The Blue Dogs Are Killing This

Posted on 02/06/2009 at 2:46 pm by Bob Cesca

Greg Sargeant has the latest roster of programs that are being inexplicably hacked out of the recovery bill. For example:

School improvement, Firefighters, Transportation Security Administration, Coast Guard, Prisons, COPS Hiring, Violence Against Women, CDC, Food Stamps

They’ve also cut school construction spending down to $60 billion.

At this point, I’m really pulling for this stuff to be restored in conference. Someone explain to me how school construction is bad for the economy.

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  • http://www.windonwater.net QueenTiye

    It’s not. I don’t understand why they’re trying to cut it. The only thing I can think of is that school construction doesn’t itself generate more economic stimulus after the building is built. It isn’t going to house for-profit entities, for instance. But that’s really a stretch. The construction itself is stimulus, and building ways for the building to receive green energy is investment – providing an infrastructure for new green energy businesses to provide for.QT

  • http://www.bobcesca.com Bob Cesca

    >>doesn’t itself generate more economic stimulus after the building is built.It actually does — the best kind of stimulus. Better education equals better paying jobs equals better economy.

  • camel54

    Not to mention that if the recovery money can fund the schools’ physical repairs then that means local communities and states don’t need to sacrifice teachers so they can keep the buildings standing. And right now, in Tennessee, teachers are being cut because of budge constraints. In our house, we’ve reigned in spending–back to the essentials; home improvement projects have stopped; no more books; no more computer toys. All because we’re worried my wife’s job is not secure.

  • trustno1

    I’m with you, camel. The main breadwinner in our household teaches music. Arts are always on the block as it is.

  • shootingczar

    If anything schools seem to be an even better example of why infrastructure spending has both short and long term economic impact. They both take a good amount of hands for construction thus creating jobs in the short term. However, even with the efficient moving of goods and workers that roads bring it doesn’t even compare to the amount of money we get back when investing into the education of the entire future workforce of America.

  • camel54

    If there is one thing that is plainly clear from all of this economic BS it is that Republicans have no concept of strategic spending. They can’t seem to understand the notion of investment spending. They seem to be under some misguided belief that a stimulus package serves one purpose, give businesses something now! They can’t seem to grasp that once that money runs out in six months, then what?The idea that you can put people to work today working on schools or on energy saving programs, put people to work today and create a stable, future economy is like trying to explain trigonometry to cats where Reps are concerned.

  • http://nanotyrnns.blogspot.com/ Nanotyrannus

    I think we need some more Barney Franks out there shouting down the “these programs don’t create jobs” meme. He did wonderfully on This Week and Dems need to follow his lead on reminding everyone that tax cuts do not build bridges, roads, hire firefighters, policemen, teachers, build schools and colleges, libraries and parks, and on and on.And Senator Nelson needs to be kicked in the nuts.

  • http://www.thedailybanter.com ari rutenberg

    As usual the Republicans and blue dogs are choosing to penalize the most vulnerable citizens for their ideological agenda. They simply have no interest in helping poor people and those who have lost the most from this economic crisis.They are greedy, myopic and ideologically rigid. And they cannot fathom the concept that they must think of something new in order to solve a crisis caused by their ideology.It is a national shame that the things our leaders seem to value the least are things most important to the people they have been elected to represent. If Ben Nelson wants his kids to go to shitty school and drive on rutted roads, that is his choice. He should not force the rest of us to live in a third world country.

  • AC

    Can you imagine running a business with these dipshits?No upgrades that will pay off in 5 or 10 or 15 years. No conservation. Nothing forward thinking at all. Just the bottom line on the next report (or next election cycle), because if those superficial numbers are met — BONUS TIME!Short sighted. Not in it for the long haul. And they call themselves conservatives? FISCAL ones, no less?I’m all in favor of Americans being able to decide for themselves what to spend their money on. I would like to spend some of my money on roads, schools, better healthcare for everybody, and a sustainable energy economy. What do they want me to do? Go to Mal-Wart?

  • Chuk

    Is anyone listening to Thune right now? He wants to 900 billion money to be divided up in tax cuts/ rebates to people. So $5000 a person. THE GOP IS INSANE!

  • Curly Lasagna

    This is off topic, but is anyone else enjoying the electric irony of the ad for a 2009 Sarah Palin calendar (free when you subscribe to Townhall Magazine) appearing on the right of your computer screen directly under the pictures of the items available from Bob’s Goddamn Awesome Store?Gave me a good laugh. Nice targeting, Goooooogle!

  • http://www.broadwaycarl.blogspot.com Broadway Carl

    Yeah, Curly, and a free Ann Coulter book too!

  • Curly Lasagna

    B’way, now I’ve got Free Government Grants For Republicans – $10K to $100K – Never Repay, Get Your Free Kit Now! over on the right of my screen.This is an odd place for the GOP to be advertising their stimulus plan.

  • J M Ashby

    You have to pay educated people more than uneducated people. That would be the GOP and Bluedogs line of thinking anyway.

  • http://peggystone263@msn.com peggygeorge

    I thought the point of the stimulus was to put people to work NOW creating the groundwork for what will make our lives better in the coming decades: Safe bridges and highways, well-built schools with green technology, well-fed children growing up well-educated and with an appreciation for the arts….

  • FrictionSoul

    Bob,Can you quit the hypocrisy now? It’s the Recovery and Reinvestment Act. How come this post is filed under the GOP framing of Stimulus. Does the President ever use the word “stimulus”?Be consistent, please. After all it was just yesterday you were urging us GDABers to support Zero Cred. Looks like you’re reaping what you sowed.