Thursday, February 18, 2010

Money in the Bank.


OBAMA. STIMULUS. WHAT! WHAT!

Words.

"Those who say the federal stimulus program didn't create jobs have ignored a crucial sector of the economy: critics of the package, who right now are enjoying record production levels and full employment.

This burgeoning industry of conservative lawmakers, political operatives, think tanks and media outlets has benefited enormously from the legislation.

...President Obama, marking the first anniversary of the stimulus legislation Wednesday, said that "the Recovery Act is responsible for the jobs of about 2 million Americans who would otherwise be unemployed." While exact numbers are unavailable, it seems reasonable to estimate that a large portion of the 2 million jobs have been created in businesses related to stimulus criticism -- "stim crit" for short.

...the vast majority of stimulus beneficiaries are small-time entrepreneurs who have used the measure to build an assembly line of press releases.

...one must also take into account the huge indirect benefit of the criticism industry, measured by what economists call the multiplier effect. As more Republican Party figures criticize the stimulus, jobs are created for researchers, printers and binders, webmasters and those who build and maintain servers to keep up with the crushing e-mail loads.

As the economic dollars continue to trickle down, the stimulus criticism means an increase in ratings and advertising money for conservative broadcasters. "A new CBS News poll shows that only 6 percent of Americans think the bill has created any jobs at all," celebrated Fox News's Sean Hannity in a broadcast this week. "There's more proof you cannot fool Mother Nature or the American people."

...Clearly, the Republican Party believes the stimulus funding has the ability to create jobs -- for Republican candidates.

...From all corners of the land, the great wheels of industry spun out press release after press release: "Failed . . . Hodgepodge of favored giveaways . . . Holy Out-of-Touch, Batman . . . Looming storm clouds of Obamanomics . . . Just how out of touch is the White House?"

Rep. Joe Wilson (S.C.) even wrote up a greeting card. "Happy Anniversary Stimulus," his press release said. "Wish You Came with a Gift Receipt."

He lies! Wilson would never return the stimulus. Criticizing it has brought him enormous prosperity."

  • THE WASHINGTON POST: Criticizing economic stimulus plan can be lucrative
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