By Steve Rathje
I have no doubt that regardless of political affiliation; folks all across America are more than deeply concerned about the economic state of our nation. In situations such as these, where ‘hope’ appears slim, jobs are waning and families struggling to make ends meet, entire communities are responding with outcries of ‘No More!’
This is not the change the American people were promised, nor does it reflect the answers sought for the change proposed. For this administration and the majority in Congress it reflects nothing more than a blatant disregard for the Constitution and an attempt to redistribute the wealth as a means to equalize the social fabric of America. For this administration, it all began with “The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act”.
”The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act”, according to the President and supported by Congress, was designed to provide relief and provide jobs that would stave off an economic collapse. As you now know that simply isn’t true, because it was designed to expand Government and your dependence upon it. It is nothing more than a socialist agenda that reduces civil liberties while introducing new layers of controls that literally permeate every area of our American way of life.
I agree that millions of jobs have been lost since the financial crisis exploded leaving millions of Americans struggling to make ends meet. But what Congress doesn’t seem to grasp is that the problems folks have are their “fixed monthly expenses” and no matter how much money you throw at them, they will still remain long after the money is gone. This bill does nothing to address that problem, because if it did, it would reflect long term sustainable jobs that would provide the much needed capital to pay our bills, grow our families and provide for a safer, stronger Iowa and America.
Democrat Congressmen all across America supported that bill, which includes Iowa’s Congressman Dave Loebsack. He has admitted never reading it, yet supports it nonetheless, proven by a statement he made on March 9, 2009, to ‘the Gather.com where he estimated 37,000 jobs would be saved and/or created with 7,000 of them being in his district alone. This statement is not only irresponsible, it’s unsubstantiated. First of all, where and how did he come up with those numbers and what kind of jobs will be saved and/or created? What industries will do the hiring and how long will it take? Anyone can make a statement like that, and because we all want it to happen so badly we tend to believe it’s the truth. If someone is going to promise that kind of employment they should have more then mere rhetoric to substantiate their claims. To be factual about it, unemployment according to state statistics has increased from 7% to more than 7.5% since the statement was even made, which doesn’t include the 7% to 8% that are underemployed, fallen off the roles, or just stopped looking for work.
Congress boasts that “The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, HR1, contains $550 billion dollars in investment and $282 billion in tax cuts. Making a statement like that obviously proves they never read the Bill nor do they understand its contents. If they had, they wouldn’t make such a ridiculous claim. The Democrats, lead by President Obama and Speaker of the House Pelosi, rammed more than 1,000 pages of spending through the House of Representatives in twelve hours. Every single Congressman would have had to read more than 600 words per minute non stop during that entire time, without taking a break, to complete the Bill within that period of time. So as for their statements, they are either out right lies, or simply Democrat spin (one in the same). First of all the tax cuts they speak of aren’t enough to buy a loaf of bread for the average family. They will add no more than $13 to your weekly paycheck (that is if you have a job), and raise the price you pay for the goods you need due to the Obama tax increases on businesses that will be required to pay for the ‘so called’ tax cut you get. Businesses will simply pass that increase on to you, which will erase the $13 pay increase and will most likely put you into a higher tax bracket as well. So for the sake of mere pop machine money promised by the Democrats, you will more than likely end up owing the IRS at the end of the year.
As for greater investment, I agree it is needed, but the government’s responsibility begins and ends with infrastructure and defense. Everything else should be provided by the free market. Regardless of how you look at it, everything except infrastructure and defense is an earmark and more than 9,000 of them were in 
this Bill. In fact, our Senator Tom Harkin had an earmark for $1.7 million just to study a cure for hog odor. There was another for $200 million to re-sod the National Mall after the Obama inauguration destroyed it, and millions more to pay for abortions in foreign countries. It’s outrageous, and if you don’t believe me go to: http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_bills&docid=f:h1enr.pdf and read the Bill for yourself. Some may believe that a portion of the earmarks have merit, and if they do, they will have no problem passing in the House and Senate after honest and open debate. Those that don’t however, will fall to the way side. What Congress fails to understand is that we’re in a crisis that requires clear thinking, business minded, constitutionally based common sense solutions.
As for provisions to ensure that the money is being spent appropriately, I disagree, as the website the administration speaks of http://www.recovery.gov/ in no way gives any specifics as to how the money is spent or where it is going. The Obama Administration and the majority in Congress simply want us to believe that they know what’s best, that they can be trusted, and all your hard earned tax dollars will be ‘spent’ appropriately without being wasted. Complete transparency, I think not!
The best way to dig ourselves out of this mess is through hard work and old fashioned tried and true methods that include personal responsibility. Don’t forget, Capitalism works, in fact 5 % of the world’s population lives in the United States and…that 5% creates 70 % of the world’s wealth. What’s the connection? Our system works, and it has worked for more than 200 years. We’ve hit a huge bump in the road, but it’s a bump that we created by the mistakes an overreaching, oversized government has made. Reduce the size of government; put the money and the power into the hands of the American people where it belongs, and we’ll work our way out of this. No more Bailouts and no more “SPENDING BILLS!”
I believe the people of the America deserve the truth. So I encourage the President and Congress to step up, be honest, and explain the real facts regarding the economy, unemployment and a Bill that has saddled our children and grandchildren with insurmountable debt for generations to come.
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