Blogs For Victory

Stripped of the glitter of Obama, the “stimulus” looks like just another tax-and-spend-liberal boondoggle:

Less than half the money dedicated to highways, school construction and other infrastructure projects in a massive economic stimulus package unveiled by House Democrats is likely to be spent within the next two years, according to congressional budget analysts, meaning most of the spending would come too late to lift the nation out of recession.

A report by the Congressional Budget Office found that only about $136 billion of the $355 billion that House leaders want to allocate to infrastructure and other so-called discretionary programs would be spent by Oct. 1, 2010. The rest would come in future years, long after the CBO and other economists predict the recession will have ended.

The report does not analyze the entire $825 billion package assembled by House leaders and aides to President Obama. Parts of the legislation are scheduled to be considered today in the House Appropriations Committee. Other portions of the proposal — including $275 billion in tax cuts and nearly $200 billion for jobless benefits, health care for the poor and other entitlement programs — are expected to pour cash into the nation’s faltering economy much more quickly.

But the CBO analysis appears to confirm the complaints of many Republicans and other critics, who have long argued that spending money on highway construction and other infrastructure projects is ineffective at quickly jolting a sluggish economy. The report was distributed to reporters yesterday by aides to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)

The report also suggests that the House measure would violate Obama’s rules for the stimulus package; Obama aides have said they want the bulk of the spending to occur before 2011…

What is going on here? Well, a huge amount of spending, which is what Democrats do best and which is how they buy and cement political support. Do keep in mind that they don’t give a damn how the economy is going except in as much as it might hurt their chances of being re-elected. What Democrats want is power – all of it, and all of the time. They’ll do anything to obtain and retain power – and if spending a trillion dollars on pork disguised as “stimulus” is what they consider a good means of obtaining and retaining power, they’ll do it.

Furthermore, Democrats don’t really care all that much about Obama – they like the fact that he’ll appoint a bunch of Democrat hacks who will help steer money the way Democrats want, but other than the fact that he keeps a Republican out of the White House, what happens to Obama – plus or minus – is irrelevant. The power Democrats care about – ie, the ability to spend money – is held by Congress, and that is the Party’s largest concern. Obama very much wants to be a success – not just for his re-election prospects but because anyone who becomes President wants to be remembered as a man who changed things for the better in America. But Obama, at the latest, will only be in office until January 20th, 2017…Democrats want to hold Congress on January 21st, 2017. Keeping the White House would be swell, but its not vital. Through 40 years Democrats managed to advance the liberal agenda – and advance their power – because they controlled the nation’s purse strings – Eisenhower, Nixon, Ford, Reagan and the elder Bush came and went, but Democratic power went on and on and on.

Obama wants very much to be sitting atop 6% or less unemployment in August of 2012 – but his Democrats will only allow him to do things which increase the power of the Democratic party, and most of these things will actually harm economic prospects. Obama seems a clever chap, but also stunningly ignorant of the way things work in the economy and, surprisingly enough, in politics. Chicago is a hard school, but its tailored for Chicago – DC is its own, little world and Obama doesn’t seem to understand that all the smiles he sees from his side of the aisle are just a mask for ruthless, power hungry political animals who only care about themselves. But, still, Obama is clever – once we blow through a good chunk of this trillion dollars Obama might come to realize that its not working…and then it will get interesting, because the only people who will be able to help him save the economy will sit over on the GOP side of the aisle.

Politics will be endlessly entertaining over the next four years…and I can’t wait to wade into it, personally.