Stimulus shimulus!!
The Stimulus Package
142 billion for education / 50 million students (age 5-17) = 2840/student.
90 billion for road and bridge construction. A percent of which goes for raw materials such as steel. http://money.cnn.com/2009/01/08/news/economy/stimulus_jobs/index.htm?postversion=2009010815Steel from foreign countries. Also, will all the laborers be US citizens, or will some be illegal aliens?
54 billion for renewable energy. If it is cost effective to create renewable energy, the private sector will do it, and do it better and cheaper than the government. If not, the money will be wasted as there will be no legs. Some of the money will go to weatherizing (i.e., insulating) low income homes, a boon for insulation companies. Perhaps time to get back into that business? I cannot argue with modernizing the electical grid, but perhaps this also can be done by providing tax incentives for the major power companies to modernize?
20 billion to update the health care system. If computerizing was cost effective, it would already have been done. Every major health care system that has done this has spent millions. As technology is a moving target and health care information is so tightly regulated, this is extremely complex. A better approach is to develop national standards and let the private sector solve this. The government can help by establishing a common standard in conjunction with the software manufacturers and health informatics experts. That would take a few million, not billions.
16 billion for science and research. Back in the day, the NIH was big in research. Just fund that again, with NIH grants and similar grants to basic science research.
87 billion for medicaid.
4 billion for law enforcement.
43 billion for unemployment benefits
39 billion for cobra
20 billion for food for the poor
145 billion tax cut for individuals making <75k or couples making <150k (most a couple could get = 1000)
8 billion refund in taxes for the working poor.
18 billion additional tax credit for dependent children (about 300/child for 1 year?)
Changes in tax laws that would allow businesses with bad years to offset this against good years for up to 5 years instead of 2 years. Could save businesses up to 17 billion.
Stimulus definition: influence the direction of the economy or create incentives.
My OpinionWith a few exceptions, nothing in this bill will influence the direction of the economy. There are a few short term incentives (ie, have more children to get another 300/yr; if you are married and one earns 76-149k, stay married; get into the highway construction or the insulation business, at least for the short term). This package represents big government spending, which as democrats, is what they do, but is not a stimulus package by definition. As the largest spending bill by a government in the history of the world, this is certainly a landmark.
When the chickens come home to roost, when we the people have to pay for this bill, you will see a very heated psychological response. In that respect, it is a stimulus package!
142 billion for education / 50 million students (age 5-17) = 2840/student.
90 billion for road and bridge construction. A percent of which goes for raw materials such as steel. http://money.cnn.com/2009/01/08/news/economy/stimulus_jobs/index.htm?postversion=2009010815Steel from foreign countries. Also, will all the laborers be US citizens, or will some be illegal aliens?
54 billion for renewable energy. If it is cost effective to create renewable energy, the private sector will do it, and do it better and cheaper than the government. If not, the money will be wasted as there will be no legs. Some of the money will go to weatherizing (i.e., insulating) low income homes, a boon for insulation companies. Perhaps time to get back into that business? I cannot argue with modernizing the electical grid, but perhaps this also can be done by providing tax incentives for the major power companies to modernize?
20 billion to update the health care system. If computerizing was cost effective, it would already have been done. Every major health care system that has done this has spent millions. As technology is a moving target and health care information is so tightly regulated, this is extremely complex. A better approach is to develop national standards and let the private sector solve this. The government can help by establishing a common standard in conjunction with the software manufacturers and health informatics experts. That would take a few million, not billions.
16 billion for science and research. Back in the day, the NIH was big in research. Just fund that again, with NIH grants and similar grants to basic science research.
87 billion for medicaid.
4 billion for law enforcement.
43 billion for unemployment benefits
39 billion for cobra
20 billion for food for the poor
145 billion tax cut for individuals making <75k or couples making <150k (most a couple could get = 1000)
8 billion refund in taxes for the working poor.
18 billion additional tax credit for dependent children (about 300/child for 1 year?)
Changes in tax laws that would allow businesses with bad years to offset this against good years for up to 5 years instead of 2 years. Could save businesses up to 17 billion.
Stimulus definition: influence the direction of the economy or create incentives.
My OpinionWith a few exceptions, nothing in this bill will influence the direction of the economy. There are a few short term incentives (ie, have more children to get another 300/yr; if you are married and one earns 76-149k, stay married; get into the highway construction or the insulation business, at least for the short term). This package represents big government spending, which as democrats, is what they do, but is not a stimulus package by definition. As the largest spending bill by a government in the history of the world, this is certainly a landmark.
When the chickens come home to roost, when we the people have to pay for this bill, you will see a very heated psychological response. In that respect, it is a stimulus package!
posted by DocBrain at
4:34 AM
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