newsobserver.com projects - Claims Dept. - Comments

Re: Claims Dept.: Obama on stimulus

jimcope — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 18:41:14 -0400

Big Government......big mistake! Mounting national debt......our children's burden.

Healthcare reform......who you kidding, the federal government can't run anything effectively.

Re: Claims Dept.: Obama on stimulus

oneshotwataw — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 16:06:43 -0400

Actually, .... they've created a huge amount of additional debt and they've stimulated ...... what? If they're doing such a fine job stimulating with borrowed money, why isn't everyone standing in line to loan us some more? Am I missing something?

Re: Claims Dept.: Obama on stimulus

nycnc62 — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 15:33:25 -0400

The framing of this item suggests that the reality is quite different from what the president stated. It would appear from the details you're reporting, however, that the president's claims are close to the actual conditions. Is there a problem here, or are you just trying to conjure one up?

Re: Claims Dept.: Obama on stimulus

nycnc62 — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 15:32:23 -0400

Actually, that's not true. But thanks for trying -- your one shot missed.

Re: Claims Dept.: Obama on stimulus

oneshotwataw — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 15:27:53 -0400

Economics 101: The government can't "stimulate" anything effectively with "borrowed" money.

Re: Claims Dept.: Obama on stimulus

dahedgehog — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 14:14:34 -0400

Informed, I'm going to give you a free economics lesson:

GDP = C + I + G + (X − M) where C (Consumption), I (Investment), G (Government spending) and X − M (Net Exports).

The goal of the stimulus is/was to boost GDP above where it would otherwise be. Decreasing G would lower GDP and thereby be counter-productive to the goal of providing a short-term increase to GDP.

Re: Claims Dept.: Obama on stimulus

informed — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 13:52:05 -0400

The stimulus is only prolonging the inevitable if taxes and spending aren't reduced significantly and substantially.

Re: Claims Dept.: Obama on stimulus

SusanBAnthony — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 13:26:42 -0400

He also said that one third of the stimulus went to middle-class taxpayers in the form of lower income taxes. Another third went to emergency relief for people who might otherwise be destitute, on the street, in soup lines: including a one-year extension of unemployment benefits, increase in the food stamp benefit fund, mortgage reworking and such. The final third is going to infrastructure projects. If not for the stimulus package, I daresay the US would look like it did in The Great Depression.