Democrats don't know if big spending will work

Washington Post:

Republican criticism of the stimulus package that the House will vote on tonight has focused on its soaring price tag, but some Democrats on Capitol Hill and other administration supporters are voicing a separate critique: that the plan may fall short in its broader goal of transforming the American economy over the long term.

President Obama, who promoted the $825 billion package at the Capitol yesterday, says the proposal serves two functions -- creating jobs and stimulating the economy in the short term, and laying the groundwork for overhauls in energy, health care and infrastructure that would be felt for decades. But some administration supporters say that while they appreciate Obama's intent, the two goals are competing with each other, and that the package could end up missing both targets.

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In every down turn since the great depression the only stimulus that has really worked has been tax cuts and military spending and when you combined the two you got the greatest gain. It is surprising to me that no one else has noticed this phenomena. Infrastructure spending during the depression did nothing to pull the economy out of it. Spending on family planning will actually retard growth and make the demographics of Social Security worse.

Throwing other peoples money at the problem is a recipe for failure and some Democrats are starting to get cold feet. As for throwing money at alternative energy, it is a waste. With all the spending on this sector since the 1970's there is still no commercially viable alternative that can survive without subsidies.