News flash: The economy is in the dumps. While this news may be shocking for all you coma victims and cave dwellers out there, for the rest of us, it is becoming a harsh reality.
Things are so serious, in fact, that this past week President Barack Obama began to trade in his words of “hope” for visions of “catastrophe” if Congress does not act to pass his $800 billion (billion, with a capital B) stimulus package. It may very well be true that our economy is like a heart-attack victim in desperate need of defibrillation, but before we put the charge into the paddles, shouldn’t we make sure that this money is going where it’s actually needed?
With all of the importance that has been put on this bill, which has the potential to change the face of America, one would hope that our representatives in Congress would be able to highlight those areas in dire need of attention. Yet, from its earliest forms up until the rendition that was passed through the House on Tuesday, the classic pork-barrel spending of the past.
Some of the more ridiculous allocations that were quickly struck down when the bill came to light included a 36-hole Frisbee-golf course in Austin, Texas, $200 million to freshen up the National Lawn in Washington, D.C., with some new sod, and $4.5 million for a butterfly garden in Florida.
Even after a heavy dose public ridicule, several earmarks, such as $600 million for new government cars and $335 million for the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases, slipped through and will soon be found waiting for approval on Obama’s desk.
Now, I’m all for butterflies and stopping STDs, but is this really what America needs at a time when unemployment rates are rising and morale is plummeting? The mere fact that these provisions were included in the bill seems to symbolize the “spend, spend, spend” mentality that got us into this mess in the first.
Just as every American in past five years thought they had a golden ticket to borrow all the money they want, Congress seems to be borrowing against our futures for their own special dream projects.
While some of these amounts may seem tiny when compared to the $800 billion overall price tag, it still does not justify the wasting of any tax dollars.
We have to consider that even though these numbers just seem like funny little random numbers that don’t really affect us, eventually this tab has to be paid off in the years — most likely decades — to come. So while it may be important to act swiftly, this does not mean that we should allow Congress to dig a Grand Canyon-size hole that we’ll have to crawl our way out of.
Hopefully this stimulus bill is able to deliver on everything that it promises and right this faltering economy, but even if it does fall short of expectations, at least we’ll all have plenty of time to become awesome Frolfers.
Sen. Hadder has earmarked $57 million for a solid-gold rocket car. Send him your designs at andrew.hadder@asu.edu.
