I know it has been a long time since I have added an entry. I was waiting to see how things were gong to go after the election. They have gone exactly how I said they would go. There was an extreme outpouring of pride from Americans over the inauguration of the first black American as President. It had many coincidences that came with it. It happened 40 years after the great Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was killed for fighting for equal rights, and it happened the same year as President Abraham Lincoln, who worked so hard to let slaves be free and died because of it, turned 200. It also has also proven to be a very rough 4 months for the economy. The American people have been averaging 1000 people per day joining the masses at the unemployment office lines. The president has now been in office for 24 days and has pushed for a second "stimulus" package. This stimulus package is supposed to create "thousands of jobs" and invest money in education and health care. This bill is for a mere $787 billion. I remember the last bill for $700 billion to fix the credit crunch and help the liquidity of the banks. That, so far, with the first half of that has been a complete failure. $350 billion dollars later and it is harder for many Americans to get a mortgage or loan for a car today than it was before the bill was passed. Now they are going to do a half assed attempt to stimulate the economy the correct way, by creating jobs. I said that if they invested that entire $700 billion in jobs 4 months ago they would have already "stimulated" the economy. I told how we could have almost completely eliminated all of the unemployment in the country by investing in infrastructure, what they are now saying they will try.
I found the bill, (http://appropriations.house.gov/pdf/Recovery_Bill_Div_A.pdf and http://appropriations.house.gov/pdf/Recovery_Bill_Div_B.pdf ) and I took a quick look at it, my idea of a quick look is I read for about 2 hours. I just tried to get some sense out of what type of jobs where going to be created with this $787 billion and I found some very questionable things that don't seem like they will create very many jobs. Here are the things that really stood out to me. Mind you this is a long list.
290 million for purchasing and restoring floodplain easements
2.5 billion to install broadband access to rural areas
650 million for Digital to Analog converter box coupons of which up to 90 million for education
225 million to combat violence against women
2 billion for Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant program
10 million for the ATF Project Gunrunner
150 million for aeronautics
400 million for exploration
1.6 billion for science
4.5 billion to convert General Services Administrations buildings to “High Performance Green Buildings.”
1.5 billion to improve DOD facilities of ARMY
657 million “ “ “ “ of NAVY
114 million “ “ “ “ of Marine Corps
1.1 billion “ “ “ “ of Air Force
98 million “ “ “ “ of ARMY Reserve
55 million “ “ “ “ of NAVY Reserve
40 million “ “ “ “ of Marine Corp Reserve
13 million “ “ “ “ of Air Force Reserve
266 million “ “ “ “ of National Guard
26 million “ “ “ “ of Air National Guard
Now lots of these things are good things to do but I don't see how these things could really create very many jobs. And the most amazing thing i saw in it was $50 million for the California Bay Delta Restoration Act to help save the Salt Marsh Harvest Mouse, a thing the Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been trying to do for some time and could never get it in anything else. She says she did not add it but I am sure she added something for someone else in return of them adding that for her. The most amazing thing is that all of these items were in the first 84 pages.
Now once again I am going to reiterate the fact that Americans are bringing this stuff upon themselves. I write to my Senators and Representatives and let them know where I stand on the issues, especially those dealing with the economy. Americans hove gotten to lazy and allow the congress to do whatever they feel is necessary without taking into consideration what the American people want, and are not being held accountable for their actions. I urge all Americans to pray for guidance through this economic time, and write your Congress men and women and tell them how you feel about what they are doing and give them your story about how this hard time is affecting you. If every man and woman emails them and calls them and writes them letters telling them that they will not vote for them the next time they are up for re-election unless they change their ways, they will have a change of heart as to how they represent you on Capital Hill.
God Bless America,
We're going to need it.
