by A J Grape

Created on: February 27, 2009   Last Updated: March 01, 2009

Without meaningful checks and balances, the Executive and Legislative Branches of our Government have devised a spending plan, the likes of which, no one has ever seen. The politicians have come to the rescue in this time of crisis by stuffing the now estimated $3.94 TRILLION spending budget with a down payment of $643 billion for a projected $1 trillion universal health care program, $200 billion for additional war spending; $750 billion more to purchase bad banking assets, and many other pork barrel and funny money allocations, including a reserve of $75 Billion for a Foreclosure Prevention Program.

It seemed that everyday, President Obama stepped onto the podium to throttle an already weakened Wall Street with his warnings of gloom and despair, should his "stimulus package" not get passed quickly. To his credit, the stock market tanked every day, as if on cue. The trouble is clear, but the fix is not. Maybe the Banks, the Auto Makers and a host of other industries would sink without a good and continuous bilge pumping from the US government. But, for the ear marks, the fat is smeared on so thick that it's too slippery even for the politicians grasp. Consequences, what consequences?

The 75 Billion earmarked for foreclosure prevention is good money going after bad; and will cause more damage in the long run than any temporary relief it brings. We need cooler heads and tougher watch dogs in Washington right now. Unfortunately, that fourth branch of the US government, the news media, has been relegated to the sidelines, creeping about as ugly cheerleaders.

For the record, American tax payers are very benevolent and feel badly for anyone who is wrestling with the shadow of a looming foreclosure. But our economy is hemorrhaging and somehow we have to stop the bleeding, not open a new vein. Spending this money without consideration of the consequences we will face, in the future, is outrageous. This is not the time to borrow more from our children's future to fix all of our current problems. Sucking more money out of our receding economy through taxation is not going to stimulate any business or create any new jobs. This package is a massive spending plan, without careful thought as to how it's paid for.

In November, 2008, Obama Administration Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel speaking to the Wall Street Journal's digital network said, "You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. And what I mean by that is, (it's) an opportunity to do things you think you could not

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