A Few Thoughts on the "Stimulus Package"

"The state is God walking on earth"--Hegel.

Then Herod went from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there. He had been quarreling with the people of Tyre and Sidon; they now joined together and sought an audience with him. Having secured the support of Blastus, a trusted personal servant of the king, they asked for peace, because they depended on the king's country for their food supply.On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people. They shouted, "This is the voice of a god, not of a mere mortal." Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died. But the word of God continued to increase and spread.--Acts 12:19-24


The "stimulus package" pushed by Obama and the Democrats is utterly wrong-headed, un-American, and dangerous in principle--and not just because of where the money goes, mostly to liberal causes.

1. It massively increases the federal deficit.
2. It takes money from taxes and gives money for projects, instead of letting people keep more of their money and letting them engage in their own projects, free of governmental regulation and control.
3. It views society as the same as the state when, in fact, they are two different things. The state should be one small aspect of society--civil government: an instrument of basic law and justice. Society, including the economy, is all the rest and should be influenced more by persuasion than the coercion of the state.
4. It is based on forcibly redistributing wealth as opposed to letting people create wealth through their own wits and resources.
5. It makes people dependent on the largess of the state, instead of being self-reliant and accountable to their family's and voluntary organizations, such as the church.
6. It pretends to be compassionate when only voluntary giving can be compassionate. Obama taking my money for his projects is not compassion. It is coercion.
7. It will reinforce and create even more giant bureaucracies difficult to dismantle in subsequent administrations.

Finding a compromise between a trillion dollar package and half a trillion dollar package is not the issue. The issue is the principles involved. Obama is trying to peddle fear and bully Americans into thinking this boondoggle is the only hope for economic recovery. He is a demagogue of the highest degree with no economic sense whatsoever.

Just when we need another Ronald Reagan, we get European style socialism sold by a face of hyped up by "hope." This "hope" I cannot believe in.

For more on what is economically and politically wrong with this "stimulus package," go to The Heritage Foundation.