Porkasaurus Summary
T
here is still hope – students in Boulder, Colorado aggressively turned back a proposal to rename their high school Barack Obama High. But pore through the 1,000+ pages of the stimulus spending bill, and a sense of hopelessness becomes overwhelming.
As a small business owner, I see nothing in Obama’s largess to help me, even though we all know that small business s the primary job generator. I don’t want a government handout, but …
The government’s economic stimulus plan doesn’t include many provisions that directly benefit small businesses, but economists say those companies are more likely to find a cure for their financial ills closer to home _ with their own customers.
The plan does extend two provisions of 2008′s economic stimulus bill that allow small businesses to take a bigger upfront deduction for the cost of new equipment. But companies whose sales are hurting may be reluctant to make big expenditures, putting those tax breaks out of reach. (source)
We’re trying to shed leased equipment; we’re hardly in the market to buy it. So it’s a zero there. Then let’s look into what a bill purportedly about economic stimulus does for that scandal-plagued friend of Obama, ACORN:
The total amount of money for which groups like ACORN would be eligible in the bill is $4.2 billion, under a provision for “neighborhood stabilization activities.” According to the bill, the money can be utilized by state and local governments and also “nonprofit entities or consortia of nonprofit entities.”
ACORN can possibly collect more money under this legislation that it has over the past 15 years, and you can bet that ACORN is expert at accessing those funds. (source)
And as I’ve written previously, the spending bill is the official kick-off for universal health care, quoting Bloomberg:
Tragically, no one from either party is objecting to the health provisions slipped in without discussion. These provisions reflect the handiwork of Tom Daschle, until recently the nominee to head the Health and Human Services Department.
Gun owners are concerned that the health care provisions of the stimulus bill will be used against gun owners:
But of even greater concern to gun owners is the fact that a government-coordinated database (which government can freely access) will now contain all records of government-provided and private psychiatric treatment -– including, in particular, the drugs which were prescribed. (source)
The green industry – which employs relatively few and offers products that are not popular – loves the bill …
“I think what we’re seeing in the final bill is the best of the House bill combined with the best of the Senate bill (and) provides a strong boost for renewable energy, and solar in particular,” said SEIA President Rhone Resch. (source)
… but the housing and auto industries, which absolutely must get back on their feet if we are to get out of the recession, isn’t:
Instead of reducing the rampant non-stimulus spending in the bill, House-Senate negotiators …Cut $35.5 billion in tax incentives to boost the housing industry and encourage Americans to buy homes. The Senate bill included a provision to give Americans a $15,000 tax credit to purchase a new home, but negotiators reduced the credit to $8,000, only allowed it for first-time homeowners, and limited the relief to purchases made by this August.
[Negotiators also] cut $8.5 billion in tax incentives to boost auto sales and put Americans back to work. The Senate bill included a provision to allow Americans to deduct from their income taxes both the sales tax from a new car purchase and the interest on the auto loan. Negotiators eliminated the loan interest write-off – the bulk of the incentive – and instead allowed the sales tax deduction to remain. What was a $1,500 tax benefit was slashed to about a $300 benefit, not really enough to encourage someone to buy a new vehicle. (source)
And all this crazy, useless misspending is happening when the nation’s deficit in 2008 was a mind-numbing $455 billion. No; check that – it was $5.1 trillion before Porkasaurus, because the budget should be figured on an accrual basis to compensate for known future payments, not on a cash basis, which ignores little things like future Social Security payments. Continue Reading »
