17 February 2009
Today will go down as one of the most disturbing days of my life. Not so much on a personal level; that part was pretty much normal. What disturbed me the most about today was the signing of the $787 Billion “Stimulus” Bill into law by President Barack Obama. The disturbing part comes when one knows what has just happened. We, as a nation, have taken the first giant step away from our 200+ year history as a democratic republic, and hurled ourselves squarely towards socialism. And, we did it on purpose.
In November of 2008, we as a nation chose to elect a new President who was well known as a socialist. How could we have expected anything other than what has begun as of today? He promised us socialism, and today he delivered. Congratulations, America. I hope you’re proud of him, because I’m not.
What exactly did he give us that is so “stimulating” anyway? Has anyone actually read this bill? Does anyone know what’s really in it? As it happens, the folks at National Review Online read it, and wrote about it two weeks ago. Did you hear about it? Probably not. You could go looking for the article. It’s not difficult to find. I’ll summarize some of the more atrocious parts of it here, if nothing else just to prove the point.
-$50 Million for the National Endowment for the Arts – all of those displays of someone’s urine in a jar with a crucifix will surely spur the employment of millions
-$15 Billion for boosting Pell Grant scholarships – because everyone knows how much money college kids have to pump into the economy
-$4.2 billion for “neighborhood stabilization activities” – which is so obviously payback to the ACORN people, I don’t know why they didn’t just call it that
-$650 million for digital-TV coupons; $90 million of which is to educate “vulnerable populations” – can someone please tell me what in hell a “vulnerable population” is, and why their continued viewing of television is so important to the economy
-$4.264 Billion for government agencies, including $1 Billion for the US Census Bureau – funding government activities is now considered an emergency stimulus for the economy, which will create exactly zero jobs
-$175 Billion for Medicaid, COBRA, unemployment insurance, and food stamps – all of which are transfers of wealth from the productive to the unproductive, and creates exactly zero jobs...in fact, it urinates all over any incentive to work in the same manner that the NEA urinates on good taste
-$850 Million for Amtrak – let’s face it, if Amtrak needs that kind of money to continue functioning, then it deserves to fail
-$87 Million for a polar icebreaking ship – what kind of ship could possibly cost $87 Million? And why would we want to break the polar ice anyway...aren’t we always told by the hysterical among us that this is a bad thing?
-$150 Million for “producers of livestock, honeybees, and farm-raised fish” – yummy...who’s bringing the beer
-$2.4 Billion for carbon-capture demonstration projects – “Carbon capture”...I couldn’t make that up if I wanted to. Try putting that as your occupation on next years taxes
-$79 Billion for State Fiscal Stabilization Fund – nothing like trying to reward fiscally irresponsible State governments. I say “trying” because $79 Billion won’t even fix Kalleeforneeah’s problems, let alone the other 49 states. And since when is putting money in a fund stimulating for the economy?
This is just a small sample of the incredible waste of money in this package. Has anyone stopped to wonder from whence will all of this money come? It will come from you and me, the American people. Our government will take it from the people who make it and give it to the people they decide need it more than you. The only thing that that is going to stimulate is government control of more and more of the private sector. That, my friends, is socialism, which has never succeeded anywhere it has been tried.
There is a reason that the United States has long been the leader of the free world. It has nothing to do with how much we think we’re getting from our government, or how much we allow government to run our lives for us. It has everything to do with the spirit of freedom and independence, and the belief in American Exceptionalism. Have we lost the spirit that made this country so great?
I certainly hope not, but I’m beginning to have my doubts. This slippery slope is not easily reversed. Are we up for it?
Today will go down as one of the most disturbing days of my life. Not so much on a personal level; that part was pretty much normal. What disturbed me the most about today was the signing of the $787 Billion “Stimulus” Bill into law by President Barack Obama. The disturbing part comes when one knows what has just happened. We, as a nation, have taken the first giant step away from our 200+ year history as a democratic republic, and hurled ourselves squarely towards socialism. And, we did it on purpose.
In November of 2008, we as a nation chose to elect a new President who was well known as a socialist. How could we have expected anything other than what has begun as of today? He promised us socialism, and today he delivered. Congratulations, America. I hope you’re proud of him, because I’m not.
What exactly did he give us that is so “stimulating” anyway? Has anyone actually read this bill? Does anyone know what’s really in it? As it happens, the folks at National Review Online read it, and wrote about it two weeks ago. Did you hear about it? Probably not. You could go looking for the article. It’s not difficult to find. I’ll summarize some of the more atrocious parts of it here, if nothing else just to prove the point.
-$50 Million for the National Endowment for the Arts – all of those displays of someone’s urine in a jar with a crucifix will surely spur the employment of millions
-$15 Billion for boosting Pell Grant scholarships – because everyone knows how much money college kids have to pump into the economy
-$4.2 billion for “neighborhood stabilization activities” – which is so obviously payback to the ACORN people, I don’t know why they didn’t just call it that
-$650 million for digital-TV coupons; $90 million of which is to educate “vulnerable populations” – can someone please tell me what in hell a “vulnerable population” is, and why their continued viewing of television is so important to the economy
-$4.264 Billion for government agencies, including $1 Billion for the US Census Bureau – funding government activities is now considered an emergency stimulus for the economy, which will create exactly zero jobs
-$175 Billion for Medicaid, COBRA, unemployment insurance, and food stamps – all of which are transfers of wealth from the productive to the unproductive, and creates exactly zero jobs...in fact, it urinates all over any incentive to work in the same manner that the NEA urinates on good taste
-$850 Million for Amtrak – let’s face it, if Amtrak needs that kind of money to continue functioning, then it deserves to fail
-$87 Million for a polar icebreaking ship – what kind of ship could possibly cost $87 Million? And why would we want to break the polar ice anyway...aren’t we always told by the hysterical among us that this is a bad thing?
-$150 Million for “producers of livestock, honeybees, and farm-raised fish” – yummy...who’s bringing the beer
-$2.4 Billion for carbon-capture demonstration projects – “Carbon capture”...I couldn’t make that up if I wanted to. Try putting that as your occupation on next years taxes
-$79 Billion for State Fiscal Stabilization Fund – nothing like trying to reward fiscally irresponsible State governments. I say “trying” because $79 Billion won’t even fix Kalleeforneeah’s problems, let alone the other 49 states. And since when is putting money in a fund stimulating for the economy?
This is just a small sample of the incredible waste of money in this package. Has anyone stopped to wonder from whence will all of this money come? It will come from you and me, the American people. Our government will take it from the people who make it and give it to the people they decide need it more than you. The only thing that that is going to stimulate is government control of more and more of the private sector. That, my friends, is socialism, which has never succeeded anywhere it has been tried.
There is a reason that the United States has long been the leader of the free world. It has nothing to do with how much we think we’re getting from our government, or how much we allow government to run our lives for us. It has everything to do with the spirit of freedom and independence, and the belief in American Exceptionalism. Have we lost the spirit that made this country so great?
I certainly hope not, but I’m beginning to have my doubts. This slippery slope is not easily reversed. Are we up for it?
