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It has become clear to me…that nothing is clear when it comes to the stimulus bill.  There are so many vectors to consider that I do not know how anyone – politician, economist, or average American – can make any sense of it.  The first point of confusion comes as we listen to this debate about whether or not government spending is the answer to a recession.  Senator Claire McCaskill (D-Missouri) was quoted as saying:

“Every economist agrees that the government spending in a recession is essential”

Obviously not, Senator – as a recent economists’ conference in Nevada indicated.  And certainly the Republicans do not agree, as they have been criticizing the bill as the height of pork-barrel spending.  But this brings me to the second point of confusion – how to separate a genuine ideological clash from political maneuvering.  In a previous post, I mentioned some of the qualms that Republican congress members had with the original House bill, many of which I thought were legitimate.  However, as I also noted in that post, the sum of their complaints amounted to a very small percentage of the projected total spending.  So it seemed to me, upon further consideration, that their complaints were more likely a political tactic to undermine the Democrats political advantage.  The Republicans set the tone for the debate, and left the Democrats – including President Obama – scrambling to defend their positions. (more…)

The Economic Recovery and Middle-Class Relief Act (ERMCRA) is a bill suggested by Representative Tom Price (R-GA), waiting to be introduced by House Republicans as an alternative to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARARA) being pushed by President Obama and the House Democrats. Due to the Democratic majorities in both the House and Senate, the bill is not likely to be given any serious consideration, unless Obama stands by his commitment to bipartisanship. In that same spirit, and also in the spirit of being open-minded, I have looked at the summary of the bill.  Think what I will of the social positions of many Republicans, I find that I am in agreement with some of their economic positions, and with some of the provisions of the bill.  However, there are quite a few things that are trademark Republican – pro-corporate and pro-wealthy.  The following is a list of the stated highlights, along with my comments – why I agree or disagree with what’s being proposed. (more…)

As more eyes pour over the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARARA), some of the more spurious provisions come to light.  In response, the Republican members of Congress have put forward a list of expenses that they regard as “waste”.  After reviewing the list, I have to agree that most of their complaints are valid, insofar as they do not seem to have any direct bearing on economic stimulus.  Now it could be argued that any new programs or projects will require new staff, which means new jobs, but some of these provisions clearly could be saved for future consideration.  These questionable provisions, I think, can be separated into a few categories:

• Category 1: Ridiculous and extraneous
• Category 2: Useful but not directly related to stimulus
• Category 3: Useful and directly related to stimulus

For the items in Category 1, I concede to the Republicans that these provisions are unnecessary, have absolutely nothing to do with stimulus, and should be stricken from the bill.  For those items in Category 2, I simply do not understand why they are being stuffed into a single bill, rather than being proposed at a future date.  They do not relate directly to economic stimulus, and should be saved for a future bill.  For the items in Category 3, I disagree with the Republicans, and think that these provisions should remain in the bill, as they are conducive to economic stimulus. (more…)

By visiting OpenCongress – a website I highly recommend to anyone who does or intends to take American politics seriously – I was able to read the full text of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARARA).  That is, the pending “stimulus” legislation which recently passed the House and is scheduled for a vote in the Senate as soon as Tuesday.

The first and most obvious problem I have will the bill is the fact that I can barely read it.  While certianly my command of the English language is enough to understand every individual word of the text, it’s the particular use and order of those words in the bill that create a problem.  And I can’t be alone in this.  I wonder how many Americans even know that they have access to the full text of the bill, and for those who do and have tried to read it, how many fully understand it?

While my political orientation tends to align me with democratic (and/or liberal to progressive) politicians and agendas, I am by nature a skeptic and a cynic.  As such I do not really trust anyone, particularly politicians, who by their nature are deceptive, or at least regularly lie by omission.  This is of not unrelated to the fact that they use legalese – the purpose of which can only be to obfuscate their full intentions.

In spite of any previous ideological alignments, I am wary of the ARARA for at least some of the reasons stated by its primary opposition – the congressional Republicans.  Much of the bill does seem to involve issues that are not directly related to economic stimulus, but rather reflect some of the personal agendas of Democratic politicians.  Although many of these agendas are ones that I agree with – particularly any funding of education reform – I wonder if these initiatives will directly affect improvements to the national economy.  At the same time I wonder why this one bill has been stuffed with so many separate issues, not coincidentally the same issues that congressional Democrats have been pushing for years. (more…)