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President Obama and his Democratic Congress are about to double down on the biggest monetary gamble in U.S. history. This combination of economic “stimulus” package and final disbursement of the remaining TARP money will amount to a bet bankrolled by American taxpayers that may easily go over a trillion dollars.
By the time you add debt service and what ever goodies the Senate-House conference committee puts back in before the President signs it, the final cost will make that original $820 billion look like a bargain. I sincerely hope Obama’s staff has done a better job of researching this spending package than they did vetting some of his recent Cabinet appointments. I’m not encouraged though because anyone who would present Republicans such a gift as millions for condoms and broadband Internet buried in a “back to work” program, clearly were not paying attention. Possibly that, or their victory in November has just made them stunningly arrogant, thinking they could load it up with pet projects that wouldn’t normally be able to stand the light of day. Either way, it doesn’t bode well for the taxpayers of this Country. I don’t see anywhere the discussion of a “plan B” as in: “What if this spending fails to affect the desired result?” Do they just draft a plan for more money? How often can they return to the well without it running dry, and how long before cash-strapped Americans call an end to the hemorrhaging one way or another? Just as troubling, is the lack of anyone saying “After this succeeds, we will move forward by doing this.” There does not appear to be contingency for success. Nobody is proposing we do this because it will absolutely resolve our problems. Instead the mantra is: “We must do this because we have to do something" (even if we do not know it will succeed). President Obama himself said: “No plan is perfect.” Clearly, but as Conservatives we don’t demand perfection; we just want common sense and accountability, neither of which is offered in this package. In short, nobody has an endgame because nobody knows how it will turn out. It appears as if our Government is prepared to bet their two cards and hope that the third makes us healthy again. Unfortunately, I believe we’re playing against odds that any casino would love to offer. The economic “stimulus” package will pass in the Senate, most likely Tuesday and be signed by the President before the end of the week. Republicans, out of some weird desire for bi-partisanship, are apparently sacrificing enough votes to allow passage without making Senator Kennedy return from Florida, but not enough that it appears they support it. This package is a costly gamble that unfortunately, I don’t believe will succeed, and Senate Republicans clearly sense that as well. I will get no joy out of being correct however, because as I’ve said many times, our Country cannot afford for Obama to fail. If within six months to a year, we don’t see positive results for this huge burden of debt, it will be difficult for the President to accomplish much else during his term, and we may well see a shift of power in Congress in 2010. It will be truly unfortunate for the American people who hoped so much for change, to witness such an ill-advised gamble result in so many promises unfulfilled.
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