Economic Stimulus. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (H.R. 1) would provide $787 billion — $575 billion in new spending and $212 billion in tax cuts — to stimulate the economy. The “stimulus” spending is supposed to create jobs, yet the money that the government spends for this purpose would have to be drained from the economy in the first place, thereby destroying jobs throughout the economy in order to give the government the means to create jobs in selected sectors. Even the tax cuts, which constitute less than a third of the stimulus package, would not reduce the burden that government spending places on the economy, since there are no corresponding spending cuts. Since the federal government is already operating in the red, the entire $787-billion “stimulus” would translate into another $787 billion in federal debt, as well as inflation when the money to finance the debt is created out of thin air by the Fed and pumped into the economy. In fact, the legislation would increase the national debt ceiling by $789 billion, a little more than the bill’s price tag.
The Senate adopted H.R. 1 (thus clearing it for the president to sign) on February 13, 2009, by a vote of 60-38 (Roll Call 64). We have assigned pluses to the nays because much of the spending would be unconstitutional and government cannot stimulate the economy by draining money from the private sector.
