Radical Stimulus Surgery: What Got Cut

[Brad Kenney]

Via CNN.com (who got the information via an unnamed Democratic leadership aide), a list of the programs targeted for either partial or total cut via the compromise legislation currently moving towards passage in committee.

Partially cut were:

• $300 million from federal fleet of hybrid vehicles (original bill $600 million)
• $3.5 billion for energy-efficient federal buildings (original bill $7 billion)
• $100 million from law enforcement wireless (original bill $200 million)
• $200 million from Environmental Protection Agency Superfund (original bill $800 million)
• $100 million from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (original bill $427 million)
• $75 million from Smithsonian (original bill $150 million)
• $100 million from FBI construction (original bill $400 million)

Fully eliminated were:

• $50 million for Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service
• $1 billion for Energy Loan Guarantees
• $100 million for National Institute of Standards and Technology
• $40 billion for state fiscal stabilization (includes $7.5 billion of state incentive grants)
• $25 million for Marshalls Construction
• $55 million for historic preservation
• $122 million for Coast Guard polar icebreaker/cutters
• $100 million for Farm Service Agency modernization
• $65 million for watershed rehabilitation
• $16 billion for school construction
• $3.5 billion for higher education construction
• $100 million for distance learning
• $98 million for school nutrition
• $50 million for aquaculture
• $2 billion for broadband
• $10 million state and local law enforcement
• $1 billion for Head Start/Early Start
• $5.8 billion for Health Prevention Activity
• $2 billion for Health Information Technology Grants
• $600 million for Title I (No Child Left Behind)
• $300 million for federal prisons
• $300 million for BYRNE Formula grant program
• $140 million for BYRNE Competitive grant program
• $50 million for NASA
• $50 million for aeronautics
• $50 million for exploration
• $50 million for Cross Agency Support
• $200 million for National Science Foundation
• $100 million for science
• $50 million for detention trustee
• $4.5 billion for General Services Administration
• $89 million General Services Administration operations
• $50 million from Department of Homeland Security
• $200 million Transportation Security Administration
• $122 million for Coast Guard Cutters, modifies use
• $25 million for Fish and Wildlife
• $55 million for historic preservation
• $20 million for working capital fund
• $165 million for Forest Service capital improvement
• $90 million for State and Private Wildlife Fire Management
• $1.25 billion for project based rental
• $2.25 billion for Neighborhood Stabilization
• $1.2 billion for retrofitting Project 8 housing

Man, I get seriously tired just reading that list. And that's only the amount that was cut! And by most honest accounts (i.e., not the accounts you see on Fox "News"), the stimulus package as it stands is probably not big enough to sustain aggregate demand long enough to cushion the economy as it hits the pits.

What cracks me up, though, is that all these cuts were made in response to specific Republican requests, and even despite this huge list of cuts, the amount of Republican support that this by all accounts economically crucial stimulus bill is going to get is negligible at best. Forecasts are, it will receive three Republican votes in the Senate, and not a single Republican vote in the House. This is likely to be the least support that's actually needed to pass a piece of legislation favored by everyone from the AFL-CIO to National Association of Manufacturers (including all but three Republican state governors), but as he moves into his third full week as president, President Obama may well take this early experience as a lesson in the futility of expecting post-partisanship within the Washington beltway.

[David Blanchard]

Originally Posted by Brad Kenney

This is likely to be the least support that's actually needed to pass a piece of legislation favored by everyone from the AFL-CIO to National Association of Manufacturers

Well, that's one way to look at it. Another way would be to report the latest Rasmussen poll numbers, which indicates that 37% of citizens polled favor the legislation, 43% are opposed, and 20% are not sure. Sounds like Republicans are hardly the only people scared to death that this pork-filled stimulus bill will do little more than empty out our wallets and fill up Washington's coffers.

[rbrooku]

Originally Posted by David Blanchard

Well, that's one way to look at it. Another way would be to report the latest Rasmussen poll numbers, which indicates that 37% of citizens polled favor the legislation, 43% are opposed, and 20% are not sure. Sounds like Republicans are hardly the only people scared to death that this pork-filled stimulus bill will do little more than empty out our wallets and fill up Washington's coffers.

Yes, and when the economy sinks enough let's see if IndustryWeek is really worth saving.

[bradintx]

Article that I read yesterday (link below) talked about the potential heath care rationing provisions in the stimulus bill. Scary as that sounds - the telling point to me was that Senator Specter (R) noted that he was not sure what was all in the bill and nobody is sure of all the provisions. If they have not read it and do not understand it how can they vote for it? Is that not the definition of reckless and negligent?

I am not a congressman or senator so I have not created or tried to pass a bill in congress, but I would love to see a system where every bill stood on its own, no clumping 100's of items into one bill. If the law is good then let it stand alone. Yes there would be more bills and congress's jobs would be a bit tougher, but so what - they get a handsome salary and benefits, time to earn it.

Meanwhile how about spending a little more time reading the bills before voting instead of getting face time on CNN.

Link to article - http://www.cnsnews.com/public/conten...x?RsrcID=43333

I am not sure why this is not a link you can click on??? I guess it needs to be copied and pasted to your browser - sorry????

[bradintx]

After I hit the submit button the link changed to the kind you can simply click on. I am sure that there is a name for this - maybe an IT guy like Mr Kenney can tell me what this is called?

[rbrooku]

Originally Posted by David Blanchard

Well, that's one way to look at it. Another way would be to report the latest Rasmussen poll numbers, which indicates that 37% of citizens polled favor the legislation, 43% are opposed, and 20% are not sure. Sounds like Republicans are hardly the only people scared to death that this pork-filled stimulus bill will do little more than empty out our wallets and fill up Washington's coffers.

Let's put this another way, the economy is sinking faster and faster, more and more are awakening to this fact and more people are aware of what is being cut from the stimulus bill so a percentage of the people turning against the stimulus are those unhappy with what is being cut and what is being retained, like the 15K house flipping provision while many good infrastructure building provisions are being removed.

So, lacking more infrastructure building provisions and adding more anti-infrastructure provisions may indeed lead to being worse and if something effective does not slow the downward spiral soon many who think their jobs and families' finances are relatively safe will find they are not.

[rbrooku]

http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/videodir/chat.mp3

[David Blanchard]

What's actually frightening more and more people about the stimulus bill is that nobody -- especially the Representatives and the Senators who will have to vote yay or nay on it -- will have time to read it before it's voted on.

I'll give you a really, really lame analogy: The stove in your kitchen is on fire, and there's a very real danger that it could quickly spread and burn down your whole house. "Somebody do something... ANYTHING! This is a catastrophe!" you shout. Seeing the smoke and hearing your shouts, your next-door neighbor rushes over and starts throwing every liquid he can find in your garage onto the kitchen stove. Ooops, one of the liquids just happens to be gasoline, and your house does indeed quickly burn down. As you and he stare at the cinders of what's left of your house, you ask him, "Didn't you see that there was a label on that container that said, GASOLINE?" He just shakes his head, and says, "Sorry, man, didn't have time to read it."

[rbrooku]

If you think all that is bad, the next phase of this "recession" is going to surprise you in just how bad it is going to get. Whether we have a collapse far bigger than the Great Depression or merely manage to escape with just a worse "downturn" than present circumstances is the real question at this point. People who think we are going to pull out by the end of the year without drastic government action are going to be very unpleasantly surprised.

Unfortunately, the only person I have heard explain any real understanding of the depth of the problem and any realistic solution is George Soros and the partisan pea heads that are currently doing their best to bash the Obama Administrations efforts will not be able to listen to reason because of the source:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/george..._b_166518.html