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Opinion editorials Handling of Pit Appeal Calls for a Time-Out |
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opinion editorialsThis editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by editorial page staff and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers
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Friday, June 12, 2009
Put Stimulus Program Back on Real Track
Get your shovels ready for ... hmmm what were those stimulus projects again?
The Obama administration's $787 billion stimulus package is turning out to be more of a catch-all safety net for governments than a jump start for new jobs and needed public works projects.
Nationally, much of the $300 billion going directly to states is pegged for existing government programs for health care, education, unemployment benefits, food stamps and other social services.
Of the $3 billion in stimulus money Washington is sending to New Mexico, more than $1.2 billion will be spent during the next two years on Medicaid and education.
More millions will go toward easing the impact of the recession — increased unemployment benefits and more groceries for food banks. That's necessary, but it's not how the president initially pitched the program and rallied votes to pass it.
It was supposed to be about stimulating the economy with new jobs and needed brick-and-mortar projects.
You can't call backfilling state budgets, shoring up Medicaid, or expanding unemployment benefits a stimulus program. And while injecting money into existing programs may preserve jobs, at best it just keeps the country in a holding pattern until the economy starts moving forward. And, it keeps spending at levels that might not be sustainable without another injection of Uncle Sam's cash.
Obama promised that 3.5 million jobs would be created or saved. So far, he claims 150,000 jobs have been created or saved. At the same time government reports show 1.6 million jobs have been lost since Congress funded his plan in February.
The president also pledged the program would hold unemployment to 8 percent. It's now at 9.4 percent. That translates into a lot of people no longer collecting paychecks.
In hindsight, it would have been cleaner if the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act had been divided into two parts — one a recession safety net and state government budget bailout and the other a pure economic stimulus program.
That way, the stimulus measures could have been evaluated on their own and adjusted or abandoned accordingly. As it stands, “stimulus” looks like the bait for a switch to habitual patterns of spending at wholesale rates.
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