In a few short years we will 'learn' that the cost of the stimulus bill caused a huge economic slump.
None of us can understand a 10 trillion dollar bail-out program. We live in the real world. We can understand our yearly salary and our yearly take-home pay.
To better visualize the 10-trillion dollar bail-out, I went to the IRS and learned that there were 74,139,000 Federal Tax Returns filed last year. When we divide the 10-trillion dollar bail-out program, we see that each one of us now has an additional $94,417.24 of debt. Since we pay it out over 10 years we will only pay $9,441.72 each year.
So, look at your yearly net income and subtract $9,441.72 and you can see what the bail out will cost you every year - for the next 10-years.
Well, the important thing to remember is that the $9,441 you will pay each year for the next ten years kept GM from filing for bankruptcy. Oh, wait a minute. That is not true. GM did file for bankruptcy. Well, the important thing to remember it that your $9,441 increased the number of people working in America. Oh, wait a minute. That is not true. Well, you must remember that your money did further a social agenda and even helped ACORN ( 1 billion) and encouraged abortion.
Everything became stimulus:
$2.1 billion for Head Start,
$6 billion for wellness preservation,
$200 million for birth control,
money for the arts,
money for federal vehicles,
money for digital TV coupons,
money for the community activist group ACORN,
$6 billion for government buildings,
$400 million for global warming research, $2.4 billion for carbon-catching demonstration projects. (Source: U.S. News)
It is not just the questionable investments in ACORN groups, but the fact is the stimulus money does not stimulate economic growth. Paying salaries in the F.B.I. Is something we want to see happen, but this is a routine expense and not something that stimulates the economy.
• $2 billion earmark to re-start FutureGen, a near-zero emissions coal power plant in Illinois that the Department of Energy defunded last year because it said the project was inefficient.
• A $246 million tax break for Hollywood movie producers to buy motion picture film.
• $650 million for the digital television converter box coupon program.
• $88 million for the Coast Guard to design a new polar icebreaker (arctic ship).
• $448 million for constructing the Department of Homeland Security headquarters.
• $248 million for furniture at the new Homeland Security headquarters.
• $600 million to buy hybrid vehicles for federal employees.
• $400 million for the Centers for Disease Control to screen and prevent STD's.
• $1.4 billion for rural waste disposal programs.
• $125 million for the Washington sewer system.
• $150 million for Smithsonian museum facilities.
• $1 billion for the 2010 Census, which has a projected cost overrun of $3 billion.
• $75 million for "smoking cessation activities."
• $200 million for public computer centers at community colleges.
• $75 million for salaries of employees at the FBI.
• $25 million for tribal alcohol and substance abuse reduction.
• $500 million for flood reduction projects on the Mississippi River.
• $10 million to inspect canals in urban areas.
• $6 billion to turn federal buildings into "green" buildings.
• $500 million for state and local fire stations.
• $650 million for wild-land fire management on forest service lands.
• $1.2 billion for "youth activities," including youth summer job programs.
• $88 million for renovating the headquarters of the Public Health Service.
• $412 million for CDC buildings and property.
• $500 million for building and repairing National Institutes of Health facilities in Bethesda, Maryland.
• $160 million for "paid volunteers" at the Corporation for National and Community Service.
• $5.5 million for "energy efficiency initiatives" at the Department of Veterans Affairs National Cemetery Administration.
• $850 million for Amtrak.
• $100 million for reducing the hazard of lead-based paint.
• $75 million to construct a "security training" facility for State Department Security officers when they can be trained at existing facilities of other agencies.
• $110 million to the Farm Service Agency to upgrade computer systems.
$200 million in funding for the lease of alternative energy vehicles for use on military installations.
What right-wing source provided this information? CNN!
While every project is not wasteful and many may be needed, they do NOT stimulate the economy. The White House used alarmist language and screamed that Congress needed to act quickly to stimulate the economy. The money would be used by an honest person to stimulate the economy and not used to pay routine bills or promote a social agenda.
Please know that some of our money is wisely spent For example, $83 billion was spent for the earned income credit- for people who don't pay income tax. (SOURCE Wall Street Journal)
Look on the bright side. You will only see $9,441 less in your paycheck each year - for the next ten years. You certainly will not need to worry about a thief stealing that $9,401! The government already stole it.
It may not all come out of our paychecks. Some will be hidden in usage fees, taxes for purchasing items with high-fat or sugar content, license fees, permits, and some will be passed to businesses - and the businesses will raise prices.
You can believe one thing: the working people are going to pay and pay and pay.
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What is happening to us as US citizens that we are so apathetic to allow such outrageous proposals to be made? That, of course, is a rhetorical questions because I know that it's the frog-in-the-beaker theory. Over the years we have adapted to the lunacy one degree (or one million dollar increase) at a time, so that this does not seem outrageous, just a "little" worse than last year's budget proposals and stimulus package. I think that putting it in terms of what we can personally understand, as Bob has dnone, is the best way to hit home. Of course, there are still people out there who will not compute a $9,44o a year salary decrease because they could not compute that when you buy a house you have to actually make that $1200 payment for the next 20 years or if you buy a car you have to make that $300 payment for the next 5 years. Surely though, the majority of Americans can see that we can't possibly pay this bill, and hopefully most will agree that they don't want to pay it. But if we all just agree and don't get off our hind quarters and do soemthing, we'll and up with this and an unworkable healthcare bill shoved down our collective throats. I'll do my part to spread the word contact to my congressional representatives.
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