Political Communication during the Stimulus Bill Debate

Abstract

This paper discusses the stimulus bill passed in February 2009, identifying two sections of it that will promote economic recovery and another section that will not. This analysis is followed by ideas on what is not addressed in the program that would bring about a substantial economic recovery.Political Communication during the Stimulus Bill Debate

Outline

Bill overview

Democratic politician's ideology and arguments

Republican politician's ideology and arguments

The approach which most closely aligns with your opinion

Conclusion

Bill overview

The Stimulus Bill The recently passed "stimulus bill" signed into law on February 17, 2009 bears the full title "the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009," also known as "the Recovery Act," which was assigned Public Law number 111-4. It needs to find solutions, not just opportunities to spend, and for that it needs to address the real reasons that people have problems. Community development money is also included, which will increase commerce at the community level. Increase consumer spending. Offsetting state losses will be accomplished via the $79 billion that the bill earmarks for a "state fiscal stabilization fund" for that purpose.

This was planned into the stimulus because the economic crisis will force states to cut their workforce without benefit of federal aid, and the stimulus will offset the losses incurred by states in that regard. This becomes a vicious cycle, because people need government subsidies as a result of someone's overspending in large corporations and needing to make up the deficit by lying off workers. The boost from those policies helped the nation's gross domestic product increase 3% in 2010 and 1.7% last year. As a matter of fact, absent the stimulus, the U.S. "might still be mired in a recession," according to this study, done in conjunction with Oxford Economics. The U.S. economy would have seen little or no growth the last two years without the policies, the report says, and those actions appear "to have significantly softened the severity of the decline" in GDP in the year immediately after the recession ended in mid-2009.

Democratic politician's ideology and arguments

When government spending truly reflects that, then its efforts to "stimulate" the economy will be successful. Help those hurt by the economy. Rather than perpetuating its bad habit of just throwing money at problems instead of getting to the root of them and resolving them, the government should use its money wisely, to effect real and lasting change. Another issue that the government avoids addressing with tax rebates and stimulus packages is its own high rate of taxation.

Some of the spending associated with the stimulus bill is intended to “spend money to save money;" since the bill is not being paid for with tax increases, the new spending will be added to the existing $1 .5 trillion national debt, and spending on infrastructure is intended to save some money. For example, motorists gain better gas mileage on newly paved roads than on those in disrepair, so repairing or building new roads will save money in energy ...