Hey Al Gore, its 31 degrees in South Florida this morning. Thanks for the much needed warning on that warming trend! So for many years the blog avoided any political discussion whatsoever due to the polarizing effects it had on a few readers. The effects produced a unanimous vote by the Dish writers to avoid all sensitive topics, particularly those of the political species. That ban has since been lifted and so I'm going to take the plunge and hope my words do not offend. Personally, I've always felt politics is a science, and just like a hard science it examines problems and searches for solutions...emotions are merely an obstacle to the necessary objectivity. In other words the "nicest" idea is probably not the most realistic idea...its likely the opposite: fantasy. Lets look at the stimulus package. A stimulus, by any definition would be an instant boosting effect, think of the body's reaction to stimulants like caffeine or cocaine. Unfortunately, the US economy will not experience any new employment from infrastructure improvement for at least 2-3 years, therefore this is not a economic stimulant, just a future work project. The economy will not feel the effects of redecorating the commerce department, just a few DC interior designers will. Increased spending for community get out the vote campaigns...we saw how cost efficient those worked this year. Birth control pills? Pelosi sees this helping the economy, I don't. But lets move on to the meat of this cheeseburger deluxe: the tax credits. $500 for individuals and $1000 for couples...whether or not you paid any. Fair? Not really, but I'd gladly look past it if I thought it would have a strong enough effect on consumer spending that businesses would need to increase production and work force numbers. It's not enough money to spark investment in the ailing stock market. Not enough to help someone purchase a home (from the suffering builders) or a vehicle (from the struggling Big 3), not enough to really do anything more than pay a bill or two. This stimulus package is a massive deficit spending bill disguised as an economic rescue bill. Its a few hundred dollars to keep you distracted, everyone is happy to get something free...but lets be honest, its impossible for it to help the recession. It merely funds a collection of new programs that couldn't get passed otherwise. Oh yeah, speaking of deficit spending, this will bring our grand total in rescue packages to over 3 trillion. So we borrow a trillion dollars, when we know less will be coming in the next fiscal year to pay it back? What is the lesson we are teaching our children? Simple economics would show as the debt rises so do the payments and percentage of the federal budget towards them...this occurs as your federal tax receipts are plummeting. The potential risk is catastrophic. Its like taking a pay cut and then mortgaging a monstrous new home 1000 times more than you can afford. Its irresponsible. Government needs to do what every person does when they get a pay cut, eliminate every bit of unneccesary spending until you can afford it again. A real economic rescue bill? Slash the federal budget to the bone, and then slash the corporate and income taxes at least 10% across the board. As the money that rightfully belongs to taxpayers floods back in amounts that will make a difference (I don't know about you, but I'm broke and I had to pay in the 5 digits), people will spend again. We have to be realistic: jobs are created by businesses and people with enough money to open them, not government. Businesses need capital and investment to expand. Its the ONLY way. I just wanted to get this off my chest before we all celebrated about our $500.00 welfare check, because in the end we will be paying it back....with a lotta friggin interest. Well, enough about this, I gotta decide which bill I'm gonna pay with mine...maybe I should send a Thank You note to Harry Reid.