Republicans on the Economic Stimulus Bill: Unreasonable Projects and Budget Misappropriations

It is a given fact that President Obama has inherited so many problems and issues from the Bush administration. A growing fiscal deficit, a drowning economy, unemployment rates increasing to record levels and a $12 trillion debt are just some of the major issues that the Obama administration is facing and trying to resolve. With the passing of the economic stimulus bill, the American regained hope and the perseverance to fight on.

The economic stimulus bill was pegged approximately at $819 billion. Some criticized it to be too small while others only hoped that it will do significant change and improvement. The bill basically encourages consumer spending to stimulate economic activity and eventually lead to economic progress. It also gives more funding for basic social services such as unemployment benefits, medical and healthcare benefits and education. But just how effective is this stimulus bill?

Several Republicans mentioned that a lot of anomalies have in fact lessened the usefulness of the bill. They say that a lot of useless and unreasonable projects were implemented. These projects are considered to be waste of money and do not even generate sufficient jobs for the nation. One project was with regards to the replacement of newer windows at the Mt. St. Helens visitor center which is estimated to cost about half a million dollars. The shocking part here is that the building has since been declared closed and does not have any plans to reopen yet.

The government is also reportedly appropriating $2 million to send scientists and researchers to various islands located on the Indian Ocean to study exotic ants. Don’t you think that this is not the perfect time to study some ants when the nation is deeply struggling economically? Also, another project involves repairs and renovations of an 1846 brick fort which is located at the end of the Florida Keys. It is quite intriguing that the government is willing to spend $6.9 million on a fort that is so remote only few people have step foot to the place.

On the other side, President Obama and his administration denied all these allegations stating that there is indeed a positive impact on the economy brought by the stimulus bill. He further emphasized that about three million jobs were preserved or created by the bill. With two opposing sides having conflicting ideas, which one will you believe? There are assumptions that the republican point of view is basically election propaganda to wreak havoc on the election campaign of democrats. Whichever holds the truth, what the people want is performance and better results. Politicians should set aside their political wars and instead do their jobs in helping the nation.