Stimulus, schtimulus

Everybody knows by now that the "stimulus" package in the US is practically a done deal. I know I am not the only one who shudders to think that politicians voted "aye," even though I guarantee that very few of them actually read the gazillion page document before they voted for. There is a certain irony in that, since signing loan deals without doing due diligence is what got the US in the current position in the first place; from Main Street to Wall Street.

Some members of the public have taken the time to see what future has been signed away on the backs of as yet unborn Americans. One of those who bothered to read the documents is CJ:

Stinkulus Facts February 14th, 2009 by CJ

Okay, I just literally spent the past five hours looking through all 1400+ (1434 to be exact) pages of the stimulus bill the Senate just passed, which sends the Stinkulus Bill to President Obama for signature. I'm not going to offer any personal insight into this other than I'm disgusted with all the spending that has NOTHING to do with job creation and everything to do with government job insurance. I mean, there is a LOT of money coming to us in the military and I'm still opposed to it. Yes, we need the money, but not in a "STIMULUS" bill. Instead, I copied some numbers and figures about where SOME of this money is going and how much. It's nowhere near all-inclusive of the entire $787 billion. I didn't touch the tens of billions of dollars to the Department of Health and Human Services (I'll probably add those later when I'm brave enough to dive back in). The only thing I will put above the cut line is this little gem tucked deep inside:

National debt ceiling raised to $12.140 TRILLION dollars!!

And here's a quick bit of fun from the bill. Can anyone translate this paragraph for me?

“the Secretary of the Treasury shall make a $300 payment to each individual who, for any month during the 3-month period ending with the month which ends prior to the month that includes the date of the enactment of this Act, is entitled to a benefit payment…”

I'm not sure, but I think that may mean I qualify…

What you are about to see only adds up to approximately $120 billion of the total stinkulus bill. Enjoy!!

$1.4 billion for restoration of water and related natural resources and for related activities for Indian tribes
$50 million for California Bay-Delta
$14.4 billion for energy efficiency and renewable energy programs
$2 billion for manufacturers of advanced battery systems and vehicle batteries that are produced in the United States, including advanced lithium ion batteries, hybrid electrical systems, component manufacturers, and software designers
$1 billion for clean coal power initiative
$483 million for the Non-Defense Environmental Cleanup Fund
$5.5 billion for Defense Environment Cleanup Fund
$125 million for the D.C. Water and Sewer authority
$330 million for “Science” (no further information provided)
$5.5 billion for Federal Buildings Fund (courthouses, border stations, etc), $2.5 billion of which will be used to convert federal building into “High Performance Green Buildings”
$300 million for the federal government to buy electric vehicles
$7 million for Obama’s new Recovery Act Accountability and Transparency Board...

And that only scratches the surface. One item I heard of mentioned " door bells" for thousands of dollars. Really. I particularly notice the last item on synopsis above: Transparency Board. Uhuh, right, whateverrrrrrrrr...

Go read the rest of CJ's piece here.

Oh, and be sure to read his earlier post on this mess :

Apologize To Your Children

February 13th, 2009 by CJ

The House and Senate passed the massive $1 trillion + stinkulus bill tonight. Our President even commissioned a military jet to pick up a Senator so he could cast the 60th vote passing the measure and sending it to his desk for signature. Yup, in a time when our government is strapped (now bankrupt) and people are suffering, we spend tens of thousands of dollars to fly in a Senator - on our dime. I wonder if the military will fly me somewhere for a funeral or wake for free? Probably not. But, I digress…

If you have kids, call them into the room and sit them down. Look them in the eye and make sure they know that we've failed them. We've burdened them with more debt than we'll ever be able to pay. They may never be able to pay it off either, since we have already borrowed trillions more for other craptacular spending. Let them know that when they grow up, they will be saddled with high taxes and piss poor government services to pay back all this money we're printing like magic that belongs to a foreign nation. Never mind that President Obama said we need to learn Spanish. Nope, they'll need to learn Chinese instead.

Tell them that it's not all bad. Nana and Papa, retirees, disabled veterans and others who don’t pay payroll taxes will get a nice $250 Social Security feel good check out of it. Federal agencies will get nice computer upgrades (yeah, that'll stimulate the economy and create jobs). I will have an extra $26 in my pocket every paycheck which will work wonders going towards their college fund! Don't forget to thank them for that when they're pushing your wheelchair down the insane asylum cursing your name for having to work two or three jobs for that. Rush made a brilliant observation today about how Michelle Obama was praising this extra $13 per week in my pocket but just last year making fun of Bush for the $600 stimulus checks and how it would only buy one pair of $600 earrings. It will take me just shy of ONE YEAR to buy those earrings under this plan! Thanks, my children!

It's important that we start brainwashing them now into thinking this is a good idea, so when they get older and realize why 50% of their paychecks are gone before they see them they don't think anything of it....

The rest of that is here. And you might check out this site: No Stimulus for more background reading.

Nothing more for me to add, of course!