Harvard Economist: 'Stimulus is probably the worst bill that has been put forward since the 1930s'

February 9, 6:14 PMDC Republican ExaminerBill Dupray

Previous Next

83 comments Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the DC Republican Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

Obama in Elkhart, Indiana today once again makes
the provably false claim that the economy is in the
worst shape since the Great Depression.
(AP photo/Charles Dharapak) 

Considering that a lot of bills have been put forward by Congress in the last 70 years, this is really saying something.

Dr. Robert Barro is one of the most influential economists in the world.

From The Atlantic via Stephen Spruiell at The Corner, who got it from Will Wilkinson.

This is probably the worst bill that has been put forward since the 1930s. I don't know what to say. I mean it's wasting a tremendous amount of money. It has some simplistic theory that I don't think will work, so I don't think the expenditure stuff is going to have the intended effect. I don't think it will expand the economy. And the tax cutting isn't really geared toward incentives. It's not really geared to lowering tax rates; it's more along the lines of throwing money at people. On both sides I think it's garbage. So in terms of balance between the two it doesn't really matter that much.

It is common knowledge that the Kennedy, Reagan, and Bush (43) tax cuts spurred the economy back into shape. By contrast, the FDR spendfest in the 1930's, as well as attempts in Japan and Argentina to spend their way out of recessions did nothing. These are proven (and disproven) models.

Obama's combination of mega-spending and welfare payments tax rebates to people who don't pay taxes (as opposed to cuts in the tax rate), are a double-whammy of pure Socialist folly.

One keen Democrat notes that this is neither a stimulus bill nor a pork bill. It is actually a permanent Democrat patronage bill, designed to create an army of people beholden to the Democrat Party for decades to come.

And yet Obama bleats on with The Big Lie (here (today), here, and here) that the economy is in the worst shape since the Great Depression.

This lie is so easily disproved, and yet (surprise!) the MSM won't call him on it. Jammie Wearing Fool via Gateway Pundit has a little graphic that shows that, far from the worst economy since the Great Depression, our economic situation isn't even nearly as bad as downturns in the 1970's and 1980's.

The Big Lie is that Obama knows this and yet deliberately uses phony numbers and rhetoric to pass a bill that may itself cause a depression.

Change we can believe in? 

Special Report: Obama's First 100 Days
Exclusive examiner.com coverage of the Obama administration's promise to bring about change.

• Examiner Coverage: First 100 Days
• Vote now: What will Obama change most?
• The Obama Administration at a glance