Barack Obama, the Democrats, and the Definition of Insanity

Yesterday, I analyzed the problems with John McCain's policy idea in response to the financial crisis. While I find plenty wrong with McCain's proposal, at least it has some sophistication and thought behind it, even if it isn't all that well thought out. The Democrats and Barack Obama seem to think that trying the exact same failed policy again and expect a different result.

Congressional Democrats are pushing for a new $50 billion economic-stimulus plan as a way not only to jolt the economy but also to help themselves politically in November’s elections. The plan would include new spending for infrastructure, an extension of unemployment benefits, energy assistance to lower-income families and aid to states to help pay Medicaid health-care costs for the poor. Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama touts the plan almost daily.

“This plan can’t just be a plan for Wall Street,” he told a Charlotte, N.C., audience Sunday. “It has to be a plan for Main Street. We have to come together, as Democrats and Republicans, to pass a stimulus plan that will put money in the pockets of working families, save jobs and prevent painful budget cuts and tax hikes in our states.”

Why stop at $50 billion? If Barack Obama wants to give me money, then I say bribe me with $10k not $600 bucks. It appears that Barack Obama and the Democrats slept through July when a similar stimulus package did little.

Here is the main problem with a stimulus package. What do you do the next month? Yeah, six hundred bucks extra in someone's pocket will go a long way for a month. They might pay down some bills or spend it on something nice. So what. That won't stimulate the economy. It will just stimulate it for a month. Then, once the check is gone the economy will just go back to normal the month after. This is NOT a stimulus check but a BRIBERY check.

Let's face it the Democrats don't want to do this because they think this will help the economy. They want to do this so they can say that they are the party of the people while the Republicans are the party of Wall Street. Fortunately, the folks have shown a fairly good political mind. They don't fall for this naked bribery. Polls don't usually favor these "stimulus checks". Folks may disagree with the Wall Street bailout. They may even believe it won't work, but for the most part, they believe those that are proposing it believe it is necessary to save the financial system. They also, for the most part, know that this "stimulus check" is nothing more than a bribe.

There is a great deal of irony. For the better part of a month, Barack Obama was lamenting that John McCain and the Republicans weren't talking about the issues. They weren't providing "solutions" like he was, at least in his own mind. Now, we come to a real financial situation. The President comes up with a real solution, a bad solution in my opinion, but at least this one wasn't drawn up on the way to an airport. John McCain also comes up with a real solution. Again, I think it's a bad solution, but one also, that I am certain wasn't thought up on the way to an airport. Barack Obama rolls out an idea that failed months earlier, one that likely required less than a minute of thought. Yet, he then turns around and says the other party has no solutions. Ironic and hypocritical I say.