I Really Thought We Did This Before
by James Glaser
September 15, 2011

First off, if you give me enough money, I'll put everybody to work in real fine paying jobs. No, I don't know what they will do after the money runs out, but for a while, like until the next election, things will look just peachy.

It doesn't seem like that long ago that President Obama was talking about "shovel ready jobs."

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, abbreviated ARRA and commonly referred to as the Stimulus or The Recovery Act, is an economic stimulus package enacted by the 111th United States Congress in February 2009 and signed into law on February 17, 2009 by President Barack Obama.

To respond to the late-2000s recession, the primary objective for ARRA was to save and create jobs almost immediately. Secondary objectives were to provide temporary relief programs for those most impacted by the recession and invest in infrastructure, education, health, and 'green' energy. The approximate cost of the economic stimulus package was estimated to be $787 billion at the time of passage. The Act included direct spending in infrastructure, education, health, and energy, federal tax incentives, and expansion of unemployment benefits and other social welfare provisions.

So we spent $787 billion, and the Obama administration claims that it saved millions of jobs. However, we still have about 15 million Americans out of work.

So, now Obama is back at it. This time he wants something like $450 billion dollars, and he claims that this time it will work, and he will put millions of Americans back to work. We had to borrow that first $787 billion, and we will have to borrow this $450 billion, too.

Of course, our children will have to pay it back some day, but Obama is not worried about that. No, President Obama is worried about next year's election, and if Congress will go along with him, he can put people back to work until this money runs out, and he is betting that will be after that election.

Sorry Kids.

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