Stimulation for Our Nation

President Obama's Stimulus Plan finally received the Congressional votes required to pass and will soon be signed into law. The money we provided will soon be flowing back to us in the form of job creation and infrastructure to serve our people. Over the next two years the Stimulus Bill will cost each of us about $2,623 of long term debt that ultimately we will pay in the form of repayment to bond and Treasury note buyers. This compares to more than $2.7 million dollars per man, women, and child that the Bush administration added to our country's debt during their 8 years in control.The indebtedness incurred during the Bush/Republican eight year tenure was only part of the horror. The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the unregulated Wall Street moguls allowed to run wild and cause a near-depression topped the slimy cake. President Obama was elected to clean up the horrendous mess caused by the Republican Bush Administration, and this is the first step. He has a long way to go.

Yet, if one asks the Republican's in the House of Representatives what needs to be done they reply in one voice, "cut taxes". Nothing else matters to them. Every one of the Republicans in the House voted against Obama's bill because they said it cost too much and did not cut taxes enough. In the House 177 Republicans voted against the plan, and 246 Democrats for, and 7 Democrats against. Three Republicans in the Senate voted with every Democrat present for the plan (60 to 38 in favor).

Even Republicans who dominate House Representation in the Solid Red South, where unemployment rates are skyrocketing stood pat and thumbed their noses to the millions of unemployed and under employed constituents as if to say, "you deserve your plight". What principles where they adhering to? Certainly not those of Abraham Lincoln whom they claim to be the "Party Of". The Republican Party of today plugs their collective ears to these words from Lincoln: "The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country." (Lincoln's Second Annual Message to Congress, December 1, 1862). The Republican's of today seem to be cemented in the Republican "tax cut for the rich/investment and banking deregulation" mantra that contributed mightily to the economic whirlpool that is sucking us downward. They are unable to think outside of the box that they have been stuck in for decades. The world is different. Wake up to reality.

President Obama has tried to accommodate Republicans to no or very little avail. Fortunately, three open-minded Republican Senators joined 57 Democrats in the Senate to avoid a destructive Republican filibuster, and approved the $787 billion Stimulus Plan. This amount may have to increase before recovery is complete. Nonetheless, Obama overcame the dogmatic Republican harangue and provided needed "Stimulation for Our Nation".