Obama: All Spending = Stimulus

By J Norman Marsh
Obama is now getting agitated about the lack of support for his stimulus plan, mocking his critics who dare stand up to him.  As stated over at Powerline:

But Obama was only getting warmed up. His major howler was this:

So then you get the argument, well, this is not a stimulus bill, this is a spending bill. What do you think a stimulus is? (Laughter and applause.) That’s the whole point. No, seriously. (Laughter.) That’s the point.

Under this “logic,” any bill that contains spending should be enacted because, by definition, it provides “stimulus.” It doesn’t matter how much stimulus is provided or when the stimulus will occur. This is quite possibly the most irresponsible position ever taken by a president on an economic issue…  The problem is that given enough time, every spending program in that plan will have to be paid for by taking money out of the economy. The result of taking money out of the economy is the opposite of stimulus.

Remember, the government cannot create wealth of its own.  It gains wealth only by taking from taxpayers.  So any stimulus, any government program is taxpayer-generated.  It’s not as if the government is simply handing down money from on high like a benevolent 18th century monarch. We give to the government and it, in theory, gives it to those companies whose stability will stabilize the entire economy.  I have my doubts about such theories to begin with, but at minimum we need to eliminate the pet projects - outlined by the Professor - that clearly have nothing to do with stabilizing the nation’s economic infrastructure.  There is a difference between stimulus and wasting money on unnecessary services (eg. Amtrak).  Obama suggests there’s no such difference.

February 6, 2009 · Filed under Politics

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