Say Anything

I sat down to read the stimulus bill that Barack Obama and the Democrats drafted anticipating to be outraged at how much money we were going to throw away at unworthy and hopeless causes. I mean, if the Republicans can grandstand about how my child's grandchildren will be paying for this in the oh-so-distant future when all we need are a few tax cuts for multi-million dollar businesses and people who make more money than them, then how could I not be offended by the irresponsibility and partisan politics?

But, alas, I am not. While the amount of money is staggering, I do not see one area that I don't think the government should be supporting. Here is a breakdown of where the money is going:

• 54 billion towards energy, including investments in a smarter electrical grid and grants to make government building more energy-efficient
• 16 billion towards science and technology, including agricultural, biomedical, and engineering research
• 90 billion towards modernizing roads, bridges, transit and waterways
• 141.6 billion towards education
• 24.1 billion for healthcare, including health information technology and research
• 102 billion for those workers hurt by the economy, including job training and continuation of benefits for the unemployed
• 91 billion to be distributed to state and local governments to preserve vital jobs and keep Medicaid afloat
• The remaining money is tied into tax cuts for working families

Opponents to the bill have thrown out bits and pieces of misinformation about too much money being spent on birth control ("It won't stimulate the economy, but it might stimulate something else, te-hee!) and not enough being spent on infrastructure (Only 3% of this bill will be spent on roads! - actually it's 3.6% for roads and 11% on all forms of transportation). If this griping and bellyaching won't work (and it won't), they just go back to old standard. That's right, they make shit up.

Republicans said that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) issued a report indicating that the majority of the spending in this bill will not take effect until 2011. Unfortunately for the Republicans, this report does not actually exist (nice try, Senator McConnell). But that didn't stop the left-wing media from mentioning it continuously this past weekend.

This piece of legislation fulfills campaign ideas and proposals that helped get Obama elected. I understand that some Republicans feel they must put up some sort of resistance in order to keep their Rush Limbaugh Fan Club card and to be able to say "I told you so!" if these measures don't work, but the people voted for Obama to enact these things whether they like it or not.

Barack Obama, in an attempt to be cordial and respectful, tried to convince the Republicans to let him follow through on this proposal. But now he must take charge, and as Lloyd Dobler did as the keymaster, tell the raving lunatics, "YOU MUST CHILL!"