Friday, February 06, 2009

A Stronger Case Against Porkulus   [John Hood]

Predictably, Democratic advocates of the porkulus bill now before the U.S. Senate are spinning today's jobs report as a reason to vote now and vote yes.

Advocates of a real stimulus response—based around pro-growth tax cuts—should flip the argument around.  Worse-than-expected job losses and unemployment rates make a stronger case for immediate federal action on legislation likely to have an immediate effect on confidence, job creation, and investment decisions. If things are so bad and getting worse, why waste time and money on legislation that simply shuffles Americans' spending money from one pocket to another and authorizes much of its supposedly stimulative spending in 2010 and 2011?

As the stakes get higher, policy mistakes get more costly.

02/06 10:38 AMShare