Want to Win the Debate Over the Stimulus Package?

Last Sunday I wanted to throw a shoe (Ok, both shoes) at the talking heads decrying the negatives over the Stimulus Package. On almost every show some conservative shouted out that the New Deal didn't work during the Great Depression. I knew they were wrong so I did my homework and this is what I discovered:
1. The CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) produced over 2,750,000 jobs;
2. The WPA was at work in every county in the nation producing dams, bridges, water systems, roads and sever systems;
3. That same group built almost every library and public school in its 9 year existence, with employment near 3,000,000;
4. The F.D.I.C. was created (where would we be without it today?)
5. The Security and Exchange Commission was created (it has failed us of late, but the idea is solid if "regulation" were placed back into force;
6. Photographers, artists, and musicians of every stripe were hired to maintain our cultural heritage;
7. The Tennessee Valley Authority brought forth thousands of jobs, bringing electricity to rural communities and farms; and,
7. It worked!

Most of the conservatives who waved off this Keynesian Theory dismissed its value by saying it was only WWII that stopped the economic collapse. Not true. Such pseudo-logic completely leap-frogs over 9 years of hunger, strife, and family separation that would have been further exacerbated without such a program.

Now, go win the debate!

Hey! Let's Beat Up on the Kids

Check out State Budget Shortfalls on K-12 Education Spending and Job Loss. Geez, wouldn't you know it, right off the bat the destruction will be around 9% loss on common ed. spending.
Ok, let's use really big numbers here for emphasis: $54,000,000,000. Sadly the stimulus package won't help shortfalls in local spending.
This country ought to be ashamed of it lack of effort or concern for it's citizenry and it's future. Every S.O.B. elected leader has h/her hand out for the stimulus money, but as usual the kids get the punch in the mouth both now and, oh, yes, later when the bill comes due to pay for this mess over Wall Street.
Of course the teachers get kicked in the ass over this crap too, yet they will be expected to shoulder the load and suffer from the "come on do it for the kids" even though their health insurance soars, their retirement stands in jeopardy, and their principal has one thing on his/her mind: Test Scores.

But, hey, lets screw with those who can't speak for themselves. Isn't that the American way?

Where are the shovels?

The governors and mayors have shown up at the capitol just waiting to find out just how much their receptive states and cities will receive from the stimulation program. Can't you just see them wringing their hands in glee?
The whole problem is simple: Anyone even remotely familiar with government at any level will relate the time factor...a slow time factor. Which is my whole point. It's all about speed. We must find a way to get shovels into the hands of citizens who want a job. They want a job NOW. If we wait under the same old stupid 2-4 year bid process-bond-awarding system, it will be too late. Far too late.
We must tell the leaders to "super speed" the process. Get the damned shovels to the people willing to work and not the banks willing to set on their collective hands and do nothing even though they are receiving money by the dumpsterfuls.

I await your response.

I am a true believer in the Capitalistic System. In fact, I am of the belief that a great democracy cannot be sustained without it. Of late, however, I feel as though I am living the ground hog-day-everyday sans Bill Murray, scenario. Add in the old "Fool me once, shame on you..."adage and I see the Capitalistic System in the new version of the Gilded Age. Totally corrupt!

The POTUS (the Prez) sent out the new housing proposal yesterday, and it was met with underwhelming glee from we the citizens. Perhaps it didn't achieve uproarious applause because the average Jane/Joe saw it going to the very people who got us in the messy morass in the first place.

Of course I want the Prez to be successful because if he is, then all of us will be better off. To give you an idea as to why I want this success to happen in nano-like speed is because here in Oklahoma 1 in 5 children live in poverty; can you imagine what the number will be when the huge lay-offs come rumbling through the factories, the oil patch, and the service industries.

So, we definitely need a stimulus package if for nothing other than saving millions of other jobs. My problem with all of it is simple: we keep giving buckets of money to the very people that created the problem. It's like asking prison inmates to design a better penitentiary.

The auto industry is a completely different beast. At least the market produces something of value. I "get it" when the auto execs are intransigent and refuse to conform to the demands of the consumer; the execs don't "get it" and drive the market under water and, Congress doesn't "get it" when they complained that the execs flew to Washington in corporate jets. How stupid is that? Wouldn't one want the CEO of a billion dollar corporation using his time as wisely as possible (such as flying) instead of forcing him to waste valuable hours driving to the Capital.

It is all about the kids. It all about the blue collar worker busting h/her ass to put food on the table. It is not about a bunch of corporate white shirts who are dreaming every night about how they can stiff the taxpayer out of more golden parachutes.