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Wasteful stimulus package fails, even in short term
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1.2 million Americans have lost their jobs since the $800 billion stimulus package was signed into law. The Congressional Budget Office predicted it would shrink the economy “in the long run,” but create jobs in the short run.
But the stimulus package turned out to be harmful even in the short run, because it was so badly designed. It poured money into sectors of the economy where no help is needed because unemployment is low, while siphoning money out of sectors where unemployment is high. Moreover, an Associated Press study “found that states hit hardest by the recession are getting the least amount of stimulus spending.”
The stimulus package has directly destroyed tens of thousands of jobs. A provision in the stimulus package that blocked 97 Mexican truckers from U.S. roads “caused Mexico to retaliate with tariffs on 90 goods affecting $2.4 billion in U.S. trade,” destroying 40,000 American jobs.
It also ignited a trade war with Canada. In response to vague “buy American” provisions in the stimulus package, “A number of Ontario towns, with a collective population of nearly 500,000, retaliated with measures effectively barring U.S. companies from their municipal contracts — the first shot in a larger campaign that could shut U.S. companies out of billions of dollars worth of Canadian projects.”
Yet, Obama had the audacity to claim that only passing the stimulus package would save us from “irreversible decline” and economic ““disaster”.
Obama’s policies echo those of Herbert Hoover, who helped spawn the Great Depression through his protectionism and tax increases.
