Well, I feel that it would be negligent of me to allow the stimulus plan to pass with nary a comment from this particular peanut gallery.
I think a lot of it sucks. A lot of it will go awry. There will be waste, some corruption, and no results that can ever be reliably measured. What is reliable is that the two parties will be arguing over whether every perk or slump in the market is because of or in spite of the stimulus plan.
However. I think that it has value, even as a placebo of sorts. The entire world now knows that somebody is doing something massive to try to make change, and this fact itself will probably contribute to a small measure of confidence and security, the lack of which is really what this crisis is about. Also, some of that money is going to get thrown at something good. I hope the alternative energies projects get a jumpstart from this. And yes, my wee little boy will be paying this off for me one day, as will we all in the next decades. But, as I like to say – I’d rather have a steeper personal income tax and still have a personal income. I work in manufacturing, folks, and the layoffs around here are sickening. I am willing to trade a little personal liberty with my money in exchange for the security that I can continue to earn it. Double digit unemployment will lead to a huge rise in crime. If we couldn’t find any work at all, couldn’t find any public assistance (because they don’t have any money anymore either,) and my baby was crying at me with hunger? You had better get out of my way as I loot and pillage with the best of them.
Sometimes it feels like the world is falling down around our ears. But then Jack laughs because I bump into his cheek with my nose in a particularly hilarious way, and then I think he’s absolutely right, and toss out a little giggle myself.