The Obama Stimulus – a gift of giving

By Michael Vass | January 27, 2010

Now it might be apt to take a moment and review the Obama Stimulus. The best way to do so is to take a look at the very words of President Obama on this

That was January 2009. Note that last bit on what would happen if we did not pass the Obama Stimulus.

That was from July 2009. Unemployment was only 9% at the time. Today it is at 10%, with White House economists stating that unemployment might not go below 9.5% before 2nd quarter 2011, after peaking at 10.5% this year. My personal estimates are that the peak will be 11.5% in 2010, as I have stated for about a year now.

So for $787 billion what has the Obama Stimulus accomplished?

  • Unemployment has INCREASED steadily since passage
  • Mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures have skyrocketed since passage
  • Between $150 – $200 billion has ben spent of the total in the first year of existence (remember the word “immediately”)
  • The overwhelming number of jobs created are temporary Government jobs (the promise was that 90% of jobs created would be private sector)
  • Somewhere between 600,000 and 2 million jobs were claimed to be “created or saved” – there is no exact number and data at recovery.org has been proven to be questionable though the 3 million+ jobs lost are not in question.
  • An estimated 300,000+ families lost $34,000,000 worth of food – the number of people that were unable to get food stamps due to the stimulus
  • An additional $75 billion was spent in 2009 alone on Stimulus items

    That last one is the latest bit. It’s the one not getting major news coverage. Because President Obama has the State of the Union and just proposed to “save” $250 billion with a spending freeze. And the $250 billion would be the total after 10 years, unless you subtract the overages of the Stimulus each year, or any of the proposed spending in Congress right now.

    Estimates are that the Obama Stimulus will cost $400 billion in 2010. Estimates also state that the very best possible outcome for unemployment is a reduction to 9% unemployment at the very end of the year. The consensus is that it will in fact be 10% or more – and these economists should know because they KNEW the Stimulus would keep unemployment at 8%.

    The Obama Stimulus is so good that Congress is now working on the Obama Stimulus 2. A Bill that has been long awaited by myself and a few outspoken others for about a year now. The House version of the Stimulus2.0 will cost $175 billion. The recent proposal by Democrats would be $82.5 billion. Neither number incliudes earmarks (President Obama allowed over 9,000 in 2 Bills in 2009) so the price will be higher.

    Remember the spending freeze does not count Stimulus 1 or 2. But it will “save” money, just like the Obama Stimulus “saved” 2 million jobs as unemployment went up.

    So what do you get for $787 billion? An extra $75 billion and counting, without a real net increase in jobs nor the expectation of jobs to come for years. You get a State of the Union speech that will claim fiscal responsibility while spending more money than can be imagined with less results than could be hoped for. You get “Change you can believe in”, because people believe when they get a foreclosure notice or pink slip.

    But fret not. These are the gifts of the Obama Stimulus after just 1 year. Imagine what you will believe after year 2, or 4.

    Rating 4.00 out of 5

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