Same Old Same Old

Yawn.

President Bush, ever mindful of his legacy, has suddenly realized that this booming economy he keeps bragging about isn't exactly booming. So he's developing a plan: a STIMULUS package, according to today's NY Times.

President Bush said Thursday that he was considering whether to propose a stimulus package to shore up the economy, the clearest indication yet of a growing concern inside the White House over rising oil prices, the subprime mortgage crisis and the possibility of recession.

“I’m concerned about people losing their homes and paying a lot for gasoline,” Mr. Bush said in an interview with Reuters.

Asked if he intended to do anything more to help people stay in their homes, the president volunteered the idea of an economic stimulus package, although he said he had not made up his mind and would probably not do so until sometime around his State of the Union address, which he delivers on Jan. 28.

“In terms of any stimulus package, we’re considering all options,” Mr. Bush said.

He's "considering all options." Yeah, right!

Mr. Bush only knows one kind of economic stimulus, and it's the same one that has worked so very spectacularly these past seven years.

...it is a safe bet that tax cuts, long a centerpiece of the Bush domestic agenda, would be a feature of any administration initiative.

If I were a Democratic candidate, whether for the presidency or for Congress, I would start now to beat that idea into the dust. It really wouldn't be too hard, especially since the American public is a tad uneasy (an understatement, I know) about the state of the economy and the state of their own checkbooks.

The first thing I would do is to link the illegal and misbegotten war in Iraq to the economy. After all, it's difficult to come up with any bold new domestic initiatives while we're hemorrhaging away $150 million a day into that excellent adventure. If we could staunch that bleeding of our national resources, finding a way to finance some bold new domestic programs that would actually put people back to work so they would have some money to pay their mortgages and buy their food would be a whole lot easier.

The next thing I would do is point out that giving the wealthier of our citizens more money hasn't worked for the rest of us the past seven years, and it isn't likely to do so in the next. In other words, take back those damned tax cuts for the rich.

Then, with more money to work with, I'd propose programs that work and that have worked in the past, like repairing and upgrading our infrastructure both on a federal and a state and local level. Our interstates are in deplorable condition, as are state highways and bridges. Must of our cities haven't been able to keep up with the maintenance of their sewer systems, much less upgrade them. Make the money available to do that.

There's also plenty of room for some creative thinking. Youth unemployment is staggering. Why not resurrect the job corps and fund it properly. Offer it to kids right out of high school and run it in a partnership with the trade unions so that the kids get some useable training for when they leave the program.

It doesn't take an FDR like policy to get things rolling (although we may soon be in a position where an FDR would be welcome), just some clear-sighted and fair-minded thinking that starts with ending the biggest drain on the United States, the war in Iraq.

Then let's prime the pump, but not by greasing those who've already gotten more than their fair share. Instead, lets put those of us out of work back to work at meaningful and reasonably good paying jobs.

That's what I would tell the American public. I'm betting they'd listen.