Another interesting point the article made was the paradox of our current "economic crisis." It was irresponsible consumer spending that helped to get us into this mess, yet somehow if we stimulate more consumer spending, we'll get out of it. As happy as I was a year ago to get a check for $300 from the government, I don't think consumer spending should be our escape pod, but rather public confidence in our country as a whole.
Let us compare for a moment, the two large sums of money recently proposed to help our country out of economic crisis. The first, the $700 billion plan passed last year; where did the money go? Into the banks' ledger books, to get them back in the black, into the pocketbooks of bank CEOs and investors, and a little bit back into the lending pool. But even the money that went back to the people through loans and mortgages, what is that to those who received it? More cash; cash which will be spent on crap that people don't need, inspiring a false sense of prosperity hurtling them into patterns of spending that can only result in more credit debt. Bad move!
OK, now let's look at the new plan, The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. It will cost about $820 billion between 2009 and 2019, but this time the money is going to fund job creation and retention, new clean energy sources, improving the health care industry, and building, renovating, and funding schools. Some may say that this sounds a lot like socialism, and yes maybe it does. However, the best part about the whole thing in my opinion, is the oversight and transparency inherent in the plan. The website, recovery.gov will be tracking every bit of spending for the plan and every one of us can know about it.
