Stimulus Package

OF COURSE the stimulus plan will create jobs, and probably be a huge success. For the GOP, that's the problem, for if Obama's economic policies are successful, they are going to be in the political wilderness for YEARS to come. They can't have that, and that's why most of the Republicans are bitching and moaning and threatening to kill the stimulus plan.

Contra DeMint, borrowing and spending are pretty much how the government has pulled itself out of every modern recession. And contrary to what Bond argues, mass transit can be plenty stimulative. (Here's a report from the New York Times on the economic impact of the Second Avenue subway project in Manhattan.) For an example of how a little spending on mass transit might save jobs, Bond could look a little closer to home. The New York Times reported Wednesday on how St. Louis' inability to fund its bus system means hundreds of employees will find it impossible to get to work. In the case of St. Louis, several million dollars might help save a few jobs. That sounds defensive. But in a period when Americans are losing jobs at a furious clip, when the economy is shrinking rapidly, when monetary policy is near exhaustion, and when tax cuts aren't likely to work as they do in ordinary times, the highest priority is simply to stop the downward spiral.

The more jobs that are created, the more money that's pumped into the economy which creates still more jobs and more revenue for the government which in turn means the deficit gradually gets paid down.

Most of the Republicans, however, don't give a shit about the voters. It's all about ideology and their own political fortunes.

But support is slipping, and Obama needs to communicate what this stimulus plan really means.