Economic stimulus

On Wednesday I heard a caller to a conservative radio talk show arguing that the economic stimulus package making its way through the legislative process is legit. Waving aside suggestions that the bill represents wasteful spending, he assured the host that government spending was economic stimulus.

That's about the dumbest thing I've ever heard, apart from the fact that it is trivially true in economic terms. Consumer saving through investment and consumer spending also constitute economic stimulus. Pretty much any movement of money through the system is economic stimulus, leaving as the exception pretty much only those folks who bury their money in a wooden chest in the yard or stuff it inside a mattress.

If the economy truly requires a gigantic spending bill from Congress then Congress ought to ensure that the bill contains those measures with the greatest immediate stimulative effect. According to that measure, the Democratic-controlled Congress has failed President Obama and the nation. The bill they produced absurdly suggests that each and every government spending bill should be labeled as a stimulus package.

I have been tracking Obama's early emphasis for his presidency. The pathetic performance of the Democrats on this stimulus package has probably done more than anything else--including Obama's tax-cheating appointments--to damage the new presidency.

If the Democratic Party was interested in supporting Obama then they should have worked much harder to produce the type of bipartisan bill that Obama originally proposed. Apparently they weren't interested in doing that. Instead, they loaded it with the normal list of pet programs.