Obama's Stimulus Package: How Big? Schumer Floats $500-700B

Here comes the WPA of FDR "fame" again, and with it an even bigger & more costly government. Instead of the gov't hiring all the 2.5 million who lost their job, why not not award contracts to private contractors to rebuild the roads & bridges, with a stipulation that they must have a certain percentage of their emplyees hired from that pool of recently unemployed. Private industry has ALWAYS performed better than gov't to do these things, more efficiently, quicker, less costly, and with a superior finished product in the end. This would creates jobs and repair the infrastructure.

We were able to spend $700 billion + on the banks, certainly we can spend at least as much to rebuild our infrastructure, start real work on new energy projects, creating jobs in the process , and lower middle income and senior taxes. At the very least !!

John Burke wrote: "I would rather see the money go to a ghetto rat here rather than Bush and Cheney sending it to Iraq and let those people that hate us spend it. Bush, your so called conserative has destroyed our economy and way of life, so get over it and let Obama fix the mess."

Guess again, John Burke. A big reason our economy is in such a mess is the DEMOCRATS, starting back in Lyndon Johnson days. The Democrats helped set up Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac, and it was Democratic Presidents Carter and Clinton who pushed giving mortgage loans to people who can't afford them. It was the Democrats who ignored warnings by others that the mortgage practices they preached would have far-reaching impacts on the economy. It was the Democrats who blocked repeated attempts by Republicans to turn things around. There was an excellent article in the "Investor's Business Daily" newspaper, dated Nov. 3rd, I think it was, which spells out the timeline and actions taken by the Democrats that got us into the mess we're in today.

Stop blaming Bush. It was the Democrats who got us here, and the Democrats sure as heck aren't going to get us out. That will happen in 2012 when the Republicans are put back in power again.

Well, listen folks! Obama wants to build roads, bridges, hospitals, etc. so that each and every one will include the name OBAMA!

This will be a slap and tickle approach. First we give a tremendous amount of money to people that don't deserve it, then we will come back and say we need to raise taxes on everyone else. Hey Buddy, wanna buy a carbon credit?

Annette, what about the people who are not in foreclosure. It doesn't seem fair to just give some people there houses and make the people that are doing the right thing still have to pay for theirs.

bo wrote: "The dems are spending borrowed money again.."

Again? Is that an attempt at a sick joke? Dubya is responsible for 50% of our national debt and Reagan 30%. Where were your complaints while they ran up huge deficits for the benefits of the rich and with trickle-down theories Dubya's own father named "Voodoo economics"?

If you want to make a diffence.
Give every household in America who makes under $250,000. a year $100,000. to spend. Give it to them as a debit card that has to be spent to pay off their morgage or to spend.
This would get the economy going again and give money to the people who really need it. Why give money to companies to pay their CEO big fat bonuses.
This gets us nowhere.
I SAY TO OBAMA....put your money where your mouth is!!!!!
You want to help the working poor....THIS is the way to help the working poor and middle class.
THIS IS A Simple PLAN that would cost less than giving money to big business.

2.5million jobs times 100,000 per job if you factor in benefits would be $250 billion- a lot of money plus now a stimulus package of $500-750 billion you're talking about another $1 trillion in deficit. Wow- it's beginning to sound like how Bush got the country back on its' feet after the tech bubble, 9/11, housing crisis etc. Imagine that. That is real change. It may also have been just how McCain would have done it.

Schumer is an idiot. Most of the republicans and democrat's are idiots. They spend our money like it's water and allow private organizations like the Federal reserve to work in total secrecy.

The Federal Reserve must end. Period. Study it, why it was formed, what it's doing to our country. If you don't...you have no right to complain when you're on the street begging for money. The press is bought and paid for by the few private banks that are controlling the Federal Reserve. It's time to react before the middle class is banished into serfdom.

Look at our politicians. 90% of the people said, no bailout, and they ignored us. Make them pay! Big time!

Do you think congress will bailout the auto industy....no, and they shouldn't, but it's for a different reason. If they save the big banks then there won't be a run on the money....no run, preserves the banking industy. Preserves these stupid idiots that are running the country behind the scenes. The fall of the auto industry will not collaspe the banks....will be painful for middle class america but will preserve the rich. Stand up! Fight! Fight the bastards! Study the issue so you can vote them out of office next election.

Does anyone want to make a bet? I predict that in the near future the U S government will buy a great number of foreclosed vacant (now run down) houses at basement prices or no prices . Then this houses will be bulldozed to get them off the market- presto! now a shortage of houses- thus increasing jobs in the construction and home furnishing industries. Crazy, you say. Start with the 1946 spud surplus. U S government bought mountains of spuds and dumped them to be destroyed. Excess cheese and butter and other products went down a similar path.

I would much rather have the money go to those who are hurting instead of greedy ceos who don't deserve it. The people sho have been bailed out first not wall street.

I want to know why Schumer and every other member of the senate banking committee is still there at all. In my opinion, we should demand their resignations along with members of the finance committee. Have you noticed noone is taking responsibility for this mess? That is becausae they are in both parties so noone can bring it up. The public should scream so loudly about this that these morons will be forced to resign.

jschmidt: You have a collar with a leash around your neck and you don't even know it. Your masters will let you stand in front of a car as you get flattened.

The last 80 years all parties have been promoting this system. Obama is the twin brother of George Bush. Just look at the new tresury secretary. President of the Federal Reserve. I don't expect you to understand what that means and I'm not explaining. Get a tin cup...you'll need it.

Schumer is a joke. He 'thinks'..........????? He isn't getting paid to THINK. He loves the limelight and that's what he does best, making sure his face is on camera.
Silence this clown.

The rate of money creation by the US in the past few months is unprecedented in history. This will lead to hyperinflation, because there is more money chasing roughly the same amount of goods and services. It's not a question of if, but when. Look at 1920's Weimar Germany for one of many historical examples of this.

CMH: Bingo! But try and tell the folks that are standing in line with their hand out....they'll give you free cheese...from china with love. The same stuff that killed babies.

Dear folks, We all hope Obama is the Messiah. Dear folks, he's proved already he is in bed with the same devils of George Bush. You'll have plenty of money. You'll all be billioniars. It will cost 200,000. for a cup of coffee. Study pre WWII Germany. This spike in money creation that Obama is supporting is what will cause it.

Everybody's complaining but nobody is doing anything....actually nobody even cares. Who has read up on the history of inflation? If you haven't you are a dumb, stupid, blabbering, idiot. Who has wrote their congressman and said, your political head is on the line. When this crashes you better be on the right side. Who has lifted their butt of the couch and did something. For the stupid ones, You can't spend 20.00 when you only have 1.00 in your pocket. Oh yea, I can make my own money with a machine.

Inflation:
3 people in a boat. One has a dollar, one an orange, one broke. The man with the dollar says I want to buy your orange. He says sure. Before he can place the dollar in his hand, the other guy says, wait, I found a ten. There is now 11.00 in the boat. The man with one dollar now has a piece of paper worth 1/10 of a orange. It was worth 1 orange until the other guy found a 10.00. Get it stupid!

When did it start making sense to 'stimulate' the economy rather than let the market dictate winners and losers? In capitalism we are not 'one big human family', instead we are our own families and it is a competition to succeed. Many immigrants come to America and are millionaires within one generation. Handouts are not logical and only breed a type of laziness that is reserved for a lower middle class expectation. The brass ring of success is personal and comes from within and from expectations that your parents established for you or that you personally create. The government cannot 'stimulate' that drive to succeed.

Conservatives have an incredible gift for denial. 8 years of failed Republican rule -- yes, rule and not governance -- has left this crisis at the doorstep of Obama's white house. Bush and Cheney have, over the last 8 years, ruined every good thing that Clinton did during his 8 years. Now the Democrats have to step in and clean up the kids' mess AGAIN.

To those who keep saying let business be business and all will be well... isn't that what we've been doing? Look where that has left us. Greedy banks giving government guaranteed mortgages to anyone with a pulse, then selling those worthless mortgages to greedy investors. Nice.

Then there is our precious auto industry. The only reason Congress wants to "bail them out" is because of the terrible damage another 2.5 million unemployed would have on the economy, NOT because we have any love for the greedy, blind, absolutely distasteful leadership of the domestic auto makers. For years Europe has been leading fuel efficiency standards, but folks like GM have been road blocking every single attempt to improve fuel efficiency standards saying "boo hoo, this is going to put us out of business"... but funny that GM cars in Europe get 50% better gas mileage than their domestic counterparts. Domestic auto makers, and Republicans, got what they wanted on fuel (non) efficiency standards, and GM is still going under. Hmmm, I wonder where the problem REALLY lies?

THANK GOD FOR OBAMA! He has vision for the future and can see beyond the end of his nose, unlike this little uneducated dictator we are about to kick out of office. We need to rejoin the world in its efforts to create a better planet, and in the process we will create more jobs and have more money for domestic infrastructure.

And to that person earlier who said that people won't travel for jobs, what are you smoking? If you are an unemployed manufacturing worker in Detroit, but your qualifications make you perfectly suited for a well paying job at a solar farm in Arizona, I think you better start packing your bags. In these times, you go where the work is. This is going to be a time of sacrifice folks.

I hope Obama's plan isn't just to give people money. Giving people money to spend doesn't create long-term growth, it creates a short-term bubble and more denial that Republicans can rally behind. Instead, we need to re-build our domestic infrastructure. Have you driven on a California freeway lately? Have you sat in Seattle or Phoenix traffic wondering why, oh why, is there no rail system in these large metro areas to get people out of their polluting vehicles?

We need a new vision for our country, one that tackles our major problems in a long term fashion. We need better roads and bridges, fuel efficient public transit systems to offload overburdened freeways, build more solar farms and generate power from renewable resources to gain energy independence. If Argentina can fuel its auto industry without a drop of middle eastern oil, why can't we?

Stop playing the blame game. Let's all look to the future with hope and excitement for what this country can be. If your instinct is to look back and blame, or feel negatively about someone who hasn't even taken office, perhaps you should take a long look in the mirror and find the real reason for your unhappiness within yourself instead of projecting it onto those of us who want to move this country forward.

Cheers.

With respect to Herb Grays Comment. It seems to me Mr. Gray you have 'blinders' on....President Bush is a Republicican. I really want to know when if ever we...the public will call them as there are not as we want the situation to be! Bush has been in the office the past eight years and look where the country is now, the worst crisis since the stock market crash of 1929. Like it or not REPUBLIC POLITICS GOT US HERE! Your comment as well as the typical for this country is to ignore what the govenment is and has done.....continue to think your way, instead of holding the Govenment and the Politicians accountable; we will all be homeless and on the street. I really don't care if Mr. Bush is a Republican or a Democrate. With all due respect to Mr. President Elect, I also don't really care if he's a Republican or a Democrate either! Just Fix the Mess! I worked in mortgage for fourteen years, lost my job of eight years about one month after closing on my home. Now foreclosure is possible, struggling to keep my car for work when new work opens up, barely able to eat. Living on just electricity, no heat and I am a two time Breast Cancer Survivor and still I have some major health issues along with the aforementioned struggles. It is time WE stop turning a blind eye; this situation is generally from concessions made during a campaign. Once again who really cares; we just need the situation FIXED! Additionally, its time to stop blamming the Democrates when its has been proven each time there's a situation its the Republicans that causes the matter! Once again, do you really want to continue to be 'stuck on stupid' conversing about which party caused the crisis, instead of who can and will fix the issue! I don't care who it is just fix it; I would have voted for the love of my life my dog Budd and his brother my 18 lb. Cat if I knew they would fix the matter.
President Elect Obama is an intelligent man and I think he will give the country a fighting chance to recover. But come on people when will we WAKE UP; stop focusing on blaming one party for another has done! We need to focus on who can, who will, fix it and if hold them accountable! And for God sake when will we as a country and a people tell to the government/politicans to stop taxing paychecks! The Bandaid effect is a temporary measure! If every American took home the gross there's another measure to enhance the economy. Tax what were purchase, which is already being done, so stop taxing paychecks. The money only goes to wars most of us don't want anyway. Or the policians mishandle the funds. The obvious change set the country back on the right track if we just WAKE UP! The United States of America, the greatest country in the World; yet we continue to utilize a 'Blind' eye; when we should hold the government/politics accountable. Stop bying the 'oakkidoc'

Part of the stimulus package is to build new school, this is bunk. They built three new schools near my house in Meriwether County, Ga. and the wages offered were so low that only illegal’s would take the jobs. The crooked contractors charged 16 dollars an hour per employee on the contract and then paid 8-10 an hour and kept the rest. The contractors collected taxes and pocketed that as well. Unless wages are guaranteed this plan will only help the rich contractors and the same will happen with bridges etc.. As stupid as it sounds the earlier poster said give each american 1 mill and thats only 350 mill a lot less than the 700 bil

I personally don't like this plan, but many of the economists I talk to think that the danger for the economy is _deflation_, not inflation (at least in the short term). I think this will probably not help much, and will be wasteful, but will ultimately not have any impact on short term inflation.

This is the wrong way to do it. We are not only becoming a heavily socialist nation, but we are starting to show signs of Communism too. If the government controls the job market, opening up to one industry and ignoring others, I feel it's Communist. The government shouldn't have any authority over the job market. We need free markets to thrive, not be controlled. We need to get rid of unions, because they drive down competition and quality of products, a great example is the American auto industry. Any sort of "stimulus" package will only put us more in debt. The wrong things are being discussed in saving this country. No more stimulus packages to put a band aid on the gushing wound. We need real solutions. This government is not working for us at all. This has become a very lazy, fat, inefficient government.

Re: Mystified! I meant no disrespect to the ones that are currently paying their mortgage payments. I only mean to focus on that, since its what is being credited for the start of the crisis. Actually, if the dollar amount is given to every tax paying American we can stimulate the economy. I truly mean NO disrespect to the ones doing the right thing. However, let me as this comment also, I purchased my home on employment of seven years with the same company, two months after the purchase a conference call from our headquarters announcing closure of the entire Wholesale Division. Now I'm on unemployment which in no way will permit to make my mortgage payment. Its a struggle to maintain my car payment, lights and water; no heat I can't afford that luxury. This in conjunction with the fact that I am a two time Breast Cancer Survivor, the first time I was stage 3, next stage is usually death. Second time a reoccurance. Additionally, serveral other medical issues to add to and guess what, Mystified I was doing the right thing too! My first cancer I missed work for two weeks after my right breast mastecomy, went back to 80 hours a week at the bank. I did chem in cyces and missed 1-2 days after treatment and back to 80 hours. Blood draws on my lunch break. Second time, I missed exactly 5 days and back to work, did my herceptin treatment on half days every other week, back to work on the following Monday. I think I have been doing the right thing too! I am not crying 'whooo is me' I'm just saying! If the money is given to each American to pay what we owe; this would Stimulate the Economy Immediately! And Stop taxing paychecks allow every American to take home the Gross.

Also, one word to The_Mick; AMEN!