Show us where the waste is in this bill!! Republicans are fools and

[The Wielding Truth]

they really do hope that our middle class disappears, so that they can privatize and embezzle what we have left. When the people or the public have control the Rethugs can't get their greedy hands on things and exploit, dismantle, and, destroy them for profit!

[MercutioATC]

1. Not waste, just pork.

...and by "pork", I mean spending in a "stimulus bill" that has little or nothing to do with actual stimulus.

Money for alternative energy research? Good idea, but pork.

Money for the arts? Pork.


This is a stimulus bill. Some people are rightfully making noise about its being turned into an omnibus spending bill.

[Baikonour]

4. I respectively disagree.

Alternative energy will be the backbone of our economy one day, and one day relatively (and hopefully) soon. Once the auto industry can finally master it, you can say goodbye to cars from Japan and elsewhere in Europe. But the auto industries in Japan and Europe are also working diligently to discover these technologies, and if they discover them before is, then, well, I think you can figure out the result. We NEED funding for alternative energies, and we need it now.

As far as the arts go, I can see where you're coming from. But for example, the film industry is a rather large and important part of our industry. It was one of the few industries that actually saw growth during the great depression, as well. Does the federal government need to send Hollywood billions of dollars? Of course not, but a tax write-off for film (as in, actual film that directors use to shoot their movies) was proposed and not a bad thing. Of course, it was cut out, but that's life.

[joeglow3]

5. Then, where do you draw the line?

The video game industry is larger than Hollywood. Where is their stimulus? How about the porn industry? They contribute billions. The list would literally be endless if that logic were used.

[MercutioATC]

7. I don't dispute their value, just their net short-term stimulus effect.

They may be good programs. They may have a long-term positive effect on the economy.

That doesn't mean they belong in a stimulus bill.

Once again, lawmakers are using a crisis situation to pass spending measures that have nothing to do with the crisis...and I'm sick of them doing that.

[Webster Green]

6. That "pork" will create jobs.

Pork is an idiotic term to begin with. :wtf:

[MercutioATC]

8. Yes, but how many and how soon?

Almost any government spending will create jobs. The measure in a crisis stimulus bill should be the short-term net gain to the economy.

[PVnRT]

10. How many jobs did the CCC create within its first four months?

And if we are not supposed to spend money on infrastructure projects that are relatively ready to go, what should be in the stimulus bill?

[Rwalsh]

22. Agreed.

Our economy is bleeding to death. This bill should have had only stuff that would have produced immediate results.

[PVnRT]

9. What should be in there, then? Tax cuts?

Spending money to stimulate the economy is what a stimulus bill should do.

[MercutioATC]

12. My big three? Infrastructure spending, national health insurance, national pension plan.

We need over $2T in infrastructure spending in the next 5 years anyway. It would provide jobs and result in a tangible benefit.

By implementing national health insurance and a national pension plan, the huge legacy costs to employers would be eliminated, enabling them to retain employees.

Changing payroll tax withholding (FICA) by exempting the first $20k of income and removing the cap would put more money in people's pockets too.

[donco6]

13. School infrastructure was cut.

We would have received about $768,000. Two new roofs, installed this summer. POOF!

[MercutioATC]

14. I didn't say that ALL of the spending was bad, or that ALL of the cuts were good.

IMO, there's still a lot of spending in that bill that doesn't belong there...and I think it's going to doom the legislation to failure when it's applied.

[The Wielding Truth]

15. This money has to go out fast and should ,imo,go to improve this

country in many areas.

[CitizenPatriot]

18. I respectfully disagree

Almost everyone I know works in the arts; film, tv, writers, painters, etc. I know people who work at the Smithsonian, too. Artists also teach children on govt grants for school systems which can't afford an arts program. The arts have proven a positive way of helping many children increase their grades in academic subjects. thereby investing in our future with smarter graduates. So, this isn't pork, in my opinion. It's job creation across sectors, which is a smart way of providing stability (when one sector goes down, others prop up the general economy). film and tv provide jobs for millions of people (or indirectly impact small businesses, etc -- witness the shut down during the WGA strike) of the population and films remain of our reliable exports.

Alternative energy isn't pork -- I mean, pork implies an abuse, a waste, meant to help one specific area (wiki cites Palin's bridge to nowhere as example). I see alternative energy as the future of this country. What is pork about it? We are behind Europe in alt energy. Providing funding for jobs in alt energy is like investing in our country AND stimulating the economy. It's also one of the best industrial sort of jobs to replace the steel and auto industries -- to give jobs to those people, thereby lifting those areas out of economic tailspin (foreclosures, unemployment, etc) while we invest in our future.

Edited to add: "In United States politics, the term pork barrel refers to the appropriation of government spending for projects that are intended primarily to benefit particular constituents, such as those in marginal seats or campaign contributors. snip...The term pork barrel politics usually refers to spending that is intended to benefit constituents of a politician in return for their political support, either in the form of campaign contributions or votes."

Wiki.

[MercutioATC]

19. Again, I'm not debating the value of the arts or alternative energy research.

They just have no place in a stimulus bill.

This bill should be about providing the most immediate stimulus bang for the buck, not funding pet projects or long-term research.

[CitizenPatriot]

23. OK...but why?

I'm no economic expert, so my question is sincere. Is alternative energy a pet project or will it create jobs? Perhaps it is both?

[Baikonour]

2. Apparently funding to make schools better was wasteful.

Because, you know, a good education doesn't lead to a good job or anything...

[donco6]

3. Tax cuts are not stimulus and everyone knows it.

It doesn't stop them from accusing us of "pork, pork, pork."

[OwnedByFerrets]

11. AMEN!!!!!

[Solomon]

16. "Pork" is a republican meme.

Some people here have bought into it.

[MercutioATC]

17. "Pork" is a term used to identify inappropriate spending legislation.

It's inappropriate to be funding the arts in a stimulus bill.

That IS pork.

[NorthCarolina]

20. The 42% of the package related to Tax Cuts are a waste

and will produce negligible *stimulus*.

[KakistocracyHater]

21. everything that would help single/marrieds over $80,000

is pork, businesses are not on this list of mine.