The stimulus package

I don’t see a “package” which I consider to be some things wrapped up tidily inside so they can’t spill out and perhaps a ribbon with a bow to make a pleasing appearance. What I see instead is a personification of cats being herded by a three year old cranked on Ritalin.

I tried hard to believe Hank Paulson’s idea for a $700 billion bail out was exactly what was needed to stanch the hemorrhaging of financial sector jobs and by extension the failure of the institutions that we all rely on even if we’re not exactly sure why. Two words come to mind: credit-cards and mortgages (Is that three?). Most people who follow current events are likely to have direct experiences with both of these. So it does matter to us what decisions are being made. I personally know people who have been affected by jobs that were cut back. I meet people in my real job, who don’t build houses, are not heading to their retail jobs every day and complain that numbers are down in their restaurant or at the ski area where they work.

What in the name of all that is holy did the bogus bailout do for them? And we have seen a dozen stories of avaricious excess by the principals whose banks (mostly) have received TARP monies. The $87,000 rug, the $50 million new corporate jet. It gives me the feeling that, like the baddies at Enron, these dicks are laughing at the big fat fatuity that is our government trying to steer the right course in the midst of this calamity.

I would have voted against the Paulson plan for the simple reason that Hanky Pank had written into the rules: If I let you let me have this money for my secretive project with little if any oversight, then you have to agree that I can never be held responsible for its (probable) failure. This is a conservative Wall Street banking guy.

Now we are expected to believe that the people in charge of our money like the new tax-cheat in chief know what they are doing. Let me ask: If it is so important to figure out this mess, why is the Republican leadership (if they can be said to have any) with that Devo-looking John Boehner, in front of the mics to announce that he will vote against the $850 Billion (that’s eight five zero, zero zero zero, zero zero zero, zero zero zero point zero zero). His reason as he says with a straight face, “they” want a couple hundred million dollars for rubbers.

Paul Krugman says throw all the money you can at this. Paul’s got a Nobel in this very subject. Does he know how to spend all that money in a way that will solve the problem that it’s aimed at right now? He has only nodded toward somewhat vague concepts of what is needed in terms of the catch all phrase “infrastructure.” But we are hearing ridiculous wild guesses as to how long it will take to put that kind of money into the economy to supposedly stimulate us out of our ever expanding economic hole so that we can someday begin to pay it all back.

I truly believe that we can spend that money all across this country on projects that have been put in the pipeline a decade ago. One does not just build a road to cash in on “free” money. Departments of Highway have teams of engineers and stategists to predict what the needs of an expanding and more mobile population will require to get places, like school. These people figure out how many people will be in the immediate area years from now so they can buy up property at current rates to place a new school where it will do the most good. In some cases new roads will have to be put in place to handle the increased traffic. That kind of thinking has to be ongoing so that we are not starting from scratch when the need is immediate.

Bridge inspectors have a twenty year backlog of disasters waiting to happen in the hopes that money will some how become available to mend or replace ageing and dangerous structures that were built eons ago to accommodate a more modest amount of traffic.

And assuming that the Crooked Construction Company is already lining up to bid on these babies, you can assume from jump street that the costs of these projects will over-run on the kind of formula that made the Big Dig such a taxpayer treat. That little puppy (a 3.5 mile tunnel with off shoots to the airport and such) was estimated to cost $2.8 Billion back in 1985 when it was conceived and that included an underground rail system to go back and forth between the North and South train stations. That didn’t happen.

The eventual cost with adjustment for inflation became $14 plus Billion. O wait! Did I mention that you need to tack on the $7 Billion in interest that makes the grand total enough to run the Iraq war for a couple of months. You see, it’s all relative.
If that little project (3.5 mi.) sextupled, at least, we need to divide the 850 by six to see what we really get for our next trillion of debt which people who are losing their jobs by the millions are expected to pay for.

Have a nice day.