Obama's Endless Summer of Spending

[bonnie]

EDITORIAL: Obama's endless summer of spending

Make-work jobs program has failed

By THE WASHINGTON TIMES

The White House kicked off a "recovery summer" public relations blitz yesterday to promote the alleged benefits of stimulus spending. The mood of self-congratulation was interrupted by a Labor Department report that found initial jobless claims for the week climbed by 12,000. A Conference Board survey showed the average wait in unemployment lines increased from 30 weeks at the start of the year to 34.4 weeks in May. It won't be a summer of love in those households.

Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. was enthusiastic, declaring the stimulus "an absolute success" on Wednesday. Before he and the president begin their victory lap, however, they should take a closer look at the numbers. The current recovery has been one of the worst for job creation on record. Private sector hiring has virtually ground to a halt, and the administration was embarrassed last month when it was reported that 90 percent of the jobs created in May turned out to be short-term Census Bureau hires - and even those numbers appear to be exaggerated.

The job losses for this recession have been far deeper in percentage terms than in any of the 11 recessions since the Second World War. Underemployment, home foreclosures, bankruptcy filings and the number of Americans on food stamps have all increased since the stimulus act was passed. If this is "absolute success" we would hate to see what the vice president would call failure.

The administration's "jobs" are an expensive form of workfare. Mr. Biden toured a $508 million Brooklyn Bridge makeover project on Wednesday where taxpayers contributed at least $30 million to save or create 150 jobs. That is $200,000 per job just from the stimulus money, not including other federal, state and local funding. On Monday Mr. Biden will tour a project in Midland, Mich., which will "stimulate" 1,000 jobs at a cost of $161,000 per job. Jared Bernstein, chief economist and senior economic adviser to the vice president, said last year that the overall average cost per stimulus job is closer to $92,000, which is still good work if you can get it.

The stimulus approach to economic recovery is not complicated. It is based on the belief that expensive make-work jobs funded by deficit spending will at some point lead to economic benefits beyond the fortunate few receiving the grants. It involves opening the spending spigots and then finding enough shovel-ready projects to spend the money on. It's a wonderful plan for those whose aspirations in life go no further than short-term employment involving shovels.

The country cannot afford to continue on this path, yet the president continues to propose more of the same. He is asking for a $140 billion Stimulus 2.0 package, claiming it is necessary to stave off the double-dip recession. This may be too much even for the Senate, which has proposed its own euphemistically named "Create Jobs and Save Benefits Act" that spends $165 billion to bail out mismanaged union pension funds. The powers that be in Washington apparently see government as an endless source of funding for their pet projects and political supporters.

It is easy to "create jobs" when one uses the Treasury as an unlimited checking account where the bills never come due. As we are now seeing in the economic collapse of European nations like Greece, the summertime party will come to an end.

© Copyright 2010 The Washington Times, LLC.

[Dr. Shane]

I wish they would spend more in my neck of the woods. New school construction would be nice. We need more schools for all those undocumented kids coming across our border. We need more Border Patrol stations too. We should build more miles of the border fence too. If I had the national checkbook we would have a very stimulating summer.

[bonnie]

I wish they would spend more in my neck of the woods. New school construction would be nice. We need more schools for all those undocumented kids coming across our border. We need more Border Patrol stations too. We should build more miles of the border fence too. If I had the national checkbook we would have a very stimulating summer.

No,we would have been robbing Peter to pay Paul.

The government does not have money of it's own. It does not make money,it takes money from taxpayers and shuffles it around.

Taking it from one segment of society and giving it to another stimulates nothing.

If I make 10,000.00 from my work and product and put that into the economy,that stimulates.

Worse yet to borrow on future payment of taxpayer and claim that stimulates.

[Dr. Shane]

I know some people fall victim to talking points. That normally happens because they listen to or read commentary from only one side of the political spectrum. The idea that government cannot stimulate the economy is a right-wing talking point. World War II proves the government can stimulate the economy. Massive government spending during World War II coupled with government rationing brought us out of the Great Depression.

How did that work?

Government spent money of production of goods and services. Nearly every dollar spent by the government contributed directly to the GDP. The problem with Obama's stimulus is that it funnels lots of money to non-productive projects.

Yes, government spending takes money out of the private sector and shifts it into the public sector. Thus, in order to be a stimulus, government must spend that money in a way that will create more jobs and wealth than the private sector would have done. Construction projects are typically good stimulus projects. Particularly good stimulus projects are to build projects to be taken over and operated by either the private sector or a state, municipal or school government. Thus the federal government builds a building and someone else funds its operation. This may be a project like a homeless shelter for the Salvation Army. A municipal hospital. A VA nursing home or other such project. Thus there will not only be construction jobs created at the beginning of the project but once the end user occupies the project they will create jobs in the facility's operation.

[bonnie]

I know some people fall victim to talking points. That normally happens because they listen to or read commentary from only one side of the political spectrum. The idea that government cannot stimulate the economy is a right-wing talking point. World War II proves the government can stimulate the economy. Massive government spending during World War II coupled with government rationing brought us out of the Great Depression.

[karl]

Quote:

Wonderful theory,isn't it? Reminds me of why so many that lived thru that time referred to the WPA as We Poke Along"

It is an absolutely absurd theory. Even a first grader can see through it. It is the emperor's new clothes. And the topper is that if the economy somehow manages to survive this extra hit - this jugular blood-sucking by government - the government and its acolytes will take credit for what the real producers of wealth in the country have accomplished.

Get RID of the liberal parasites who believe this tripe and foist it upon the rest of us! Vote them OUT!

[Dr. Shane]

From what you have posted it seems you have been reading or listening to only one side of the political spectrum.

[bonnie]

That's wrong. I get my news from a variety of sources. That is why I can so easily recognize liberal and conservative talking points when I hear them. That doesn't make me an expert. It just makes me someone who pays attention to what both sides are saying.

[doug yowell]

Where's the poster with the President and Vice-President walking into the giant sunset with blank checks under their arms?

[Dr. Shane]

I have never seen such a poster. I certainly do not believe that what FDR did during the Great Depression worked. It obviously didn't. Nor do I think FDR is someone we should look up to. He was a power hungry man who couldn't stop running for President and tried to pack the Supreme Court when they disagreed with him. He is one of the more despicable Presidents in our nation's history.

However there is no getting away from the fact that WWII brought us out of the Great Depression.

[bonnie]

Sounds just like someone else holding the office of the presidency

He was a power hungry man who couldn't stop running for President and tried to pack the Supreme Court when they disagreed with him. He is one of the more despicable Presidents in our nation's history.

[Dr. Shane]

Let's not get into talking about Abraham Lincoln. That is a whole different discussion.

[bonnie]

Let's not get into talking about Abraham Lincoln. That is a whole different discussion.

Maybe you were not aware that this is a current situation,not past.

someone else holding the office of the presidency

[Dr. Shane]

The current President has only run for the office one time and has never tried to pack the Supreme Court.

FDR and Lincoln were both big government spenders that had some serious issues with the Supreme Court. One might say they were cut from the same cloth. Both of them made the government bigger in a way that has never been reversed.

[bonnie]

The current President has only run for the office one time and has never tried to pack the Supreme Court.

FDR and Lincoln were both big government spenders that had some serious issues with the Supreme Court. One might say they were cut from the same cloth. Both of them made the government bigger in a way that has never been reversed.

We have what going on now??

As to the Supreme Court have you noticed any but liberal appointees by him.

[doug yowell]

I have never seen such a poster.

Visualize the poster of the Endless Summer surfing epic (movie). Substitute the surfboards held by the two surfers with blank checks. Substitute the Presidemt and vice-president for the two surfers and many will get the picture.

[Dr. Shane]

As to the Supreme Court have you noticed any but liberal appointees by him.

Everyone expected him to appoint liberals. That is no surprise and well within his authority.