Common Sense Observations

President Barrack Obama’s Recovery Program

Let’s begin with the correct name of President Obama’s bill, or “short title” as it’s called, which just passed the House: The American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009.

 

Here is the purpose of the legislation brought forth by President Obama:

Making supplemental appropriations for job preservation and creation, infrastructure investment, energy efficiency and science, assistance to the unemployed, and State and local fiscal stabilization, for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2009, and for other purposes.

 

There is one inclusion in the purpose of President Obama’s bill which pretty much means that there really is not clearly confined purpose for the bill. It’s the last sentence: “and for other purposes.” It’s good that this was tagged on as it’s clear, after reading some parts of the bill, that oodles of the money ($850 billion) has absolutely nothing to do with recovery. Clearly, much of the money is being allocated to appeal to lawmakers and get them to pass the bill. The short name for this is “pork spending.”

 

First of all, I don’t recall President Obama saying anything (in his speeches or pleadings for the American people to back this bill) about “other purposes.” All I recall is President Obama saying that this bill is necessary for the recovery of the economy, that it will create jobs and must be passed quickly!

 

With all this said, here are some of the examples of pork included in this latest attempt at repairing the rapidly failing US economy:

 

• $345 million for Agriculture Department computers.

• $650 million for TV converter box units.

• $15 billion for college scholarships.

• $1 billion for coping with Census glitches

• $88 million to help move the Public Health Service into a new building next year.

• $2.1 billion to pay off the deficits in public housing.

• $870 million to fight flu.

• $400 million to impede sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV and Chlamydia.

• $40 million to change health statistics collection from paper systems to electronic systems

• $380 million for the Women, Infants and Children program. (This is on top of the $1 billion the program received late last year.)

• $3.5 billion for health research.

• $14 billion+ for education grants. This would be in the form of Pell Grants.

 

Now before you go saying ‘hey – grants for education and food for women and children are good things’ please remember that this bill is supposed to be about providing jobs and jump starting our ailing (near comatose) economy. I have nothing against helping women and children, and I certainly have nothing against helping our youth with their education. But those are separate matters which must be dealt with separately – and not cloaked inside of a bill which garners support from people who need help to survive – people who need jobs NOW!

 

President Obama’s American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009 doesn’t seem to contain enough of what’s needed. In fact you have to look hard at the hundreds of pages of proposed legislation to find anything that looks like it will actually help the American people right now.

 

I liked the idea of one Senator: give anyone who wants to buy a new car a $5,000 voucher. This helps those who need to have transportation to get to work, and would also help the ailing auto industry.

 

I am going to waste some time today. I’ll be writing my representatives and expressing my disgust with The American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009 as proposed by President Obama. I know it won’t do me any good, but I hate the thought of just sitting still while I’m abused. I also don’t like thinking that the government thinks I’m so stupid that I don’t see what’s really happening. Even my stupidity has limitations.