November 2009
Posted by: administrator
Today, The Denver Post’s editorial board called on Obama to “tap the brakes” on recent talk of Stimulus II, citing Americans’ concerns about the failures of the first stimulus and the deficits it created:
American taxpayers, as well as their grandchildren, already are on the hook for well over a trillion dollars in recent government spending that was meant to stimulate the economy. So forgive us for being a bit skeptical as President Obama and top Democrats in Congress think about cranking up yet another round of spending to stimulate the creation of jobs ...
[W]e have yet to see substantive proof that all of that money has created a meaningful number of new jobs. It is imperative that American taxpayers get some clear answers and strong evidence that a new government bailout/stimulus plan will work before we're asked to foot more debt …
[H]e needs to give the American people more than lip service on our mounting debt.
Back in February, The Denver Post’s editorial board gave a tepid endorsement of the first stimulus, wishing “the new president and his new plan the very best of luck” because they really didn’t “have a choice”:
For the sake of the country, we hope our concerns over the “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act” are misplaced …
The country needs some type of stimulus, though, and we're encouraged by what we see in the Colorado segment of the bill.
Still, we were dismayed and disappointed by Obama's handling of his stimulus plan …
This new law received very little actual debate, given its scope. It will swell deficits that might take a generation or two to repay — and it might not even work. We deserved a rigorous intellectual review of this plan, but got a newly powerful Democratic Party flexing its muscle.
The Denver Post’s editorial board, like the rest of the country, is justified in having buyer’s remorse of Obama’s massive economic experiment. The $787 billion stimulus was supposed to create jobs, but so far all we’ve gotten are job claims that cannot be verified, stimulus funds being spent in Congressional districts that don’t exist, and 10.2 percent unemployment.