Stan Geiger

Pass the Bill

Stimulus package II is at hand. Obama has thrown it out there---on national TV, in front of a joint session of Congress. He asks, nay, demands that it be passed. I say give him what he wants.

It's not that I think the plan has any merit at all. It doesn't.

To be sure, there are many infrastructure needs all across this land because politicians at all levels of government have blown them off for years. But I question the value of road and bridge building relative to employment. You aren't going to put 14 million people to work by spending a few billion on road and bridge projects.

As far spending on school buildings, the same thinking applies. Plus, spending on school buildings isn't a federal function---any more than keeping teachers employed is a federal function. If people in states and localities deem it necessary to route more money to schools, they have it within their power to do so. The federal government has no business in that business.

Uncle Sam gifting state and local governments skirts the law. In Oklahoma and Tulsa, as examples, budgets are required to balance. Borrowing to cover budget shortfalls is forbidden. So what's the difference between Oklahoma or Tulsa borrowing to balance their budgets and Uncle Sam borrowing to balance their budgets for them?

The tax portion of the plan is of no value.

The payroll tax holiday for employees has been in place all year. It has produced nothing. It hasn't the oompf to produce anything. Any money workers are getting from the break is going to pay for past spending (buying down credit card debt), going into the bank due to uncertainty or possibly getting burned up in the gas tank due to high fuel prices.

Extending the tax break to employers and adding tax credits for hiring won't help, either. No employer is going to add an employee at a cost of 40 or 50 grand per year in exchange for a few grand in tax savings. Businesses don't hire based on tax policy; businesses hire when they need employees. End of story.

Obama's proposal isn't about economics; it's about politics. Mr. Change is playing age-old politics: He's going to the pork barrel in an attempt to buy votes. At the same time, he's hoping the Republican House blocks his grand plan. If that happens, he will be able to run around next summer saying all would be well if those damned Republican obstructionists had just passed his bill.

If I were a Republican strategist, I would advise taking that weapon away. I would urge the passing of Obama's plan---exactly as it is written. Pass it and put it on his desk. Once he signs it he owns it. A year from now he will have nothing to show for it but another half a trillion dollars in federal debt. And so ends his stay at the White House.

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