PEBO on Stimulus and TARP

Serious restrictions need to be put in place before releasing the second half of the TARP funds. Not just on how those particular dollars are used, but on the fiscal responsibility of each company receiving them. Too much of the first half was wasted on executive trips and bonuses, such as one man who received $25 million for two months of work:
The companies responded that TARP funds were not used for the bonuses. But imagine if I asked you for $100 saying I was broke and couldn't afford groceries. After the loan I buy a Ferrari. Wouldn't you be a little angry? And would it matter to you if I said, "well, your EXACT $50 was used for groceries, not for the Ferrari!" All companies claiming to need the TARP funds need to tighten their belts considerably, with the rules stated now.

You cant just slap up a bridge. These things require planning, permitting, environmental assessments and bidding. In many cases you have to wait for an appropriate season to being.

The idea that you wave a magic wand and infrastructure project happen in 2009 in fantasy. Most of this stuff wont happen until 2010 and 2011.

And ask yourself whats going to happen as we funnel hundreds to billions through these politicians- Pay for Play!

Regarding Lydia comment , the President doesn't spend the money. It is Congress ,what a bunch of asses for not putting accountability clause in the spending bill ,Bush should have veto'd bill period.

Very cynical view Mildred. I am willing to bet that every American knows someone, a family member, friend, acquaintance, neighbor, who has lost a job.

"Two million people have lost jobs in the last six months. TWO MILLION"

Posted by: William J. LePetomane | Jan 12, 2009 4:00:04 PM
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How many of this 'two million' just might have been illegal aliens? Hummm..... Will the new jobs get the folks off of welfare that have been on it for years and years?

ask anyone here in Illinois who drives if they could see the "benefit" of improving our roads and bridges. They are in horrible shape. These are the kinds of projects that we need, soon.
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I agree about the roads. And here in Iowa where I'm from, many of our schools are in such horrible structural shape, they need help too.

Bertie: ask anyone here in Illinois who drives if they could see the "benefit" of improving our roads and bridges. They are in horrible shape. These are the kinds of projects that we need, soon.

" What is needed is a massive infrastructure rebuilding program which will create jobs. "

From Mankiw OpEd in the NYT:

" If you hire your neighbor for $100 to dig a hole in your backyard and then fill it up, and he hires you to do the same in his yard, the government statisticians report that things are improving. The economy has created two jobs, and the G.D.P. rises by $200. But it is unlikely that, having wasted all that time digging and filling, either of you is better off.

People don’t usually spend their money buying things they don’t want or need, so for private transactions, this kind of inefficient spending is not much of a problem. But the same cannot always be said of the government. If the stimulus package takes the form of bridges to nowhere, a result could be economic expansion as measured by standard statistics but little increase in economic well-being.

The way to avoid this problem is a rigorous cost-benefit analysis of each government project. Such analysis is hard to do quickly, however, especially when vast sums are at stake. But if it is not done quickly, the economic downturn may be over before the stimulus arrives."

Oh, Please God! PLEASE! Please let the Republicans nominate Palin in 2012. Talk about a slam dunk for an Obama re-election--nominate Bride of Bullwinkle!

Two million people have lost jobs in the last six months. TWO MILLION. What is needed is a massive infrastructure rebuilding program which will create jobs. Obama is on the right track. Now is not the time for timidity, but rather bold action along the lines of the New Deal.

Obama way to solve things is to throw you tax money into it.

Meanwhile, turns out that Wall Street donors are the biggest players footing the bills for The One's coronation. See the Wall Street Journal.

I used to support President Elect Barack Obama, but the Bush-Obama bailout is an outrage. Only George and Barack can call their record deficit spending "investments" "in the future." We the American people voted with our dollars to put General Motors out of business. The Untied Autoworkers Union makes $73/hr, $150K/yr for assembling vehicles, but when we, the American people, say "that's too much" by buying Toyota, and Nissan, and Hyundai, the United States Government says "noooo... if you don't buy their cars, we're going to give them your tax money." They don't deserve to exist. The UAW striked GM's only profitable factory, the Chevy Cobalt's, as soon as GM turned in a profitable quarter last year; by definition, they will never be a viable company, ever. And now Blue states want "federal" money because they can't keep up their spending. New York Gov. David Paterson (D), New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine (D), Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick (D), Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland (D) and Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle (D) just said they need $ 1T of "federal" money to "stay afloat," and by "stay afloat" they mean to keep up their frivolous spending. They spent and spent and spent, and now that they're out of money, they are asking the "federal government" to give them money, but ladies and gentlemen, what they mean by "federal government" is red states that actually lived within their means, states that spent no more than they tax. Now they want the "federal" government to send the message, if you spend too much, don't worry, we will take it from someone that saved. and if you don't spend like drunken sailors, if you actually save your tax revenues for a rainy day, like today, you're wasting your time, because the federal government is going to come in and take it from you anyways. and they call this unity: Red states make and Blue states take. This is the fight of our day. Palin '12. PUMA!

This is still a pig in a poke. He hasn't released what his spending plans are although he did sneak out a jobs estimate in the hope of getting good press.

The Christina Romer report says "To get more detailed information on the breakdown of the jobs created, we use a simulation from a
prominent private forecaster on a plan that is similar – though not identical – to the type of plan the
President-Elect is considering."

And we don't have access to the simulation. So essentially what they are saying is take our word for it. We are not telling you what the inputs are, or the special sauce, but here are our rosy projections.

Funny how corporations are "too big to fail" and American citizens are told to "suck it up, give some skin", or some other empty excuse to justify their hardship while the corporate media, Wall St., and the international bankers yuck it up with their latest "errand boy" in office. But hey, as long as there is money to be made buy exploiting people, mean and women will line up to do their bidding and sacrifice the will and well being of the masses for the select few who control what you see, read, hear, and how much wealth is taken from you by the force of government and their army of lawyers, officers and soliders and enablers in the mainstrem media.

I am grateful that our country will have a president soon who understands how bad the economy really is. And that creating jobs is the basis for its recovery.

It is a shame that so much bail-out money has been wasted under Bush's watch on the banking industry without accountability or strict limits on how it is spent.

Let's hope Congress is smart enough to recognize a workable plan when they see it.