Texas Insider

11:48 am CST - June 09, 2009

Stimulus Success Being Doubted

Laura Elizabeth Morales

texinsidernews1 A whopping 51 per cent of Americans disapprove of President Barack Obama’s handling of federal spending according to a Gallup poll released on Monday, June 8, 2009. Fiscal conservatives fought hard against plans like the stimulus package and bailout plans because of fears the government would merely place future generations in debt.   

After spending $787 billion dollars on the stimulus package-intended to create jobs, the current unemployment rate is up at 9.4 per cent, the highest rate in over 25 years.

The Associated Press reported that, “Obama faces souring public opinion over his handling of the economy, which has shed 1.6 million jobs since the stimulus was signed in February. That total has far overshadowed White House announcements estimating the effort has saved 150,000 jobs, a figure that is so murky it can never be verified.”  

The figure is murky, indeed, that agencies requesting stimulus dollars often could not provide a concrete answer as to how many jobs would be created with the money being spent.  

Ultimately it is free market solutions that will create jobs and more regulation and taxation will hurt the economy. A prime example is by the mere comparison of the state Michigan and Texas.  

Texas leads the nation in recession recovery, has no state income tax, is a right-to-work state and continues to develop incentives for businesses to move to Texas. One of the biggest legislative debates of the session erupted because of Governor Rick Perry’s request to not accept funds from Obama’s stimulus plan, but why should a state that is doing well for itself be forced to accept funds that ultimately put the nation as a whole in debt for generations to come?

Governor Perry and every American have the right to be skeptical about the stimulus package, and they aren’t alone. Media outlets are also shedding doubt on Obama’s summer stimulus plan of saving 600,000 or more jobs on top of the 150,000 he claims to have saved. The Los Angeles Times calls the assertions elastic and hard to verify.

In April, the Texas Public Policy Foundation released a study that showed the stimulus package would speed the growth of government and in turn would deny as many as 170,000 private industry jobs to Texas alone.

“There’s lot of people hurting in Houston, there’s a lot of people hurting in Harris County who lost their jobs, who are in real trouble, and the fact (is) that they’re not able to get the money,” Vice President Joe Biden said, according to the Houston Chronicle, taking a jab at Governor Perry.

Vice President Biden overlooked the fact that thanks to free market solutions, Texas will be one of the first to exit the recession, according to Moody’seconomy.com and MSNBC, and Texas cities are ranked in the top places for job growth, according to Forbes. Forbes noted that Texas boasts 9 of the 20 top spots for job growth and dominated every category.

Perhaps it’s actually the White House that should be praising Governor Perry and his fellow Texans.

6 Comments

CWJensen
3:50 pm CST
June 09, 2009

Considering all the BRAIN WASHED KOOL DRINKERS in this country that’s really encouraging to see.

Gene Cory
6:21 pm CST
June 09, 2009

No democracy has survived when the people expect and get more from their goverment than they give. The curre nt administration is dooming us to fail.

Susan Davis
7:00 pm CST
June 09, 2009

And fail we will, if we stand idly by. TEA anyone? Or maybe secede?

a dumas
8:52 pm CST
June 09, 2009

Bad news: 1,600,000 jobs lost since the stimulus bill was signed into law. Good news: 150,000 jobs “saved or created” during this same period, or a negative ratio of about 10-to-1. We are now expected to swallow Obama’s imaginary figure of 600,000 jobs over the next 100 days. Excuses like “it’s only been 100 days” and “it’s all Bush’s fault” are becoming tiresome, people without jobs want results, and polls are starting to reflect this.

Obama has now begun his cry for Pay-as-you-Go, feigning a newly found sense of fiscal responsibility, as if his wild spending will be somehow be excused. We will certainly begin hearing more about the magical “Clinton Surplus” as an excuse to point more blame on the previous administration, and that Pay-Go is a way to just-as-magically erase the $10,000,000,000,000 of new debt his efforts have already created.

Today I heard some Washington economist discuss the “ripple effect” on job creation by stimulus spending. Apparently, that extra twenty bucks in some paychecks is helping businesses around the country to lay off one less worker. Using White House math, that counts as a job “saved”. I guess they forgot about the nine guys who were already laid off but, of course, those go on Bush’s scorecard.

Obama’s belief that Americans will swallow this horribly warped logic is quite insulting. Of course, there are more idiots out there than one might imagine. The fact that Obama is now sitting in the White House is proof enough. However, after enough people lose their jobs, Obama’s halo will begin to fade. Layoffs did drop last month, with “only” 350,000 jobs lost in May, but that is to be expected since there are fewer people to lay off.

Panic dictated the immediate passage of the $787,000,000,000 stimulus bill, which was imperative to save our failing economy. Obama claimed that any delay might cause the US economy to collapse, implying that the orbit of the Earth could be altered and all life on the planet would end.

Injecting that $787,000,000,000 into the economy may have produced the desired effects. But after almost 5 months, only about 5% of these funds have been used for ’stimulation’. Where are all the “shovel ready” projects that Obama promised would create 4,000,000 jobs? Oh, right. We’re saving that money for the magical “Green Jobs” of the future, and as soon as we determine what those are, I’m certain Obama will whip out his checkbook.

So, how should Washington “create jobs”? Buying GM won’t help, as I don’t think they’re hiring right now. We can put some people to work as bail-out check couriers, and by using bicycles those might qualify as “green jobs”. The truth is that government can only create government jobs. Jobs in the private sector are created through the growth and prosperity of the business. This can be encouraged with tax incentives or other business-friendly legislation. In case you don’t understand the concept, Mr. Obama, it is the people with money (the Evil Rich) who invest in businesses to create growth.

If you want to create an environment which promotes business, perhaps you can use the other 95% of your stimulus funds to pay for tax breaks and other proven methods to grow our economy. Or, you could stifle all growth, spend our money on entitlement programs, and we can eventually all become passive little comrades of the Obama Nation that was once the greatest country in the world. You can make the right choice now, or we can make it for you in 2012.

David B Colfry
6:31 am CST
June 09, 2009

As for me, 2012 can’t get here soon enough.

DC
Oath Keeper

Sharon
7:44 am CST
June 09, 2009

I do not see this PORK SPENDING, GOVERNMENT CONTROLLED stimulus as a success! Whoever thinks it is successful, has something missing in their brain! I have never thought anyone could get out of debt by continuing to spend money! It just doesn’t work that way!

I can’t wait for 2010………and like you David B Colfry, 2012 seems extremely far away, but I will be there to vote the Anointed One out of office!