Is the Federal Stimulus Working? (posted by DT)

YES.


Pretty much every serious economist says (or for those on the Right, "admits") that the federal stimulus package has created jobs and saved us from a much more severe economic downturn, even if they may disagree about how much it's done, how many jobs it's created, etc.


And of course government action to pump up the economy started under the Bush administration, which generally did an effective job bailing out Wall Street when conditions were dire. The Obama administration just continued those strategies, even with many of the same people involved (Bernanke, Paulson).


So it's great, right? Bipartisan action working toward a common and rather obvious goal of staving off a second Great Depression. Just one problem: the wing nuts who run the Republican party are now saying that the stimulus hasn't created "a single job" (I believe Scott Brown said that). National Review doesn't think it has done anything. Tea Partiers certainly don't think it's been effective, since it was implemented by the Obama administration. But when you ask people who study this stuff for a living, everyone agrees that it's done something. The positive response of the stock market shows that private investors are OK with stimulus spending. But the Tea Party Right isn't going along- what would have happened if they had been in power? We'd be in a free-fall Depression.

I think this is the tough part of being a reasonable conservative these days. The Republican party has been hijacked by really deranged people. If you want lower taxes and lower spending, I don't know where you would go these days; Republicans are going to lower taxes but have proved pretty conclusively that they'll keep spending, making our deficit much worse. Democrats are much more fiscally responsible at this point, but they want to lower the deficit at least in part by increasing taxes. So where does a true fiscal conservative go?

So let me extend an invitation: come on over here to the Liberal side of the street. Yes you'll have to swallow increased spending on health care for the poor, but at least we'll raise revenues at the same time instead of passing the costs on to your grandchildren. And you have to admit it: Brie tastes good and Birkenstocks are comfortable!