The public is not optimistic about the impact of the economic stimulus bill: Just 21 percent believe it will significantly shorten the recession. An additional 18 percent believe it will shorten the recession slightly. Forty-five percent say it will not shorten the recession at all.

I would have voted for non of the above. It will extend the recession just as it did in the thirties.

No.

How bout this for stimulus,
Cut payroll tax by 50 %, for the next 6 months, Kill cap gain tax for 2 years.

ColdWarrior57 on February 6, 2009 at 10:51 AM

No, no, no. The idiot messiah has just informed the world that STIMULUS = SPENDING, noting that anyone who doesn’t understand this simple misstatement of fact are stupid. Tax cuts can’t be stimulative. So says the Precedent. Spend, spend, spend. There’s nothing to do but spend!! Spend on anything (as Keynes said that the government can bury paper money in jars, and hide these jars around the community. This way, individuals will have an incentive to go out and dig up jars of money, and therefore this will stimulate the economy.).

Good times.

Government spending nearly doubled under George Bush and the national debt tripled. Why did that not produce massive economic growth?

rockmom on February 6, 2009 at 10:18 AM

An excellent point, that will be flushed down the toilet…what they assail Bush for, they want more of.

The minute you walked in the joint
I could see you were a man of distinction
A real big spender
Good looking, so refined…

Will Michael Steele have the guts to do it?

I don’t have the exact quote, he seemed to equate “stimulus” with “spending”, with an arrogant tone like “well, duh, yeah, spending is stimulus”!

Steve Z on February 6, 2009 at 9:54 AM

Yes. The idiot messiah actually made fun of people who thought there was a difference between a stimulus bill and a spending bill. I’ve never seen such stupidity so proudly displayed in public. Never.

Then we were treated to the Precedent running emotionally amok as he stamped his feet and cried that he wanted his toys, NOW!

Embarrassing beyond words. Not unlike his op-ed, though. That was equally childish and simple-minded.

Sheesh.

Speaking of performances: Obama shouldn’t have needed a teleprompter for his “Candidate as Elmer Gantry” pep rally speech. It was boilerplate, using all of the buzz words of his perpetual campaign. Now he adds the rhetorical device of “appeals to authority” by referencing the economists who have supported his lousy Keynesian rationale. The Alaska dig was a gratuitous jibe at the competition that worries him most: Sarah Palin. The Democrats are really worried about her political appeal to Americans.

The idiot Democrat Representatives that laughed on cue and pretend that their primary concern is their constituents haven’t a clue about being responsible to those they represent. Either these people are deluded about Obama’s vision, or they live in a parallel universe that doesn’t understand that spending plans have to be paid.

Bill Sammon on Fox (interviewed by Greta Van Susteren) picked up on an important clip of BHO’s speech to House Democrats last night. Obama was mocking the characterization of the “stimulus” bill as a “spending” bill, and, although I don’t have the exact quote, he seemed to equate “stimulus” with “spending”, with an arrogant tone like “well, duh, yeah, spending is stimulus”!

Bill Sammon basically made the argument that the mask has fallen away–Obama’s goal is not necessarily to “stimulate” the economy and create jobs, but SPEND taxpayer money, and Sammon wonders what voters’ (taxpayers’) reaction will be.

Obama was preaching to the choir here–why was he speaking to House Democrats (who already passed the bill) rather than Senators, whose vote is still in doubt? But did Obama, in a rhetorical flourish for his admirers, reveal his true intentions to swing voters who might have voted for him in November, but who reject socialism, and might be jamming Senate phone lines?

Hey Big Spender! Get your mitts out of my pocket!

AZCoyote on February 6, 2009 at 8:06 AM

Holy cow, I must have posted from page three, you said the same thing only better.

First of all… I found this deficit when I showed up, number one. I found this national debt, doubled, wrapped in a big bow, waiting for me as I stepped into the Oval Office.”

Jim Treacher on February 5, 2009 at 10:15 PM

He “found” it when he showed up — as in he didn’t know about it before? You didn’t come to the presidency from Outer Mongolia, Barry; you came from the U.S. Senate. If you had spent a little more time there actually doing your job (instead of campaigning for the next one), maybe you’d have known how deeply in debt this nation already is. Then of course, if you were too busy designing your phony presidential seal or practicing your “presidential” looks in the mirror to bother with your job as a Senator, there was always Google.

Rove was so right about this idiot.

Let them OWN it. Lock, stock, and barrel. You Dems want power, well, you got power. Use it or lose it.

Limerick on February 5, 2009 at 11:50 PM

If this bill is so critically important, pass it without Republican support. If it’s so great, Dems get all the glory. If it’s a disaster, Dems get all the blame. Plain and simple.

KILL THIS GARBAGE BILL!!!

NO PORK, PERIOD!!!

NO STD MONEY!!!

NO COMPROMISES!!!

NO RADICAL, FAR LEFT PROGRAMS!!!

VOTE NO, end of story!!!

That is my one and ONLY message to my Congressmen and Senators… THIS BILL IS TOXIC, let the Dems own it, lock, stock and barrel. NO compromises, even a watered-down Pork Bill ilke this will greatly HARM America, kill jobs and force radical left agendas and programs down our throats all in the name of “stimulas”. I have told them all that if they even VOTE FOR ANY PART OF THIS CRAP I will work to remove them next election, I will work against them in the primaries. I will donate money AGAINST their re-elections. This is the ONLY way to get thier attention, they only care about elections.

I wanted to contact my new Senator, Kirsten Gillibrand, but she doesn’t have a Senate email contact yet.)

RickZ on February 6, 2009 at 7:05 AM

Pffft. Like it matters what you say. She is a senator you peon. You will learn to do as you’re told by your betters? Capiche?

I think Graham was committed to Mccain after 2000 and went along him to help get Mccain bipartisan-centrist cred. Now that Mccain has lost, he’s finally coming into his own. Glad to see him fight this so well. Thanks, Senator. Appreciate ya.

promachus on February 5, 2009 at 10:15 PM

Use the Senate email contact form and tell him directly. I did, and I live in NY. (I also wasted my time emailing Chuckie Schumer; I wanted to contact my new Senator, Kirsten Gillibrand, but she doesn’t have a Senate email contact yet.)