With everything else going on, there is a relatively quiet debate ongoing in Washington about whether the economy needs more stimuli from the federal government. In our view, it does not.
Congressional Democrats, according to an Associated Press report from last week, are working on another list of relief efforts, including the expansion of a tax credit for first-time homebuyers, creating a new credit for companies that create jobs and extending subsidies to cover health insurance for laid-off workers under COBRA.
The government has already committed $787 billion to stimulate the economy and only about a half of it has been spent. And the jury is still out on the effectiveness of that stimulus package.
Unemployment is at 9.8 percent now, but we don’t know what it would have been without the first stimulus package. Interest rates are at an extraordinarily low level, but we also don’t know if those have spurred near-term investment or if they affect inflation.
Our deficit for 2009 is now estimated to be $1.4 trillion, with similarly large amounts in the near future without further stimulus from the government.
No doubt that the government has pumped a huge amount of money into the economy. In doing so, the government has radically increased the national debt.
The only thing that seems readily apparent is that our children, grandchildren and great- grandchildren will be faced with the burden of debt we are laying on them. We can’t pay for it in our lifetime, that’s for sure.
Even lawmakers who are pushing for more stimulation efforts know that there is going to be resistance. According to the AP report, all those proposals are being sought separately, because together, it looks like a stimulus package. And they don’t want to call it that.
We haven’t even mentioned health care reform, a cap and trade program and other looming financial problems. The president and Congress must take a deep breath and wait a while to see what happens economically before launching us further into an unknowable financial future that already looks very grim.
Opinion
In Our View: Stay away from another stimulus
- Opinion
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Our View: Victims should come first
Millions of dollars in donations have poured in from around the world since the May 22, 2011, tornado. Those donations represent money from lemonade stands, charity auctions, corporate gifts and celebrity checks, just to name a few. In fact, one year later donations continue to come to Joplin.
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Beth Meeker, guest columnist: Same-sex marriage battle a quest for equal rights
I would like to take a moment to reply to guest columnist Anson Burlingame’s, “The Marriage Debate” (Globe, May 13).
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Sunday Forum: 2012 graduation speakers key on tornado, mall school and president’s visit
Editor’s note: In addition to speeches by President Barack Obama and Gov. Jay Nixon, Joplin High School’s top students addressed graduates, faculty, parents and other guests packed into the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center on the Missouri Southern State University campus. Following are the text of those speeches.
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Geoff Caldwell, guest columnist: Pack mentality takes truth as a casualty
President Obama’s Joplin graduation speech Monday showed that while there’s the political “right,” there’s also a very active “rabid” political right.
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Your View: ‘Study’ can mean anything
A few evenings ago, I watched a television program on the science of marriage.
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Our View: Support for museum
How can you tell the story of Joplin without the accounts of its mining history?
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Our View: Finding middle ground
The G-8 summit held last week in Camp David ended as expected.
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Anson Burlingame, guest columnist: Class of 2012 upholds character, hope
My oldest granddaughter was part of the class of 2012 from Joplin High School, and I attended the ceremony on Monday night.
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Scott Charton, guest columnist: 'Deadline in Disaster' film a story about storytellers
Local newspapers are at their best when they help their communities confront, understand, endure and overcome shared challenges.
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Our View: Make voting easiser
This year’s ballot will not include a proposed constitutional amendment that photo identification be required at the polls in Missouri. Good.
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