If we were to choose three of Barack Obama’s words to sum up his failed presidency, it would be “spending equals stimulus.” Obama naively believes that any government spending–it scarcely matters on what–has a positive impact on our economy. He completely fails to understand (or, at any rate, to acknowledge) that wasteful spending destroys wealth and, in the long run, kills jobs. Thus, even though the Democrats’ $800 billion-plus stimulus bill was an abject failure, they have nothing to offer Americans but more of the same.
On Tuesday, Doug Elmendorf, head of the Congressional Budget Office, testified before the Senate Budget Committee. Ranking Republican Jeff Sessions recalled the CBO’s projection, made around the time the stimulus bill was enacted, that the measure would have a negative long-term impact on economic growth. Elmendorf confirmed that this is still the view of the CBO:
[jwplayer file=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2h_rDrd97sY”]
If anything, our experience with the stimulus bill, which failed to achieve its stated objective in reducing unemployment, can only have confirmed the CBO’s negative projection.
Whenever they are asked about the Democrats’ “son of stimulus”–i.e., their proposal to waste yet another half-trillion dollars–Republicans need to cite the CBO’s projection as confirmation of what we have seen through experience: wasteful spending does not create wealth or jobs, it destroys them.
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