Stimulus Bill-Son of TARP?
Jack and Suzy Welch in their Business Week article said that “none of us knows what TARP (Troubled Assets Relief Program) and sons of TARP will bring. If Jack Welch is hesitant to predict who can? I certainly am one of the growing number of people with business experience that is getting more anxious by the moment concerning the handling of the Stimulus bill that is working through the legislature at this moment. Unlike the Welch team I am not so hesitant to make some predictions.
The Stimulus Bill is growing close to another trillion dollars of cost to the taxpayers in the Senate deliberations. There is little stimulus going to come from this bill as it is taking shape. The constant push for passage by the administration is maddening. We are talking about a trillion dollars and a basic change in the relationship of business and government. This is serious (momentous) legislation, with little time being provided for any careful consideration.
The administration reportedly wants the bill passed so that the President can sign it on Presidents Day which is February 16th. My favorite Congress person, Nancy Pilosi, pressed yesterday for rapid passage because “500 million Americans are losing their jobs each month.” A slip of the tongue, perhaps, but with Nancy maybe it wasn’t. Maybe she was in such a rush that she didn’t have time to check the recent census figures. Maybe she thought this figure was close enough. Who knows with our Nancy?
The Stimulus bill that is currently being considered will not be a meaningful stimulus. That is not a guess made without serious consideration of past efforts by the government to create jobs. It hasn’t worked in the past and it will not work now. This bill will succeed in getting more than a camel’s nose of government into the tent of private enterprise. I fear that the tent is about to be taken over.
Obama’s edict handed down yesterday is to restrict the salaries of executives whose company takes significant government funding. Doesn’t sound unreasonable does it? There is danger lurking in this reasonable sounding order. We all know that government somehow doesn’t hesitate to expand the meddling in our lives once a foothold is established. This current administration with Pilosi and Harry Reid leading the way are exhibiting a clear foreshadowing of the possible future activities that will punish the producers in our economy and reward their supporters with expanding entitlement expectations.
After the recent election I determined honestly to hold back and observe with as much impartiality as possible while Obama established his administration. I hoped that when past the rhetoric of the election season my doubts would be somewhat assuaged.
My partiality is roaring back more quickly than I would have believed possible only a few weeks ago. Appointments of tax dodgers, and others under grand jury investigation to high positions was a clear demonstration of my fears that our President lacked the experience required to make a smooth transition. The current proposed Stimulus legislation is a helter skelter rush by a leadership group that has never met a payroll, never faced the challenge of meeting market competition, never produced goods or services in the market place and never has had the wrenching experience of handing a pink slip to a loyal employee.
This son of TARP, THE STIMULUS bill will be a bigger problem than the recession.
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Obama isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed. (Nobody really is–especially in Washington). He has to rely on several advisors to guide his decision-making. I have no arguement with this. But by now, things are beginning to crystalize.
His growing mantra of ‘do it now/do it first’ relative to the passage of the dem sponsored stimulus package)is beginning to scare me. It’s irresponsible and quite frankly dangerous. I wouldn’t mind the rush so much if it were indeed a stimulus bill. But the more I hear about it, the more it resembles a gratuitous spending bill. I hope the GOP senators dig in and show the dems they have just begun to fight. The majorty of the country is behind them.