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Calling It 'Stimulus' Doesn't Make It So
Investors.com ^ | March 8, 2010 | The great THOMAS SOWELL

Posted on 03/08/2010 5:14:52 PM PST by Kaslin

Abraham Lincoln once asked an audience how many legs a dog has, if you called the tail a leg? When the audience said "five," Lincoln corrected them, saying that the answer was four. "The fact that you call a tail a leg does not make it a leg."

That same principle applies today. The fact that politicians call something a "stimulus" does not make it a stimulus. The fact that they call something a "jobs bill" does not mean there will be more jobs.

What have been the actual consequences of all the hundreds of billions of dollars that the government has spent? The idea behind the spending is that it will cause investors to invest, lenders to lend and employers to employ.

Economic Sedative

That was called "pump priming." To get a pump going, people put a little water into it so that the pump will start pumping out a lot of water. In other words, government money alone was never supposed to restore the economy by itself. It was supposed to get the private sector spending, lending, investing and employing.

The question is: Is that what has actually happened?

The stimulus spending started back in 2008, during the Bush administration, and has continued under the Obama administration, so it has had plenty of time to show what it can do

(Excerpt) Read more at investors.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: sowell; thomassowell

1 posted on 03/08/2010 5:14:52 PM PST by Kaslin
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To: jazusamo

Ping


2 posted on 03/08/2010 5:15:28 PM PST by Kaslin (Acronym for Obama: One Big Ass Mistake America)
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To: Kaslin

Obummer is the tail of the dog because he smells his end.


3 posted on 03/08/2010 5:20:06 PM PST by bunkerhill7 (God bless)
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To: Kaslin; abigail2; Amalie; American Quilter; arthurus; awelliott; Bahbah; bamahead; Battle Axe; ...
Thanks for the ping, Kaslin.

*PING*
Thomas Sowell

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Please FReepmail me if you would like to be added to or removed from the Thomas Sowell ping list…

4 posted on 03/08/2010 5:25:26 PM PST by jazusamo (But there really is no free lunch, except in the world of political rhetoric,.: Thomas Sowell)
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To: Kaslin

stimulus for obama buddies


5 posted on 03/08/2010 5:28:16 PM PST by dalebert
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To: jazusamo

You are very welcome


6 posted on 03/08/2010 5:40:36 PM PST by Kaslin (Acronym for Obama: One Big Ass Mistake America)
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To: Kaslin

Why is it I don’t feel stimulated? Rather depressed!


7 posted on 03/08/2010 6:45:11 PM PST by ImpBill ("America ... where are you now?" signed, a little "r" republican!)
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To: Kaslin

8 posted on 03/08/2010 7:32:06 PM PST by Bean Counter (I keeps mah feathers numbered, for just such an emergency...)
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To: Kaslin
From the White House to Capitol Hill, politicians are coming up with all sorts of bright ideas for borrowers not to have to pay back what they borrowed and for lenders not to be able to foreclose on people who are months behind on their mortgage payments.

We have a bunch of financial illiterates trying to play politics with the nations economy.

9 posted on 03/08/2010 7:36:35 PM PST by oldbrowser (The audacity of incompetence)
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To: Kaslin

Neither does calling it “healthcare”....

Respectively they’re basically bribery and taxation...the two activities in which Congress is outstanding...


10 posted on 03/08/2010 7:38:13 PM PST by mo
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To: jazusamo

Thanks for the ping jaz.


11 posted on 03/08/2010 8:42:10 PM PST by rockinqsranch (Dems, Libs, Socialists...Call 'em What you Will, They ALL have Fairies Living In Their Trees.)
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To: Kaslin

The Left holds that if enough people believe in an unworkable plan, it will work.

They know that logic, reason, evidence, etc. are not on their side, so they are forced to use fallacies and intimidation to spread their propaganda and marginalize those who oppose them.


12 posted on 03/09/2010 7:46:37 AM PST by walford (http://the-big-pic.org)
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To: oldbrowser
We have a bunch of financial illiterates trying to play politics with the nations economy.

Amen, brother.

This whole "jump start", "pump prime", "stimulus" idea is just a cheap excuse for more government spending, nothing more. For Bush, it was spending so he wouldn't be blamed for doing nothing in his final months. For Obama, it was a crisis too good to waste.

I almost blame Bush more. He legitimized "stimulus". I remember when Clinton tried for a similar bill his first year, and congressional Repubs campained hard against the concept, and won.

I guess we're all phony Keynesians now.

13 posted on 03/09/2010 7:54:55 AM PST by SupplySider
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