Arlen Specter Insults Constituents

Arlen Specter wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post which opened thus:

I am supporting the economic stimulus package for one simple reason: The country cannot afford not to take action.

Now, either Specter is a fool, or he is insulting us.  I’ll be gracious, and assume the latter.  Let me rephrase him: “I support eating doggie-poo, for just one reason: we have to eat something.”  Yes, folks, he’s being just that logical.  And he thinks you won’t notice.

What he should be saying, very loudly so as to pressure the Democrats into doing the right thing is: “The country cannot afford to take the wrong action!”  Or, perhaps, with his favored double negative, “The country cannot afford not to take the correct action.  Let’s make sure we get this right!”

“Logic.  What do they teach in schools these days?” (The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe)

Obama: What Scalpel?

During the presidential campaign, Obama criticized McCain for proposing to take a hatchet to government spending, where a scalpel is needed. Obama seems to have buried the hatchet, and the scalpel as well – favoring the addition of nearly a trillion dollars of spending rather than cutting the fat.

Some points to consider:

1. With $900 billion dollars, we could give about $3,000 to every single man, woman, and child in the entire country.

2. Nancy Pelosi claims we will lose 500,000 jobs every month until the stimulus bill is passed. Joe Biden is adamant that we cannot afford to wait two, three, or four weeks longer. Their knowledge of the future is amazing. I can’t imagine how they could possibly know this. Pelosi’s claim implies the only hope for the economy is government action – that if the stimulus bill is never passed, the entire nation will eventually become unemployed, at so many jobs per month. This is ridiculous fear mongering.

3. When the government creates a job that the market didn’t demand, what maintains that job, except for continued government spending?

4. Has Congress made a correct diagnosis of what ails our economy? If not, how can they hope to cure it? Consider the tax refund checks of the last few years, and the several recent bailouts, which have not set the economy aright. This is evidence that Congress in fact does NOT know what ails the economy or how to fix it!

5. Politicians are fond of talking about creating jobs. Don’t we actually want to create wealth? How can there be jobs if there is a lack of wealth in the economic system?

6. When an entrepreneur invests in starting a business, the goal is to turn that business into a self-sustaining, wealth-generating machine. This is good for the economy. The money that Congress pushes into the economy, however, does not create self-sustaining, wealth-generating machines. The government is mostly just a consumer, buying the goods and services it wants, using money it took away from those wealth-generating machines. The government could take on the work of an entrepreneur, but then the government becomes an investor, and who trusts Congress to make wise financial investments?

Some government spending is necessary (maintaining the national defense, for example). However, every dollar the government spends is a dollar it pulled out of the economy, away from the businesses that generate more wealth. So, what should government do? Cut spending as much as possible, and take as little money in taxes, away from where it is needed, as possible.   President Obama: take up your hatchet!