Six months later, stimulus proves to be a dud

Via-Examiner Editorial

This recession might linger for years," President Obama wrote in a Feb. 8 Washington Post op-ed. "Our economy will lose 5 million more jobs. Unemployment will approach double digits...Every day, our economy gets sicker." This was the justification for haste in passing Obama's stimulus package. Now, six months later, with just 10 percent of the $787 billion package spent, ordinary Americans don't think it's working.

Fifty-seven percent told the Gallup organization that the package has had no effect or has made the economy worse. Eighty-one percent believe that it has not benefitted them personally in the short run, and 70 percent believe it will not benefit them in the long run. This opinion is not without factual basis. Unemployment reached 9.5 percent in June, with nearly 3 million jobs lost since Obama's op-ed. In July, it dipped to 9.4 percent, not because more jobs had been created, but because only 242,000 jobs were lost, and some 400,000 individuals stopped looking for work and ceased to count as "unemployed."

Experts at the liberal Brookings Institution, in a recent panel discussion, reached the same conclusion, even some who are optimistic about the economy's prospects. Among them was Barry Bosworth, Brookings' senior fellow in Economic Studies. "In my view, the recession is coming to an end," said Bosworth. "The bad news, however, is that the government stimulus did not have a lot to do with the recovery."

A new Fox News poll found that 72 percent of registered voters - including 59 percent of Democrats - believe the economy would be better served if stimulus money is simply returned to taxpayers. Obama wrote in a February op-ed that Americans expect action from Washington "that's swift, bold and wise." With his stimulus package, he tried "swift" and "bold." Now it is time to try "wise" by admitting error and bringing this massive undertaking to an end. If Congress wants to help the economy recover, there are better options than creating make-work projects in weatherization and fixing seldom-used bridges.

Stopping the current spree of borrowing and spending is the essential starting point. Then, cut individual, self-employed and corporate taxes so that businesses and entrepreneurs will find it profitable to do business here, and to keep jobs at home. Next, liberate the U.S. energy sector to develop this nation's incredibly vast but still-untapped wealth of resources on land and under the sea - both conventional and alternative - so that we can stop sending billions of dollars to OPEC every year. Finally, repeal the thousands of obsolete, unnecessary and costly federal regulations that strangle productivity and discourage job creation.

More...