Which of the following doesn't belong: Stimulus Bills, Earmarks, Economic Downturn and Stem Cell Research?

A lot has been happening in Washington, D.C., as of late, and a large portion of it has been going on unnoticed.

The Stimulus Package I

The biggest news took place nearly a month ago on Feb. 17 when President Obama passed a $787 billion stimulus bill. This action did not go unnoticed. It was plastered all over the news. What seemed to go unnoticed in news coverage were the five w's: Who is getting the money? What purpose does this funding have? Where is the money going? Why are they getting it? And the most important non-w question: How is this going to help?

From my point of view, the stimulus bill was poorly planned, poorly organized and simply a big political coup to maintain support for the incumbent party. I know that action needed to be taken, but was it necessary to put my generation and more than likely my great-great-grandchildren's generation that far in debt without knowing whether the bill would work?

Many analysts are comparing this action to that of FDR's New Deal during the Great Depression. FDR was a very popular president. He took swift action to gain relief for the American people. But are people misremembering FDR's legacy or is it me? Does anyone remember what actually ended the Great Depression? It was U.S. involvement in World War II. It was not FDR's New Deal; in fact, the New Deal and the alphabet organizations created by it, only helped the economy in the short run. If I learned anything from Economics 101, short run policies don't fix the problem they just lighten the blow for a SHORT period of time ultimately making a recession last longer.

In the long run, what is FDR's legacy from short run policy? Social programs like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, unemployment compensation, welfare and just about every other dole project that has spun out of control. I am by no means blaming the poor for being poor, but I am blaming politicians for not regulating these programs, for not planning better or organizing them better and ultimately for bankrupting the nation by not only maintain these programs that are doomed for failure, but also for borrowing from them. (I have more to say about this topic, but I will continue my tangent at a later date.)

Earmarks
My comments on earmarks and pork-barrel-spending is limited. I understand that earmarks have been around about as long as the country and that it's not new to Congress, but it doesn't make it right. Instead of appropriating citizen's tax money without stipulations or reason, how about you let me keep my tax dollars, and I will spend it the way I see fit. Ed Rollins does a pretty good job at explaining my opinion here.


Economic Downturn
It's going to happen no matter what the government does to prevent it. I'd rather it happen quickly than prolonging it. As my beloved econ professor, Jan Palmer, would say, "To maintain a free market, the government needs to keep its hands off. Let the problem fix itself." (By the way, Jan Palmer was an awesome professor who loved The Beatles, wore a Winnie the Pooh watch and eloped in Vegas in his 60s.)

Stem Cell Research
I don't have an opinion on stem cell research one way or the other. Maybe it's because I don't know that much about it or maybe it's just because it's a political issue and I don't care. Regardless, why is the President concerning himself with a political issue in the middle of a crisis?

It's the red herring of it all. To me it was like saying, "Look American people, Big Bird is doing a jig in a ring of fire! Please pay no attention to this new $410 billion spending bill I'm signing that includes nearly 9,000 earmarks."

The ringer of it all? After the bill passed, the White House announced a plan to cut down the number of earmarks in appropriations legislation. Wait a second ... didn't you just ... hrm. Ya got me!

When reading this, please take into consideration that I'm not out to attack the Obama administration. If I paid as much attention to politics when Bush was in office, I would have criticized him too but for things like spending and immigration.