Stimulus Package

Anyone who pays any attention to current events knows that Congress is debating an economic stimulus package in the range of $700-$950 billion. Last week the House passed one version on a party line vote, but it is currently being held up in the Senate by Republicans who are threatening a filibuster. They want more tax cuts to go with the stimulus spending. So that's the background.

Now, however, a variety of cuts are being made to science, energy, and education. What? We can bail out big bank executives that got us into this mess, but not help out people who are researching and building out future? This prompted a great excerpt from a blog post at Wired Science:

I don't get it. It's not as if the scientists and teachers are going to spend the money on junkets to Las Vegas and million-dollar bonuses. They'd be spending it directly on the country's future.

Absolutely. Here is what I do not get: Many people are saying the stimulus is 'wasteful spending," but where do they think that money is going? It isn't just disappearing into thin air. This doesn't cost $800 billion. It just doesn't. The money goes back into the economy in the form of projects, salaries, infrastructure, taxes, etc. In fact, if things go as planned, for every dollar we put in we will get more than a dollar back!

I REPEAT: This is not costing us $800 billion. The money goes back into American people and the country. Even if it goes all wrong, it will still only cost us a fraction of $800 billion.