The Government & The Stimulus Money

Just a few comments about the stimulus money that was passed by Congress and signed into law by the President.

First, the package passed by Congress spreads the stimulus money, mainly for infrastructure building/repair, over a two year period. Why? Well we all want some kind of accountability for the money, and you can't just start handing out billions of bucks without some strings attached. The package has been criticized for not being "front loaded;" that is, with most of the infrastructure spending being dished out in a matter of months. Simultaneously, members of both political parties want controls on the money, so that waste is kept low. Remember, Congress, like it or not, represents us, and we are subject to such split personalities, too. I'm not sure they (Congress and the Obama Administration) or WE, in the public, can have things both ways: fast spending to pump up the economy and jobs, but also a close accounting of how the money is being spent.

Second, I tune into CNBC, a cable business channel, at various times to listen to the business issues of the day, so to speak (I DON'T stay glued to the television, however, during their discussions), and just in the last day or two I heard something to the effect how China has done such a better job of "front loading" their stimulus money, as compared to our own program. Hmm, this is a bit puzzling to me, as so many business and wealthy people seem to hate government. The key word is "seem." One thing, in my opinion, that wealthy people do very well is....ADAPT!!! They will do, say, or be whatever they need to do, say or be in order to come out ahead of the game. We've heard much contempt for government since about the 1960s, with the anti-government rhetoric being especially harsh in the past thirty years. Businesses and the wealthy told us how government "should get out of the way and let free enterprise flourish." After getting much of their wish, free enterprise not only came to a screeching halt, but went into a nosedive, costing millions of Americans their jobs, homes, medical care. Many have had their lives ruined for whatever number of years they still have to live. The anti-government talk of some business people ceased, and they preferred to offer an open palm to Uncle Sam, with the hope that their now favorite long lost uncle might lay some cash on them (and he did, in some cases!).

So now, China, a country so hated by many of these same folks (or the likes) over the last 60 years, has a government that works better than ours? Is that the message?* I never heard the question asked, "To avoid wasteful spending, are they watching how the money is being spent?"


* For those unaware, China has moved in a significant way toward a free economy, but the overall country is still under the control of the Chinese Communist Party, and that includes the stimulus money they have put forward.

Word History:
Trough-While the spelling and modern pronunciation don't match (one of the major headaches for people trying to learn English is our non standard spelling, or is it our non standard pronunciation? Whatever the hell it is!!!), in times past, the "gh" sound WAS pronounced, and only later did the "f" sound take over. It seems that most linguists agree that it goes back to Indo European "drukos," which was formed by the root word "dru," which meant "tree, wood." The Germanic branch of Indo European took this as "trugoz," for "a holder, container or vessel made from wood." Old English continued this line with "trog," and close English relatives modern German and Dutch still have "Trog." The hollowed out shape of a "trough" began the notion of a weather trough, or an economic dip.