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Home Front: Politix
White House Says Stimulus WonÂ’t Be a Quick Fix
2009-02-16
Now he tells us ...
As President Obama prepares to sign the $787 billion stimulus bill, administration officials sought to temper expectations, warning that the economy has not yet reached bottom and that increased economic activity as a result of the legislation would “take time to show up in the statistics.”

Mr. Obama is spending the holiday weekend in Chicago and is expected to sign the bill on Tuesday in Denver, kicking off another campaign-style trip to drum up support for the stimulus package. “There will be signs of activity very quickly,” David Axelrod, the White House senior adviser, said on “Fox News Sunday.” “But it’s going to take time for that to show up in the statistics. The president has said it’s likely to get worse before it gets better.” He added that the economy would most likely not begin gathering steam until the second half of the year.
Note he doesn't say which year ...
Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, echoed that sentiment on CNN’s “State of the Union,” saying that while the stimulus package will put the country on the right track, “it is safe to say” the economy has not reached bottom.

Lindsay Graham, one of the Republican senators who voted against the stimulus bill, said the nationalization of the banking industry should not be taken off the table as Congress looks for ways to shore up the teetering financial system. “This idea of nationalizing banks is not comfortable,” Mr. Graham, who is from South Carolina, said on ABC’s “This Week With George Stephanopoulos.” “But I think we have gotten so many toxic assets spread throughout the banking and financial community throughout the world that we’re going to have to do something that no one ever envisioned a year ago.”

Republicans, bolstered by their coordinated opposition to the package, remained on the offensive over the weekend. On CNN, Senator John McCain continued to brand the stimulus bill a “generational theft,” and accused Mr. Obama of not reaching across the aisle despite promises of bipartisanship. The measure gained the votes of only three moderate Republican senators in the Senate. No Republicans voted for it in the House.

“Let’s start over now and sit down together,” Mr. McCain said.
Posted by:Steve White

#21  White House Says Stimulus WonÂ’t Be a Fix

There, fixed it for you.
Posted by: Rednek Jim   2009-02-16 23:25  

#20  IT WON'T EVER GET PAID OFF.

The Trunks could always go nuclear by saying that any T Bonds issued in 2009 will not be honored when they regain power in Congress again. That would mean they won't be able to issue new ones either and have to live within the government's actual income without further borrowing. Not going to happen, but it would end the practice of reducing your children and grandchildren into tax serfs.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2009-02-16 22:50  

#19  Flying across the country to sign a bill costs a pretty penny in these troubled times.

Carbon. Bootprint.
Posted by: eLarson   2009-02-16 19:28  

#18  It's mostly timed to show effect by 2012. Most strange, I wonder why the delay.
Posted by: KBK   2009-02-16 18:45  

#17  "White House Says Stimulus WonÂ’t Be a Quick Fix ... But Thanks For The Trillion Bucks Suckers"

Fixed it for ya.
Posted by: DMFD   2009-02-16 17:54  

#16  It won't be a slow fix either....

Yep

The only possible outcome is debasement of the currency.

Also Yep
Posted by: phil_b   2009-02-16 17:48  

#15  Anyone like the way it was such a... The whole "stimulus" is a crock of crap. At least O nows "owns" the recession/depression and the lack of anything productive coming from this colossal waste of resources can be blamed on him.
I don't think this is the destruction of "capitalism", just further gravy for the Pig Men coupled with an expansion of state control. I believe there are better labels for that process.
A clip from another blog calls the current process "disaster capitalism": "the cream of the crap earn outsized paychecks from the disastrous aftermath when everyone on Main Street is involuntarily fleeced to help clean up the mess in order to stave off the crisis."
it won't get paid off until my grandkids have grandkids. IT WON'T EVER GET PAID OFF. The only possible outcome is debasement of the currency.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418   2009-02-16 17:12  

#14  Obama's main goal seems to be to derail the US economy permanently. Then he can more easily advance his communist agenda. It's pretty simple, actually. Wreck the economy, take over major industries, influence other industries and exercise control through economics, run small businesses out of the market, give away money/houses to the masses, make as many people dependent on government as possible. This "stimulus" won't be "enough." It will take more and more until the goal of government control and the destruction of capitalism is complete.

Anyone like the way it was such a f*cking EMERGENCY, and "O" takes his time to sign it so he can pretend the country is behind it? I can't stand that he's going to Colorado to sign it. Isn't Washington good enough? Flying across the country to sign a bill costs a pretty penny in these troubled times.
Posted by: ex-lib   2009-02-16 15:52  

#13  "Let's start over now and sit down together," Mr. McCain said.

Isn't this "together" stuff the reason Mr. McCain doesn't hear "Hail To The Chief" when he walks into a room?
Posted by: Uncle Phester   2009-02-16 14:03  

#12  It won't be a slow fix either....
Posted by: Uncle Phester   2009-02-16 14:02  

#11  Now he's having second thoughts?

No, he's setting the stage for the next trip to the well.
Posted by: DoDo   2009-02-16 12:39  

#10  When I was in govt. I tried, over more than a decade, to get people to say that 'such and such project will likely create x jobs for one year' (this the construction portion) and if there were any permanent jobs to note that separately. This would properly, in my opinion, emphasize the temporary nature of 'stimulus'.

Obviously, the mass of public affairs personnel were against me as were the suck ups to management, as were the dummies who didn't understand the difference.
Posted by: mhw   2009-02-16 09:51  

#9  Are you attributing any alleged 'Negotiated rents/buy payments' to Obama, Alistaire? That's laughable. If banks are doing that it is because it's better for them to renegotiate than it is to just write down the loan. Infrastructure projects most certainly will not 'float' a few local economies. At best you will see a slight bump but that won't be for a year or more. Infrastructure projects have been proven to provide near ZERO short-term economic boost. As for the UAW, the only way they will lose their squeeze on the big 3 is if GM files bankruptcy. The democrats will never and I mean never allow the automakers to put the screws to the UAW. The democrats are owned and paid for by the UAW. The most arrogant wind-bag every is now occupying the White House so I don't know how there is less arrogance in the air.
Posted by: AllahHateMe   2009-02-16 09:18  

#8  Thanks to the Pelosi Stimulus provision this factory will be hiring additional workers.

Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC   2009-02-16 09:09  

#7  Mr. Obama is spending the holiday weekend in Chicago

And the weekly FACECOM with Dick Daley at party HQ the Cook County White House continues.
Posted by: Besoeker   2009-02-16 08:26  

#6  I call it the Swindle-Us Bill.
Posted by: Deacon Blues   2009-02-16 07:46  

#5  Floating $787 Billion in Treasury Bonds sucks $787 Billion dollars out of the world economy. Given the high level of padding involving government bureaucracy from federal to the local in the overhead, we're unlikely to see that infusion into the market place for many many years. Given the amount of good old boy graft, multiple little empire building bureaucrats, and kickbacks from the limited number of contractors to do the jobs, even more inefficiency will consume any effect in the larger economy as a whole. The only thing being stimulated is another failed socialism agenda.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2009-02-16 06:50  

#4  Stimulus WonÂ’t Be a Quick Fix
He's right on that count, it won't get paid off until my grandkids have grandkids.

Can anyone tell me what O has ties to in CO? Seems he likes that state more than his home state, oops, I don't know where he's from.
Posted by: 49 Pan   2009-02-16 06:44  

#3  The infrastructure fixes could float quite a few local economies. Negotiated rents/buy payments are already replacing foreclosures. Children are often supporting out of work parents by moving back into family homes. Sales executives are taking jobs at 7-11. The UAW is about to lose their $70 per hour squeeze. Donald Trump is said to face bankruptcy on Thursday. There is less arrogance in the air. I like a humble society.
Posted by: Alistaire Greash5374   2009-02-16 04:36  

#2  Now he's having second thoughts?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2009-02-16 03:02  

#1  Such a big rush to jam the pig (the stimulus bill) through the python (Congress) and Obama takes a very long weekend off & has yet to sign it. What was the rush all about, besides bypassing any rational discussion/deliberation by anyone?
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418   2009-02-16 00:25  

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