They Just Can't Stop Spending
by James Glaser
September 1, 2009

First it was the bailout of the banks, then the insurance companies needed money, too. It isn't just President Obama, but all of Congress is really into this spending thing. One would think that the ever-increasing national debt would slow them down, but spending is fun, it can get you votes, which means you stay in power, and you get to keep spending. Yes, it has become a sickness for our elected officials.

After blowing hundreds of billions on the banks and insurance companies, Washington decided to stimulate the whole economy with more borrowed money, but that wasn't enough. They went out and bought a couple of automobile manufacturers. Cars weren't selling, so they started that "cash for clunkers" program with more borrowed money so they could sell some of the cars they were now making. How was Washington to know that the American people would go out and buy more Japanese and Korean cars than the one produced by the American government?

You knew it was only a matter of time:

Latest in Stimulus:
'Cash for Refrigerators'

Business Week reports this:

By Matthew Boyle Matthew Boyle — Mon Aug 24, 8:08 am ET

A $300 million cash-for-clunkers-type federal program to boost sales of energy-efficient home appliances provides a glimmer of hope for beleaguered makers of washing machines and dishwashers, but it's probably not enough to lift companies such as Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR — News) and Electrolux out of the worst down cycle in the sector's....

Now you have to remember that all of this spending has been done with borrowed money. Washington and our American government is tapped out. That means we spend more then we take in. George Bush got us started on this spending spree, but Barack Obama was supposed to bring about change.

I think the trouble happened when Obama was in the Senate. He started spending our money along with the rest of Congress, and saw how fun it was, plus some of that spending came back to him in the form of campaign donations, and he figured out how Washington works.

So, now that he is in the White House, Obama figures if he keeps spending, he'll get a second term. That is the reason President Obama announced yesterday that he was spending, $8,000,000,000.00 on high speed rail and will kick in another $1,000,000,000.00 every year for the next five years to help the project along.

Of course, all this new spending is borrowed money, too. Oh yeah, the experts on high speed rail, tell us it will take a hundred times more money than President Obama has put up to really get America a good rail system.

I am a wood worker. I was planning on buying a new band saw, but I think I'll wait. It is only a matter of time before Washington starts a stimulus program for the wood working tool industry.




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