More Than a Trickle, Less Than a Flood

There's one thing that President Obama didn't do to stimulate the economy that surprised me. He didn't propose a one to two year vacation (sorry, but I couldn't think of a better word for it) from the payroll tax. I say it surprises me because to most of the people I talk to, it sounds like a fundamentally liberal idea. I mean, think about it, you're giving money directly (and, yes, disproportionately) to people who are more than likely going to be spending it - i.e., the working poor. And if in fact you supplement that with the additional food stamps and unemployment extensions (with strict controls, of course) that Obama did put in, you'd really be pumping some serious cash into the economy.......................................................................Contrast this with what we've done instead; an 800 BILLION (over a trillion when you add in the interest) dollar spending bill that, while, yes, it undoubtedly will have some stimulative effect (I don't buy the Limbaugh line that it's totally ineffectual), features aspects in it that do nothing but blow an even larger hole in the deficit. And, worse, folks, we're doing it in an era in which we're rapidly becoming a debtor nation. I mean, couldn't Nancy Pelosi maybe try and reel it in a little? It's like, I know she's had it hard under G.W.B. and all but, come on, the Democrats are supposed to be the grown-ups here. At least that's what the memorandum tells me.