Porkfest 2008: Democrats Need GOP To Provide Cover

The porkfest that the media continues to call a stimulus package, despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of the money in the sprawling $825 billion ($1.1 trillion when all costs are factored in) applies most of the money in the years following when most experts believe the recession to end.

In fact, most experts believe that the recession will end by the end of this year, without any need for further stimulus. Throwing down hundreds of billions of dollars in money that the nation doesn't have will not solve the problem, but the Democrats keep urging the GOP to sign on board with this nonsense.

Democrats can own the porkfest all on their lonesome. They don't need GOP votes to make it happen. They do need GOP votes to get cover when things don't work out as planned. The GOP shouldn't oblige them as they did on the original TARP legislation, that ended up passing because the Democrats larded up that mess with pork. That's the solution to the mess to secure votes; pork it up.

Here's my advice to the GOP. You want to show that you're fiscally responsible? Here's how to do it.

Demand that the stimulus bill drop all spending that doesn't come within the fiscal year that ends in October. If the spending occurs in 2010, 2011, or 2012 or beyond, it gets dropped. If it isn't directly on infrastructure improvements, it gets dropped.

You want to see how quickly the $825 billion ($1.1 trillion once interest and added costs are figured in) drops to something in the range of $80 billion?

That's how to do it. The GOP should introduce their own legislation that takes only those items that actually result in infrastructure and stimulus to the economy within the next nine months. Everything else gets dropped. Show the public just what a fiscally responsible bill looks like. Shame the Democrats (I know, that's pretty well impossible to do, but most Americans will start to realize the mess the Democrats are about to make).

The Democrats got their wish list out and they're demanding that the GOP go along with it. Why? Out of bipartisanship? Hardly. There's nothing bipartisan about it. It is a laundry list of out of control government spending that will not assist in economic recovery, and it's not even likely that that spending occuring during the current year will bring about the end of the recession; lowering taxes and providing incentives for businesses to grow will spur the economy into a recovery. Government spending will retard and delay the recovery. History has shown this to be the case, and yet the Democrats want to use the opportunity to expand government into areas that it has repeatedly shown itself to be wanting - health care in particular.

Enough is enough.

UPDATE:
The fecklessness of the Democrats knows no bounds. On top of the porkfest, the Obama Administration is calling for 10% cut in defense spending. Amazing. He's going to undermine the nation's national security to ensure that billions get spent on programs that have been abject failures for decades.