Even one brain, spread thinly among 41 Republican Senators, would probably help. At least it would avoid stupidity like this:
. . .there is Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), complaining in Wednesday's Wall Street Journal that of the 3 million jobs that the stimulus package might create or save, one in five will be government jobs, as if there is something inherently inferior or unsatisfactory about that.Yup. As Pearlstein says in his column, there is a definite need for personal economic trainers on Capitol Hill. I see nothing intrinsically wrong with re-sodding the National Mall, for example. The Department of the Interior probably doesn't have landscapers on its payroll, so it would have to contract out the work. People working! Bingo! Stimulus![snip]
Actually, what's striking is that supposedly intelligent people are horrified at the thought that, during a deep recession, government might try to help the economy by buying up-to-date equipment for the people who protect us from epidemics and infectious diseases, by hiring people to repair environmental damage on federal lands and by contracting with private companies to make federal buildings more energy-efficient.
Likewise, weatherizing Federal buildings is a twofer: people working and reduced heating/air conditioning bills down the road! Buying hybrid vehicles to replenish the Federal motor pool? People building the things and energy savings to boot! That's about 212,000 cars, buses and trucks. And isn't it a good thing to upgrade the labs at the Center for Disease Control, in order to give the scientists there (you know, the ones that try to keep Americans safe?) better equipment to isolate viruses?
The inescapable conclusion is that Republican Senators (and one or two Democratic ones) are stupid, blinded by ideology, or both.
Posted by Linkmeister at February 6, 2009 08:22 AM | TrackBack