RossWasHere.com Information is the currency of democracy. –Thomas Jefferson

The stimulus package for dummies.

Ok, people. All sorts of words are flying about this stimulus package.

Let me explain it to you using facts only. Here goes nothing...

WHY IS THE STIMULUS NECESSARY?

We're in this crisis because people aren't buying things.  With me so far?  Good.

For every job that is lost, that means someone has less money to buy stuff... which means less stuff gets bought.  Still with me?  Awesome.

Less stuff being bought is bad for businesses, which means MORE layoffs.

It's a vicious cycle we're in.   Just ask anyone who was alive in the 1920's.

This is why timing matters... there is urgency here. There's literally a scientific and economic need to hurry... it's not a matter of perception, it's the truth.

WILL THIS BILL HELP?

The short answer? Maybe.

The long answer?

The bill that passed today was approximately 42% tax cuts and 58% spending.  If you are concerned about the future of this country, you should be furious that it is not 100% spending.

Republicans may not like it, but the way to create jobs fast is by spending... by giving money to people who will spend it in an economy that needs people to be spending in it.

That is the fucking definition of economic stimulus. Look it up.

Oh, and anyone that says 'tax cuts' when talking about a stimulus should be stripped of political office immediately and forced to re-take Economics 101 because they clearly weren't paying attention the first time they took it.

How many of you spent your $600 check last year?  Putting it in savings or paying down debt does not count.  That's why tax cuts are not the best choice.

Every dollar spent on tax rebates generates about $1.02 of economic activity. Infrastructure? $1.59.

Why waste 57 cents on-the-dollar?

Why waste taxpayer money on tax breaks when actual spending works better?!?

This is where I'm really pissed at Obama.  He put those tax cuts in to make the republicans happy... and they still gave him the middle finger.  So why not just take them out?  They're bad for this plan and this country.

The 42% of the bill that is tax cuts, is a WASTE... at a time when we cannot afford waste.

Also, did you notice what the republicans wanted to cut from the stimulus package? Spending on food stamps.

POP QUIZ: What is the single most productive stimulus that we know of?

I'll give you one guess.

$1 spent on food stamps = $1.73 economic activity. Food stamps are something that get spent.  On goods.  Made by companies.

The fact that they want to cut this from the stimulus is proof that the republicans aren't even trying to fix things... or they just don't fucking get it.

CONCLUSION

As civic-minded Americans concerned about our future, now is the time to take the step of favoring correct information over incorrect information. The stakes are too high.
If you are in congress and are favoring political nonsense over facts, you should lose your political potency.   You have every right to believe whatever bullshit you want to, but get out of the way of the people who are actually trying to save this country.