Three Years Later, The Word “Stimulus” Has Become A Dirty Word
In the waning days of George W. Bush’s term in office, and in the opening years of Obama’s term, the word “stimulus” was heard often in political circles particularly used by Democrats who were selling the idea of a stimulus spending package. Today marks the three year anniversary of that stimulus spending spree, and as ACB News’ Matt Negrin writes, “‘Stimulus’ is such a dirty word today that hardly anybody in the White House says it publicly anymore.”
That’s for good reason. The stimulus has been a failure. In California, stimulus projects haven’t created jobs and, in a number of instances, have been so thoroughly choked with red tape that they haven’t even broken ground yet. All over the country solar companies like Solyndra have failed despite getting huge loan guarantees as part of the stimulus bill.
The unemployment rate in this country has remained above 8% for 36 consecutive months. The number of Americans unemployed for more than 26 weeks has gone through the roof:
“What makes this recovery plan so important is not just that it will create or save three-and-a-half million jobs over the next two years,” said President Obama on February 17th of 2009. “This bill creates 3.5 million jobs,” said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid that same day.
Meanwhile, participation in the labor market nationally is at its lowest point in 30 years. Which means that, in proportion to overall population, we have fewer Americans working now than before the stimulus spending spree.
No wonder “stimulus” has become a dirty word.
Tags: Barack Obama, Economy, harry reid, jobs, Stimulus
