…just not all of it and not exactly to the people it was taken from.
Yep, the Congress is promising an approximately $150B bill to return a portion of what it has ripped from productive citizens’ pockets, just not necessarily to those it took the money from (the aforesaid productive citizens), of course.
So, if the train stays on the track, expect perhaps as much as $600 per person in “beer money” to be distributed in a purely socialist fashion sometime this summer.
*pfui*
Big stinking deal. We’d be better off were that amount of “mugged” funds spent in a WPA-like investment in energy infrastructure: nuclear plants (MIT has placed the plans for a modular pebble bed reactor in the public domain–set up an assembly line and tell the Saudis and Chavezes of the world to go suck a sour lemon); new, more efficient, oil refineries; biomass to oil or methanol plants, etc.; conversion of railroads to electicity (with enough PBRs, that’d be a real step toward energy independence).
All that could be funded out of congresscritters favorite pork, without raising a dime of taxes. HEck, use ONLY pork and we could probably start paying down the national debt, too…
With the $100+/barrel oil now being held over our heads dealt with, other steps to really help the economy in substantive ways”
1. Abolish the IRS/16th Amendment in favor of the FairTax
2. Institute a 10% across-the-board import duty on ALL imports, no exceptions.
Those two things alone would make American products much, much more competitive in the international markets and start rebuilding America’s manufacturing capabilities, providing even more jobs, over and above the “jobs” (government funded jobs are parasitic on the economy–OK, a few offer some symbiotic benefits) that building new energy infrastructure would provide.
And it’s jobs, not government handbacks (or handouts, for those who didn’t pay in) that would be the real economic stimulus we need.
Of course, expecting something sensible from Congress is like expecting fairy dust to make pigs fly. First, you have to find the fairy dust (No, you can’t get any from homosexual activists. They don’t even pollinate). Then you have to catch the pig. Then you have to get clearance from the FAA to conduct fairy dust-flying pig experiments, an environmental impact assessment from the EPA, an OSHA evaluation of risks to the flight crew, etc., and an ASPCA/PETA signoff on the plan…
Come to think of it, that sounds a lot easier and more likely to happen than Congress growing some brains and then finding the balls to actually do the right thing.
BTW, I blame Rosemary for getting my crank turning on this topic. 🙂 She talked about the Fed cut, its possible effect on the housing market, and pressure on congresscritters to bail out irresponsible home “buyers” (who really, for the most part, just went into more debt than they could afford to “buy” a house they hadn’t earned and couldn’t afford to maintain).
Trackposted to Outside the Beltway, The Virtuous Republic, Shadowscope, Leaning Straight Up, Big Dog’s Weblog, Cao’s Blog, A Newt One- The Truth Surge, Diary of the Mad Pigeon, Woman Honor Thyself, The World According to Carl, Pirate’s Cove, Blue Star Chronicles, The Pink Flamingo, Wolf Pangloss, Gulf Coast Hurricane Tracker, CORSARI D’ITALIA, and Dumb Ox Daily News, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.
But look how far we’ve come!
Politicians used to have to drive around in wagons to cart beer and whiskey to their constituents!
You know, you had me until the PETA signoff. Up til then, I still believed you had something….
On the other hand, if we can’t make pigs fly, at least we can still make them into bacon. Mmm. Bacon.
Far as the rest of it goes, makes me frustrated just thinking about it. But then, I’ve long wanted to cut off 100% of the funding to California’s public alledgeducation system and see how well they could privatize, given the opportunity of parents to invest their education dollars in the school or program that best suited their family needs.
‘Course, that would result in the immediate dissolution of 98% of California public schools. (Not that this would be a bad thing…)
/rant
D.O, “Politicians used to have to drive around in wagons to cart beer and whiskey to [bribe] their constituents!”
*heh*
Yep, now we can all probably arrange to have beer bribes sent as direct deposits…
*sigh*
RY, Even with requirement of a the PETA signoff, flying fairy dust pigs is closer to reality than sensible actions from Congress.
*profound sigh*
You’re not the only one to notice something wrong with this program. Tony at Red Mind in a Blue State has the veins in his neck ready to pop. He only mentioned his displeasure in passing last week and I’m waiting for his full vent to hit this next week.
You got it right, this is pure socialism and wealth redistribution, pandering in an election year. A Chicken in Every Pot!, or as in California Some Pot for Every Chicken.
sheesh at first I thought u were actually reporting good news..heh 🙂
Pure socialism is not quite correct. This is out and out theft from working Americans to give to the dull and indolent ones who will not work. A rebate on top of an unearned tax credit? Mercy!
LomaAlta,
Please keep in mind the fact that the purest socialism imaginable is
1. Dirty pool (pure filth, indeed *heh*)
2. Just Soviet-style communism dressed up in pseudo-intellectual togs
3. Just more lies.
“Pure” when speaking of socialism is such a relative term, which is simple justice when one thinks about it. After all, socialism crawled from the the same cesspool that spawned moral relativism.
As much as I know I tread dangerous ground when I disagree with your always sharp reasoning, I think I’ll continue to call such behavior “purely socialist”… as in pure B.S., pure filth, pure idiocy (all of which are at least classes of which socialism is a subset. :-))
Angel,
When it comes to Congress this is good news! Think of the greater harm(s) they are daily poised to do… *sigh*