Author Archive: joe

Having watched my 401(k) drift off the side of the money cliff, I had hopes that our new President and his Democrat friends would try to make some difference. Not going to happen!

Got a report on what is in the new $1.7 trillion (with interest) Stimulus Package, and we all need to be worried. Search for it on the web so you can see for yourself, but here are some of the "don't make any sense" items:
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<li>$400 million for research on global warming. What happened to the regular federal budget, and how many "regular people" will that put back to work?
<li>$2.4 billion for projects to demonstrate how carbon greenhouse gas can be safely removed from the atmosphere. Again, how many "regular people" (blue collar) will that put back to work?[more]
<li>$650 million for coupons to help consumers convert their TV sets from analog to digital, part of the digital TV conversion. If you are working, you can afford to get your own $40 coupon (already funded), or if not, keep sitting on your backside while those other people get your jobs – after all, you were not an environmental scientist, so you definitely can't take one of those jobs.
<li>$75 million to fund programs to help people quit smoking. This is a little ridiculous, given that many states have health care programs for children that use the taxes from the sale of tobacco products. If we fund "stop smoking programs", where will the money come from for the health care?
<li>$21 million to re-sod the National Mall, which suffered heavy use during the Inauguration. My guess is that if you got 10 people to work for 2 months (8 weeks) at $1000 a week, that would be $80,000, then double it for benefits and Social Security. You are now at $160,000. Throw in $100,000 for rental of equipment to dig up the old lawn and $100,000 for seed. Give them 3 weeks to dig up the old lawn, roto-till it and reseed. Since the sprinklers are already there, just reuse the existing watering system. Throw in another $100,000 for "just in case", and you have a total of $460,000. Round it off to $500,000, and we just saved ourselves $20.5 million. Better yet, let the prisoners from Gitmo come up and do the work while they eat everyday in the Congressional Cafeteria and sleep in mobile homes set up on the streets around the Mall.
<li>$4.19 billion to stave off foreclosures via the Neighborhood Stabilization Program. This section allows nonprofits to compete with cities and states for parts of the money. Why should anyone have to compete? Let's just tell the banks to not foreclose, and then figure out how to spend the money. Why make it so bureaucratic? Besides, what non-profits are in the mortgage lending business, and if they are going to help, why not have a working program going first?
<li>$600 million to buy a new fleet of cars for federal employees and government departments. Sure fire way to give a boost to the auto industry, but this will only get cars off the dealer's lots. Course, that's helping them to pay their bills and keep their employees busy getting the cars delivered. How about something about letting car dealers service those government vehicles – now that's recurring income.
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There is some mention that this package will require 32 new government departments, and based on at least 4 regional offices and 50 employees per office, you have over $600 million a year in pay and benefits (at $1000 per week). Knowing the way government works, there will probably be more offices and more employees. So…$300 million back into the economy. Maybe that's how they will make it work.