Monday, January 26, 2009

Krauthammer's Take   [NRO Staff]

From Friday's Special Report:

On the stimulus bill:

Look, this is one of the worst bills in galactic history. It's not only on the timing of it—as we saw from the Congressional Budget Office, more than half of the infrastructure stuff with the bridges and roads will not be spent until two years hence when the recession will be likely over or coming out of it, and it will only add to inflation, not jobs.

And it's the content of this. We heard earlier in Major's report, a third of a billion for contraception, a billion to states to help them collect child support, nursing training—all this is worthy, but it ain't stimulus.

If you look at what was left behind after last year's stimulus, $160 billion, it didn't have any effect on the economy. It left nothing behind.

This bill has a fifth of a billion for grass at the Jefferson Memorial. FDR left behind the Hoover dam and Eisenhower left behind the interstate highway system. We will leave behind, after spending $1 trillion, a dog run in East Potomac Park.

On the Kirsten Gillibrand pick:

The most important thing about her is not upstate or downstate, guns or no guns. It's the fact that she is not a Kennedy.

My only regret is that Caroline diminished herself unnecessarily and was actually humiliated in a way that was unfortunate. She is not an unworthy person, and it was all self-inflicted.

But, on the other hand, I am happy to see at least one instance of the reversal of a trend into dynastic succession, which we have a lot of in this country.

01/26 03:55 PMShare