It was a great day in American politics

Anyone who was not living under a rock without access to television, internet, or a newspaper, knows that today, the 2009 Obama "stimulus bill" was voted on and passed. No Republicans supported the bill, which was a wonderful sight to behold.

I thought a lot about this bill over the last few weeks and realized something. Obama is afraid. He did not need Republicans to pass the bill and despite his alleged "bipartisan" efforts, he made no real amendments that Republicans proposed, and made very few concessions. The concessions he did make were largely cuts due to public scrutiny. So, why did he press Republicans to support the measure?

Because when the bill and all of that "pork" money fails to do much for the economy, he could have argued that it was a bipartisan failure, instead of the blame falling on the shoulders of the Democratic party. Instead, that argument cannot be made.

The economy will improve, yet only about 15% of the money to be spent will be done before 2010, and most of that money will go to things not really classified as a "stimulus" to the economy. Instead, we have just seen the House attempt the largest transfer of wealth in this country to citizens who already pay no federal taxes and at best, minimum state taxes. We have also seen the largest pork-stuffed bill in history be passed by the House, despite Obama's pledge to end earmarks. When the economy improves, most of this money will remain unused, yet you can be sure liberals will claim it is due to recession spending, and not due to capitalism, despite clear evidence that recession spending does not end a recession. Should the stimulus bill pass and be implemented, you should the have even less motivation to work hard and succeed, because that simply means you will be paying more for people who lack the same motivation as you.

Also remember that Obama pledged to create or "save" jobs. Which means when State governments receive their portions of the pork pie, they can continue to spend and waste, rather then trim their budgets and drop government jobs. Which means Obama will say he is victorious in his pledge. However, I am willing to bet the efficiency of government services will not improve much, if at all. In a year from now, when you are standing in line at an IRS office, or at the DMV, or any other government locale, you will be hard-pressed to find the line moving quicker than it is right now.

The next time you hear a liberal tout this bill, challenge them. Ask them about the bill and what is great about it. What wasteful spending provision will benefit the country? What motivation is left to work hard? How will it help a recession if the money will not be spent in the actual recession? If the situation is so dire, why is the money not being spent immediately?