting the money out there for shovel-ready projects by giving all/most of it to local governments, I have a problem with this: both the government of my state (CA) and my city (San Diego) have been fiscally irresponsible over the past several years. I don't want to see them get a ton of my federal taxpayer dollars so that they can be more irresponsible. Rather than throw the money willy-nilly at the states and local governments year by year, I would like to see a long range plan to get our economy back on track, and I think the federal govt needs to be a large part of that.
I don't know what that the federal plan should look like, but I think revamping our education system is part of it, and coming up with long term energy and health care solutions are another part of it (not necessarily that windmills are the answer....I would be fine with more nuclear power plants ala France). I think that Morici is giving a lot of sound bites to make the President sound bad, and not offering up any practical solutions to this complex financial problem that our country has before it.
"The trouble with socialism is that eventually you run out of the people's money."- Margaret Thatcher
Peter Moricci is absolutely disconnected from reality. Why these "has beens", keep getting publicized and the real people actually working in business do not? Things are VERY SLOWLY turning around, but they are getting better.
I find it interesting reading everyone's comments such a variety of responses to our economic situation but always seemingly narrow in scope.
1. Problems with the economy are probably rooted in the 70's and 80's when Americans decided that going into debt to buy a lot of consumer items on either long-term or short-term credit. Lending practices supported this desire for goods. Now many people are in debt up to their noses. Our insatiable desire for goods and service set up our current situation.
2. Our "free trade" policies are very nice for our trading partners but killed domestic manufacturing since good are produced far cheaper overseas because of the lower standards, wages, environmental protection, etc. American companies found it to their advantage financially to export manufacturing and jobs overseas so they could compete in the American marketplace. This is where our government needed to act to protect American production and jobs. The fact that we have a "global economy" doesn't transcend protecting our marketplace – other nations do this!
3. That fact that Americans believe in spending and continued economic growth as a means of living versus sustained economic stability exacerbates the problem ( we don't want to change).
4. The taxpayers have no business owning pieces of private companies - it probably needs to be tested in front of the Supreme Court. Our free enterprise system includes failure if a company(ies) fails if a market still exists other companies fill that niche and probably to better by learning from the lessons of the failed company(ies) I like to believe Americans are still creative and thoughtful enough to make that occur.
5. The government is horribly inefficient at spending money because of the inordinate amount of accountability built into it's budget system and because it's pretty to sloppy when spending someone else's money (taxpayer dollars) That's a human flaw not limited to government.
6. Einstein defines insanity as to keep trying the same practice or idea and expecting different results each time (paraphrased). We continue to maintain the same two-party system that got us here, even though alternately putting the parties in power never seems to gain the desired results (if you hang your hat on campaign promises – forget it – they are a marketing tool).
7. I believe these combination of factors have contributed significantly to our current domestic situation - SO WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO ABOUT IT??????
At some point in time, this hatred of Bush should stop, or it will lead us further into trouble. "Those who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat it." We should learn from history that the Bush tax cuts did work. We were sliding into a recession when he took office, but we ended up with a booming economy despite 9/11, despite the distraction (of $ and talent) to 2 wars, despite the aggressive trade policies of China, despite soaring oil prices, . . . . What got us into trouble were (1) seeds planted in the 1990s via aggressive interpretation of the Community Reinvestment Act, (2) a mindset that real estate only goes up in value, (3) low interest rates, and (4) politics that stopped the Administration's moves to curtail questionable lending practices. I am not a fan of all the Bush did, but I am realist who realizes that it was Democratic politics that stopped moves to curtail questionable lending practices.
I think we are totally missing the mark. This recession was mainly casued by 1) unregulated sub-prime lending 2) Banks unrealistically believing the values of homes would keep rising and 3) consumers spending beyond their needs.
What we need is for banks to loosen their purse strings to start lending to small businesses. That will initiate job hiring and eventually consumer spending.
We need our government to regulate the 'banks'.
Without the stimulus packages we would be at 15% unemployment.
Hey Jared:
Smart business men are closing up shop and going out of business right and left! They're laying off people and moving business overseas... and THIS is going fix our economy?
Wake up and smell the failing economy.... Businesses WERE given incentives for growth in the form of Bush tax cuts. They still laid-off employees and moved business overseas, AND then pocketed the extra cash they saved thanks to the tax cuts.
We see how well your strategy of letting the business world solve its own problems worked. Once everything became deregulated, the economy has slowly slid in the ditch. It's factual.
Your system does work... but only in your mind!!
After the fact, now people are starting to realize that the stimulus won't work.Never before have I heard of so much money being handed out with no strings.Bills being passed for historic amounts of money and no one in congress had time to even read it to see whats on it.Seems like good leadership to me(joke). What really gets me is the media hiding the facts from the public and helping push this agenda down our throats.All the tea parties being ignored having thousands of people attend.Trying to shut up critics and people who have seen through this crap from the beginning.No matter what you liberals say, the facts speak a different story.Your president has lied on every promise he gave and you just want to hug him(get real).Now they are preping you idiots for the next stimulus plan.Phase two, of becoming a third world nation but hey, he gives good speeches. It doesn't matter that every word is a lie and that he can't even stay home long enough to work on the economy because of his world agenda.Anyone who denounces America, her dream, and her people is not my president.He is just another enemy from within, you know, another liberal!!!
I happen to agree that we need to spend far more on infastructure – the city that I am from could spend this year 5-10 million and likely still need more – the streets of this city are very bad – probably like most cities across our country – schools could spend 100 billion across the country – all of this would really put people to work in quick order. many of these type of projects are ready to go and would be off and running as soon as the money is allocated. this only speaks to local needs what about the nations highway system that could use a lot of money and would put lots of people to work – this is much to be done that would help a lot of people in a lot of ways – so lets tell our elected officials to stop the bickering and get on with the poeoples business.
You would have to be a complete dope, not to understand that the stimulus that Obama sold the country was a way to keep the democrats in power in 2010 by releasing the money then.. All he is doing is buying votes. The other problem is that a large portion of the money is going to pet projects, which require the jobs be completed by union workers, which kills completion and leaves out a large number of American non union workers out in the cold. Class warfare at its best. If the 878 billion was broken down and given the actual tax payers, the economy would be booming again..
After viewing posts from above, Americans have not clue. I'm not talking about whether you agree with this economist or not, but just some of the things tell me that our education system has failed many Americans, and Obama is going to spend another dime in it?
Sheeple, get your heads out of Teen Idol, CNN, and learn something about economics. Much of what this guy says it true. China's country as others who spent tons of money in stimulus has their countries recovering at much more rapid pace than America, simply because the lie Obama/Pelosi told you "there is no pork in the stimulus", and most of fell for it hook, line and sinker. China spend most of all of their stimulus on infrastructure, and told their people to get to work.
Our liberal government gave the money to special interest groups, municipals, to give out to the needy....and that doesn't make jobs.
To understand what this government now does, and the politics (lies) is to stay away from CNN, ABC, and most the rest, and read more, and look between the lines. Things are not making sense like 1M spent on the connection between alcohol and hookers in china?...or...Philipines? How about 100,000+ on toads in Wyoming? How about a goody like three weeks after Obama lands his new gig, he has Hillary hand deliver 500,000,000 to Humas?...YOUR tax dollars. Lets not forget the 1M allocated to built a tunnel bridge just north of Tallehassee Fl so turtles to cross I10 so they won't get squashed. Reasonsing, those turtles become flying hazards!
The list goes on and on, none of which will make good long lasting jobs. Where is all these new jobs? How many of you folks are going to work on the highway department if infrastructure jobs do take off?
Maybe you like the idea to spend millions on a highspeed train from LA to Los Vegas so the rich celebraties most of Americans seem to be fixated with, can travel and gamble and be back home for dinner while you starve. Saw an article the other day where we learned 300 huge signs were bought @3000 to prop up on highway bridge projects claiming to be your stimulus at work. First of all those signs are too expensive and not needed to convienve YOU the government is doing something. Not to mention in the picture the bridge in the background looked as though building of it started over a year ago long before Obama was appointed.....its a lie folks.
Wake up Americans, your being dupped....thank an educator.
AND...its truly irrelevant who got us into this mess, we're in it regardless. The key to solving any problem is not just identifying the cause, but casting a wide net for potential solutions and utilizing an open mind to consider our future course of action. This goes way beyond the President...we need our Congress to start representing the public's interest instead of their own.
A Real Lesson in Socialism
Brilliant example of the failures that are waiting for us unless we get an infusion of intelligence and real courage
An economics professor at a local college made a statement that he had never failed a single student before but had once failed an entire class.
That class had insisted that Obama's socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer.
The professor then said, "OK, we will have an experiment in this class on Obama's plan". All grades would be averaged and everyone would receive the same grade so no one would fail and no one would receive an A.
After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B.
The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy.
As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too so they studied little.
The second test average was a D! No one was happy.
When the 3rd test rolled around, the average was an F.
The scores never increased as bickering, blame and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else.
All failed, to their great surprise, and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed.
Could not be any simpler than that.
The biggest issue is that the government needs to stop proposing spending money it doesn't have when the country is already paying for things currently on the table with money it doesn't have. They should make do with less just like the rest of us. Trim the deficit, cut the fat, pay down debt to other countries, and come out stronger in the long run. That's the way it works in the real world, not opening a new credit card and spending your way out of trouble when you're already maxed out on all your other ones The current group of oligarchs is clueless from top to bottom.
All of these people making blanket statements "I'm tired of the greed of the greediness of the far right in this country." and "This liberal lie that the “Bush Tax Cuts Cause The Deficit” is unsupported by any facts."
are clueless. It's not about Democrats and Republicans. We've had presidents from both parties and we've had Congresses controled by both parties. Both have done and equally poor job. The fact of the matter is that these people are politicians first and foremost. And what politicians do best is try to get re-elected by any means necessary. That means, giving the most money to the people with the most influence to help them get re-elected. What is needed is to make being a politician more of a job and not so much a highly lucrative lifestyle. That way, the people who run for office are more likely to actually care about the state of the country and not about the best way to get re-elected so they can keep their cushy, high-paying, perk-filled, postitions. It is only July 2009 and the news media is already talking about who will be running for president in 2012 and what their best strategy for winning the election will be.
I heard you can't spend your way out of debt, and that the same holds true for a recession. Seems logical to me, which then means that the entire concept behind the so-called "stimulus" is a sham.
To be completely honest, this is a simple recession, triggered by the housing "crisis", but the effect this has had on our nation's economy would have occurred anyway, due to globalization.
When a wealthy, manufcaturing country such as ours was, begins to outsource, trade and send abroad all the work that used to be performed domestically, it's like taking water out of one glass and pouring it into another. There's still only so much water (i.e. consumer demand), and now you have to take from one and provide to another (like China, but then there's Mexico, India, etc.) so you have a lot of glasses, none of which are full. This is the new world order. Get used to it.
Well said, Jared. Trouble is, all the people caught in la la land won't read past your second sentance. Here's hope that more and more people are slowly waking up to reality and seeing through the scam that is Obama bin Lyin'.
Senators have said in court that the government has only spent 10% of the stimulus. According to the figures put in place before hand, the stimulus wasn't even supposed to reduce unemployment until the 4th qt.
This contrived well thought out non-Obama plan is spooky. This guy is just the mouth piece for the dead fish tactic guy. And he is just the tactic guy for some GE type guy. Which those few businesses are getting all of our money. This is going to fail!
I am not a Republican or Democrat . Neither party represents the vast majority of people in this country since they are polarized too far left and right. That said I am a small businesman manufacturer. 80 % of all employment in the private sector is by small business. All stimulous money went to large financial businesses, manufacturers i.e. car companies(unions) and other state government agencies. This is and has been the problem with Washington for a long time. I have seen no change and if anything it is much worse with special interest groups now running Washington. Money does not grow on trees it is created by the prodcution of goods and services in the private sector. Once and only once the money/wealth is created by private enterprize can it be spent on government services, highways etc. Basic economics dictates that all goverment spending is an expence paid from this generation of wealth by the private sector of which again 80% is genrated by small business. This government is about to kill the small business in this country by drowning us in regulations and debt .
And letting the big banks repay the stimulus loans and letting them pay the government interest proved to be poor decision-making, too. It would have been better to let the banks keep the money in the form of investment accounts to invest in American industry, accounts that could be sold during inflationary times. Right now, we need money IN CIRCULATION, we shouldn't take it all out for big banker convenience. Tampa is drying up and about to blow away so many shops have closed. It is really alarming.
Finally someone has something intelligent to say about the root of the problem: China. too bad it is too late. Please review the debate in the U.S. Congress in 1994 regarding Most Favored Nation trade status for the PRC. Look at the promises that were made if we granted MFN and the trade/manufacturing statistics existing at that time. We were to gain access to their markets which would create "millions" of "high-paying" jobs here; remember? They were going to cooperate on missile and nuclear technology proliferation, they were going to help with North Korea and the environment. They were going to respect human rights, the distinct culture of Tibet and eventually democratize. All rubbish. We gave them the free trade access while their markets remained rigged and largely closed, we brought them into the WTO. What did we get in return? Huge trade deficits that have de-industrialized our heartland, stagnated our wages, transferred our technology and modernized their military not to mention copyright violations on a grand scale. The Memorandum of Agreed Framework signed with North Korea in 1994 was a farce; they now have a Chines assisted nuclear weapons program. The PRC supports the world's most odious regimes. They prevent action in the Security Council to stop genocide in Darfur, they are the largest trading partner of the military dictatorship in Myanmar, they support Robert Mugabe in Mozambique, they have assisted and provided cover for Iran and they lock up resource contracts all through Hugo Chavez allied South America; the Monroe Doctrine be dammed. As an added benefit, they used their trade obtained dollar surpluses to buy us lock stock and barrel. They now control the value of the dollar and our long-term interest rates. The Republicrat or Democan bankruptcy and ruin of our democratic republic has been going on for a long time over several administrations. The sellout is complete and our doom awaits us. Treason is most assuredly bi-partisan and it doesn't make one a "nitwit" to point it out.
More finger pointing and no fixing. EVERYONE in the country is to blame for this situation, not just the government. How many of you have written your opinion to your local government? How many of you have used your constitutional avenues of approach to express your opinion? You think giving money to local governments is a waste? You are right, it is a waste because the public knows the issues, but they do not do anything to communicate that to the mayors and governors. Before you join in and start bashing everyone but yourself, why don't you take the time to learn what options you have and exhaust all opportunities first? When everyone rises up and approaches the government in legal manners and then the government ignores them, THAT is when you can start complaining.
This guy doesn't know what he's talking about. Creating jobs just for the sake of creating jobs isn't going to help the economy. We need to increase our productive capacity by creating goods and services that can serve the rest of the world. That's how he became the largest creditor nation by the 1980's.
However, I'm surprised to see a negative article about Obama on CNN. It's a refreshing "change".
I really don't understand this bailout strategy where we (the public) reward failed business practices. If we've got extra money laying around, perhaps we give it to the successful banks and corporations to enable them to buy up the failed ones and run them properly.
I think Morici is accurate in stating that the "stimulus" needs to get into functional hands vice getting squirted into the bureaucracy. Unfortunately, this President is very good at the quick fix band-aid, but not very look at taking a substantial look at a problem. Our trade imbalance with China is ridiculous and its continuing to spiral out of control...NOTHING is made in America anymore. When a nation fails to produce, they fall victim to those who do!
Americans would need to be prepared to truly suck it up for a few years to get us back on track, but that doesn't win anyone an election.
Tyrone, It is moronic individuals like yourself who elected this retard who has no clue about basic economic principles. The stimulus is an awful idea, the way the money is allotted is sending us in the same direction Japan headed durring their lost decade. If the president had any interest in opening a book and seeing that durring that same time sweden came out of the same economic crisis in 2 years by first allotting money and correcting the problems with business and the banks. But that would require the president to admit that this problem was caused just as much by greedy americans who couldn't spend responsibly as by the banks and big business we'd like to blame. If he could stop for one minute letting politics and public perception control his actions, he may be able to do the right thing. but he hasn't shown that yet
The Economist isn't related to this article. They did back Bush in 2000, but back then Bush sold himself as a progressive who was identical to Al Gore. What a lie that was.
Anyways, the article is right. We need more stimulus that goes to infrastructure and jobs. This tax cut nonsense is just that. And all these armchair right wingers can take their pedestrian views and shove 'em.
This is Obama's problem, were working with his solution. Pointing fingers at previous presidents does nothing but deflect attenion away from "Obama's Stimulus Package". Remember Obama predicted unemployment peaking at 8%, were now at 9.6% and he stated we should expect to see futher uptick over the coming months. Herbert Hoover me thinks.
These people who are the die hard Obama supporters need to ask themselves, very honestly, why? Is it because he is percieved as the anti Bush or do you really, honestly believe that he is infallable. Judging from the reader comments, I would venture to say it is because he is not Bush. It is so silly and very dangerous. Forget Bush. Forget the Republican bashing. And definately don't believe everything you read. Think. Think about the repercussions of the current policies. This is not a defense of the Republicans or the Bush Presidency. This is about now. This is about what is really going on with our government and society as a whole. Think about the philosophies behind the policies. Is that what you want America to be?
Funny... this guy can predict that Obama's stimulus won't work, but where was he when we needed a prediction that the depression and crash of the economy was coming??? Right....
Even the weathermen and women on TV are more accurate than economists are... What great jobs to have!! What a joke....
You can be very WRONG and still keep your job!!
The problem with China is not the trade imbalance and tarriffs. The REAL problem with China is they hold a TREMENDOUS amount of our debt (read TARP spending, and all of our spending over the last several decades). We RELY on them to buy US Treasury Bonds to finance the money Obama is giving away. So we are beholding to China on two fronts – one, we NEED them to buy our debt so Obama can give it away, and two – if they stop buying our debt and want to cash in the Treasury Bonds they own we're SCREWED. This country will cease to exist as we no it, and we will all be working for the Chineese.
Wasn't it the republican's that didn't want money to go to school construction and other "shovel ready" projects? I knew Obama should not have caved for this. And then, with all the concessions thrown to the GOP, NOT A SINGLE GOP HOUSE REP VOTED for this bill.
And if anyone out there still wonders what these economic woes and uncertainty are doing to this country, read these comments. Divides along political and racial lines are starting to fracture along class, income and gender lines as well.
We needed a President ready to lead from day one, to roll up her sleeves and fix another Bush mess and to have the political courage to do it right away. Instead of wasting trillions of our tax dollars on bailing out those at the top waiting for the money to trickle down in the form of jobs and opportunity (Obama's failed plan) the money should have been pumped directly into communities in the form of a 21st century version of the GI Bill or New Deal programs. Without the middle class driving the economy with consumer spending, jobs aren't going to rebound and none of us have time to wait around to see what this "new" economy Obama pledges to lead America into will involve.
Mend the US economy as we knew it in the 1990s, don't end it in favor of the unknown.
Common sense...a rarity in this town.
No President since Nixon moved the US off the gold standard has meaningfully addressed the continuous flight of capital globally while most of its national workforce is geographically restricted to a few hundred mile radius. Moving products to foreign nations that have trade restrictions on US manufactured goods has guaranteed much longer times to get from recession to economic recovery. Structurally, until we have the political courage to confront China, India, Brazil and other developing countries on fair trade, we are dooming our middle class to long-term extinction. Government must focus on regulating some of the negatives of global capitalism to avoid the perpetual race to the bottom on standards of living experiencedby "losing" countries.
One of the smartest takes on fixing the economy yet! If you pushed it down to state and local and required them to spend it, they could kick off a whole host of contracts which would put a lot of people back to work. Brilliant.
For all you Obamabots out there: Will you still use the "Obama inherited a disaster from Bush" excuse in 4 years? 8 years? Forever? What will you come up with then? IT IS OBAMA'S ECONOMY...TIME TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY. Of course, this is the hardest thing for a liberal – they always seek to blame everyone but themselves and cry victim and demand a handout. Sick sick sick.
First it was not Bush who got us into this recession. It was the housing boom that started under Clinton that started this recession. Giving loans to almost everyone who applied knowing that most of them would not be able to afford the payments.
Second the Congress who makes all the decisions ( a president can not make a law) was democrat controlled from 2006. It had nothing to do with Bush.
Third before they passed this $787 billion dollar stimulus they should have read it and worked out the spending better. They were given 4 hours to read 1000 pages. They did not have any chance to preform any checks and balances.
It is the prevailing position of most Americans to blame Bush for all the economic woes, but that is misguided. I hate being an apologist for the last president, but in fairness and in fact Bush's greatest fault was spending money like a liberal and not a conservative.
The financial manipulations that created a house of cards were in effect as far back as 1987 when dirivitives caused the market meltdown. What has happened is that technology has made the markets much more volitale. Remember, just before President Clinton left office the economy went into a recession caused by the Dot.com bubble and the Y2K fears.
What happened with Bush was the housing bubble fueled by subprime mortgages combined with an explosion in gas prices. When gas hit $4 a gallon, we as a family cut out all unnecessary travel and by extension non essential spending.
Many people called Bush the oil man and blamed the raise in the cost of gas on him feeding his buddies, but we all know now that it was the Hedge Funds buying oil futures that drove up prices (like with housing prices) it did my heart good to seem the have to eat the over priced oil. We need to reform margin requirements for commodities. You can control a 1000 barrels of oil for 60days for $100. If you raised that to $250 you would cut out much of hedge fund speculation
Where were all the voices during the Bush Administration when we were getting into this economic mess in the first place? Out buying your "big" toys probably.
Jared you hit the nail on the head! You people are crazy if you think this thing is going to work! I can't believe America is filled with such morons!
Liberal apologist? This guy is criticizing the Obama administration and yet folks on the board think that he's a liberal apologist? Actually, what he' s saying is right on the money: we have no manufacturing base hence reducing mainstream jobs, the stimulus money is not being used where it should be thus rendering it ineffecual, and trade with China must be recalibrated. notamused, did you even read this article prior to posting?
I think what scares me the most is that I don't feel like the money being spent is being spent to develop businesses. Businesses are the lifeblood of a strong economy. They are the entities that produce value and jobs and all the money for the government to spend. Its sort of like what Jesus said "Give a man a fish and he has a meal. Teach him to fish and he can feed himsellf for life." You have to empower people to start sustainable businesses so that value can start being produced again.
What bothers me so much about Obama is that he thinks the government knows how to distribute money the best. We now have thousands of years of economic history that tell us that free markets with effective regulation and oversight are the most effective method for solving problems, discovering appropriate prices and allocating funds efficiently. Our society is too complicated for a single entity to decide how and where money should go. We need government to enable individuals to start and run businesses that can discover what to make and how much to make of it and how much to charge for it in a free market.
I guarantee if you had set up regional small business loan stations, we would have gotten something from that massive infusion of cash that was the reimbursment checks that were sent out last year!
When you own something, you treat it better and you work hard to keep it up. Its this same fact that shows why government run business does not work. As soon as the government owns it, you've just got hired hands – not owners of businesses. If Obama keeps taking away incentives for businesses to grow and for people to innovate in his quest to destroy the "fat cat" executives, he will destroy the spirit of american innovation that has made us the economic power we are today, EVEN IN THE SORRY STATE THAT OUR ECONOMY IS TODAY.
Obama is an idealist. He's a dreamer and his message of hope is wonderful. I like him very much as a person. But what he doesn't understand is that our capitalist system has given billions of people the opportunity to pursue dreams that were impossible in socialist countries. That's why they came here! My family, like most came here for a better life and built a business that lead to a lifestyle which they could have never achieved back home!
Also, Obama has shown that he does not understand the intricacies of the market. For example, when Chrysler was sold to Fiat, the bond holders that Chrysler owed money to basically got screwed. The thinking in the administration was: "lets let the rich jerk bondholders get a taste of some hardship – who cares about them." Well, those rich jerk bondholders happened to be an organized group of teacher, police and firefighter pensioners. A lot of small investors had been organized into a group that served as a bond holder of chryslers! So, instead of screwing a fat cat executive or a rich old jerk, Obama helped erode confidence in normal market mechanics and left new bondholders wondering if the government might do the same to them. Actions like this erode the integrity of the system! If his goal is socialism – he is well on his way there.
I for one, am very concerned about where this country is headed and for the first time am considering moving!
We've only started to see how much a failure Obama's policies will be . . .wait til the deficits start taking their toll. Obama is hoping that the normal cyclical economic highs and lows make him look like a hero and the ignorant public will buy into his "role" in the recovery. Obama only sounds more intelligent than the last pres . . . .in reality Obama if far more regressive.
Amazing how many people on here cannot see the forest for the trees. There is no shame in admitting you made a mistake voting for Obama. Intelligent people change their minds with new information.
Obama is trying to change the agreement he made with American people in order to get elected. He promised change from Bush. Bush was a spender, on wars, on stimulus packages that didn't work. Obama is more of the same. How many times must it be proven that you cannot spend your way out of a recession?
It is clear what our leader must do. Lower taxes, incentivize innovation and growth by rewarding the people with solid business plans and a track record of success. Look for energy sources here at home short term (coal, gas, oil), and long term (Nuclear, Wind, Hydro). Stop illegal immigration by militarizing the border immediately. Change the trading relationship with China now that they need us as much as we need them. There are many more ideas that would both immediately improve the ecomony and set this country back on track, and none of them are new ideas. They have proven to work time and time again.
I don't understand why people don't think that the government is a major player in the economy. The government aggregates and redistributes – in a market that is 2/3 consumers, redistribution of wealth is ESSENTIAL to maintain growth. You may not like it, but that's what capitalism is – and, as we just found out, concentration of wealth and reliance on debt to supplant true growth in wages and productivity is doomed to failure. Socialism is the governor of the negative effects of capitalism – it helps to ensure responsible growth. And, by the way, when you buy a hamburger, you DO, in fact, pay for someone to tell you what you think you want to eat and for someone to tell the cashier what you think you want. Your consumer dollars pay for R&D, marketing, training, strategy, executive compensation, and shareholders profits – it's not a one-to-one relationship except under very limited circumstances...
HAHAHAHAHA I like how some of the posts blame economist & not President Obama. How pathetic, economist didn’t sell the American people a bill of goods that could NEVER have been fulfilled.
Melissa.......you poor brainwashed little drone....
First of all, government spending disguised as stimulus cannot work....ever....
Why? Well, to raise the 787 billion dollars, the government needs to sell bonds....now China buys a good chunk (BUT NOT ALL) of these bonds...Another huge chunk is bought by AMERICANS....
and buying bonds is a form of SAVINGS....so Americans take their CASH and buy billions in bonds.....
Obummer then takes TWO YEARS to get this money out (MONEY THAT WAS ALREADY IN OUR ECONOMY)
Obama's "stimulus" is just moving money around really.....and SLOWLY
The proof is in the pudding. Unemployment is rising.....deficits are RISING.......Your taxes will soon be RISING to pay for this mess.......
Obama had to use part of the money to pay off his Democrat friends that got him into office and he's saving part of the money for buying his way into the next election. Everyone knows this. This money was for the Government, not the common people of America. Obama is a pro politician and this is what politicians do weather it's Republicans or Democrats. "We The People" need to wise up.
"Help the People not the companies that got us into this mess'
Help People- They buy stuff and invest in less stuff but spend they do.
Help companies- Companies are collections of people and far fewer are the rich than is made out most are owned by savings investment in one form or another of People...=help People See line 1.
Help state and local govenments-These are collections of people too with broad and disperate interests...yes...but still just people =People see line 1.
Help is help- Govenment in general should tax and save more in good times either building up a reserve or at least reducing the marginal debt as a ration to GDP; thus absorbing boom time prospertity. During bad times government in general sould spend more as a function of GDP thus completeing the cycle and reitroducing funds taken from the peak and helping to infill the vally.
To a limit. This kind of saving from the good time to carry you thought the bad applies only to doing what it is that govenment should be doing. You pay more for a set of services during the good time so they can offer a break on the same service during the bad. So in effect the spend side is the same and the tax side floats with prosperity more tax in good times less in bad. Services remain thee same.
In any case how how stimulate outside that model requires that you look at all people and collections of people as people period. Then spend that stimulus in a manner that merely excellerates what you where going to do anyway later...replace bridge, fix school, get clunkers off the road, build alternative energy...So that later when things are better and the bills come in you have fewer things to buy and room in the budget (with those higher boom time taxes) to pay the tab.
Let's not forgot who really got us into this mess. The Senate Finance Committee, requiring the easing of lending standards. Secondly Obama's stimulus plan is nothing more than a bandaid. It will provide temporary relief, but not fix the economy. The way to fix our economy is not to have bigger government, they are the ones that for years and years all the way back to Clinton created this crisis. The gov't needs to just get out of the way and let American business fix our economy. Instead, we're going to tax them and not provide incentives for growth. Socialism is not the answer to fix our economy. Too many people in this country are looking for free hand outs, rather than getting off their lazy butts and actually making something out of themselves. I trust smart business men over lawyers in washington anyday.
Everyone is ignoring the real issue that Mr. Morici brought up: China. And how is anything he said facist? Most of the above comments make absolutely no sense, but they seem to be made by people that have way too much faith in the government.
Props to those understand the China issue. If you don't think you fully understand TARP, there are some good papers/books out there to explain the way our financial system is structured, and why it was so important to stop these firms from imploding.
I'm going to see Harry Potter the Wizard later. Perhaps he can provide me with some pixy dust in order for me to find work. The cost of admission might be worth the chance such as where we all find ourselves, with a chance not any opportunities.
I wonder how many "shovel-ready" project Univ of Maryland has? That being said, people seem to forget that the system was crashing fast. The so called "stimulus funds", in my opinion, were really meant to change the angle of decent and buy time to allow the private sector to self correct. What would have happended to consumer confidence if the credit marked had collapsed, and GM and Crystler file for bankruptcy? Ask yourself what would have happened if no action was taken? Both republicans and democrates saw the danger. This aftermath is just political grand standing. Shrinking middle-class working longer hours for the same pay, CEO's paid bonuses while the company loses money, no long term planning, living on credit...are these American values?
I’m tired of the incredible greediness of the far right in this country.
Are you stoned, little girl? "Greediness of the far right"? Where do you see that?!?
In the 800 million dollars John Kerry married? In the Kennedy compound? In the Mcansions of every multi-millionaire Hollywood douchebag? Grow up, Melisssa.
The formula – spend without direction, take government control of business, over regulate, promise to solve everybody's problems and give everybody health care, and then tax -tax-tax-tax. Where do you think the money comes from?? It comes from us working people that try to support thier families. The government won't fix the problem – they are making it worse. How do you like social security (it's going bankrupt), how to you like medicare (it's going bankrupt), and now we're giving away $800B and promising to provide health care – what a JOKE. The next two generations will be working and paying for this rediculus approach........
what a bunch of idiots post here! Get off the former administration trip your all on and start looking at what the current one is doing. If you still can't see what this guy is doing then your an educated idiot and this country is headed for disaster. This is not about republican democrat, they are all screwing us! open your eyes you idiots!
The truest statement in the whole article was "we import too much from China without selling there". The stimulus will fail not because of bad planning but because our economy as a whole is colasping because we import way more than we export. Unless Obama creates jobs/products that can be sold to other countries we are doomed? We need a plan to bring money into the USA, not recirculate it among our selves- ironicly the stimulus requires to buy American steel (Obama being from a steel state), but says nothing about hiring only legal americans, so an illegal can go work on a stimulus project and then send the money he earns out of the USA.
The guy is right and the "stimulus "( like Obama ) is a colossal failure.
And all I read on here are liberals all hot and bothered that their "messiah "is already a failure.
Get used to what you read above because more and more people are getting upset that they are being coned by a far left community organizer turned media sensation. Obama cannot run the country; he isn't that smart and is a pure ideolog, no more no less.
The money should go to the people. I am sorry, but taking the Stimulus and TARP funds and giving it to the companies is absurd. Where did that money come from....US, and we should get it back. The banks made the underwriting decisions to lend bad money, and then eth government is going to give them more? Three types of people, spenders, savers, and the ones who will payoff debt. What would you do with an extra $10k?Take that TARP and stimulus money and give back to the people in installment, and you will see spending up, debts down, or bank accounts getting heavy. If the banks are going to get the money, then it needs to be expressly put towards the customers debts and running balances to reduce the payments for the customers, then they will spend or save more! You want to talk about taxes, why not flat sales tax? At that point you hit all of those people not paying taxes who are illegal aliens or hide their money in tax shelters.
One last thing, its directly not Obama's fault, its not bush's fault... they cant do anything without congressional approval. I am in the mortgage industry for 10 yrs, and the houseing and lending problems started 20 yrs before Bush took office.
What informed opinions we have here! So how many of you
became professors of economics? Put your politics aside
and open your ears and listen. It boils down to 9.5%
unemployment and trade issues with China. Just the
facts.
No one has yet to point out that the fundamental flaw (Gerald came closest) to all this talk of the so-called "stimulus" is that...WE DON'T HAVE THE MONEY! We can't continue to try to run this democracy by living and spending beyond our means.
The normal counter to this point is to say, "we'll just grow the economy and debt will remain only a small portion of the GDP". Small portion?!? According to a Raymond James Q2 report just released, the US debt is now almost 79% of the GDP, jumping about 7% in just the last few quarters, thanks to all this glorious spending. Keep in mind, banks and financial institutions are still failing, commercial loans are just beginning to implode, and Obama is talking about yet another "stimulus" as well as taking over health care and starting up the "cap and trade" tax plan.
None of this is sustainable and in these times (9.5% unemployment and climbing) it's sheer, irresponsible MADNESS!
Why doesn't this idiot do something to help the economy instead of pointing out that it will fail. Its time to put up or shut up people!!!
If all of us actually did something for our communities things might actually get done. Instead all you have is a bunch of whiners complaining how everything is going, while they sit behind there desks.
The comments in this segment are funny, and proof that we don't stand together as a nation. Ultimately if we all want to fix what is broken we will all stand together to realized once and for all the real problem with America and it's economy. We don't make anything in this country anymore. Wal-Mart and other super chains like them have forced companies to get goods from overseas. Yes, shopping at Wal-mart saves money, but not jobs, or salaries for Americans. We play the international trade game by a gimped double standard. We allow every product to come here for nothing, but pay massive tariffs to sell goods made in this country elsewhere. It's time to close up the American shop and fix ourselves from the inside and stop worrying about the wrongs of the rest of the world. It is after all how America became the power it was in the first place. Doesn't anyone remember Teddy Roosevelt?
Someone should have been offering some advice to Mr. Bush and maybe we wouldn't be in this mess!!! But if it didn't involve oil and shooting and blowing people up, he didn't want anything to do with it.
Check your facts. Traverses do not get twice the mileage as Tahoes.
Why do economist always wear bow-ties??