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DC COLUMNISTS DEBATE: Obama's economic stimulus plan
Bryan Carroll and Brendan Fortuner
Issue date: 2/6/09 Section: Commentary
In favor of he stimulus: Bryan Carroll
• Obama's plan, which would create 44,000 jobs in Connecticut, is the equivalent of ConnectiCare. This creates many new responsibilities. Also, the stimulus increases the standards in the auto industry.
• Inflation is a market-based trend; the notion that we're spending too much to alleviate the situation is unrealistic. If you consider The Great Society and FDR's plan, and convert it for inflation to 2009 standards, the figures are similar in terms of overall cost.
• There isn't an excessive amount of pork in this bill. Though our generation will inherit a large amount of debt, those in Connecticut are making significantly more than the national average.
• FDR's programs did create many jobs. Without the government, thousands of people would have been without jobs.
• By giving the economy a little push, we can eventually effect positive change. This stimulus is an appropriate course of action given our current circumstances.
Against the stimulus: Brendan Fortuner
• In these tough economic times, it will be hard for auto companies, which are already struggling, to meet the minimum standards mandated in the economic stimulus package.
• The current stimulus bill will cost $900 billion. To create 3 million jobs, the federal government will have to spend billions; this isn't cost-effective.
• This will increase our national debt, a cost that will be borne by our generation.
• There is no evidence that economic stimulus packages work; history shows us this. The increased FDR/Hoover packages lingered for years with unemployment reaching into the high-teens in the 1930. FDR's package did nothing to quickly bring the U.S. out of recession.
• We have already passed $170 billion in stimulus (under Bush), and we have seen little effect on the economy.
• Those jobs may well have been created in the private sector, without government spending programs.
• The theory behind the stimulus is flawed. It is based upon the assumption that consumption is what truly drives economic growth. For this program to work, we must borrow to spend and stimulate eventual income. Productivity fueled by innovation is what actually will fix our economy.
• Obama's plan, which would create 44,000 jobs in Connecticut, is the equivalent of ConnectiCare. This creates many new responsibilities. Also, the stimulus increases the standards in the auto industry.
• Inflation is a market-based trend; the notion that we're spending too much to alleviate the situation is unrealistic. If you consider The Great Society and FDR's plan, and convert it for inflation to 2009 standards, the figures are similar in terms of overall cost.
• There isn't an excessive amount of pork in this bill. Though our generation will inherit a large amount of debt, those in Connecticut are making significantly more than the national average.
• FDR's programs did create many jobs. Without the government, thousands of people would have been without jobs.
• By giving the economy a little push, we can eventually effect positive change. This stimulus is an appropriate course of action given our current circumstances.
Against the stimulus: Brendan Fortuner
• In these tough economic times, it will be hard for auto companies, which are already struggling, to meet the minimum standards mandated in the economic stimulus package.
• The current stimulus bill will cost $900 billion. To create 3 million jobs, the federal government will have to spend billions; this isn't cost-effective.
• This will increase our national debt, a cost that will be borne by our generation.
• There is no evidence that economic stimulus packages work; history shows us this. The increased FDR/Hoover packages lingered for years with unemployment reaching into the high-teens in the 1930. FDR's package did nothing to quickly bring the U.S. out of recession.
• We have already passed $170 billion in stimulus (under Bush), and we have seen little effect on the economy.
• Those jobs may well have been created in the private sector, without government spending programs.
• The theory behind the stimulus is flawed. It is based upon the assumption that consumption is what truly drives economic growth. For this program to work, we must borrow to spend and stimulate eventual income. Productivity fueled by innovation is what actually will fix our economy.
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JoeC
posted 2/06/09 @ 10:32 AM EST
A little context would help this piece. Is it a power point presentation of various other columnists' opinions? If so, attribution would help the reader. (Continued…)
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