Ryan Requested Stimulus Funds

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   Sooner28posted 12 years ago

   http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/1 … 62163.html
   
   So Ryan is now logically boxed in.
   
   If Ryan requested stimulus funds because he actually thought they would help his district, he is being dishonest and the stimulus did not fail, but actually had a positive impact, thereby proving government spending isn't all bad.
   
   On the other hand, if Ryan requested funds that he KNEW would be a failure (since he has repeatedly called the stimulus a failure), he is incompetent or insane.
   
   So, we can conclude that Ryan is either accepting that the stimulus did have some success stories, or that he is insane or incompetent. 
   
   I'll let you decide which he is.

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      Quilligrapherposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Greetings Sooner.  Everyone in Washington knows that the various stimulus bills were a success but not everyone will admit it in public.
      
      For example, Alabama Republicans Jo Bouner and Robert Aderholt both denounced the stimulus plan from the floor of the House in July 2009. Over the next three months, both congressmen wrote to the Dept. of Transportation trying to steer stimulus-funded transportation grants to Alabama saying in one of their requests that the projects would help create “thousands of jobs.” So, while they knew that the stimulus plan would benefit the job picture, they voted against it and then applied for funds for their state. Actually, more than 100 congressional Republicans and several Democrats who, after voting against the stimulus bill, wrote Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood seeking money from the $1.5 billion the plan set aside for local road, bridge, rail and transit grants. {1}
      
      In addition, every CBO report issued since the bills were signed said the economy would have been in worse shape had the bills not been passed. Even in 2012, three years later, the bills are having a positive influence on the economy. The report issued May 25, 2012 includes: “CBO estimates that ARRA’s policies had the following effects in the first quarter of calendar year 2011 compared with what would have occurred otherwise:
      + They raised real (inflation-adjusted) gross domestic product (GDP) by between 0.1 percent and 1.0 percent,
      + They lowered the unemployment rate by between 0.1 percentage points and 0.8 percentage points,
      + They increased the number of people employed by between 0.2 million and 1.5 million, and
      + They increased the number of full-time-equivalent (FTE) jobs by 0.3 million to 1.9 million. (Increases in FTE jobs include shifts from part-time to full-time work or overtime and are thus generally larger than increases in the number of employed workers.)”
      
      The same report goes on to project the effects of the ARRA into 2012:
      “CBO estimates that, compared with what would have occurred otherwise, in 2012 ARRA will:
      + Raise real GDP by between 0.1 percent and 0.8 percent, and
      + Increase the number of FTE jobs by between 0.2 million and 1.3 million.” {2}
      
      The 2009 stimulus programs have successfully turned the Great Ressession around.
      
      {1} http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid= … eLiub0jnQE
      {2} http://cbo.gov/publication/43274

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         Sooner28posted 12 years agoin reply to this

         All very good points my friend.  I just wish Biden would've been a little more precise when he was citing the CBO analysis.

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   JaxsonRaineposted 12 years ago

   Probably. It sucks that our politicians all lie, doesn't it?

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      Sooner28posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      This is true.  I understand that people like you who may vote for Romney are not voting for EVERYTHING about the politicians, and it would be unfair to even assert such a thing  It's just like people like me who are going to vote for Obama doesn't mean I support everything Obama does.
      
      However, one of the fundamental arguments of the Romney campaign is that the stimulus was a complete failure and didn't create any jobs; yet, this action fundamentally undermines that argument, and means Ryan doesn't actually believe the criticisms he is leveling against the Obama administration. 
      
      Ryan also voted to cut embassy funding, and then blamed Obama for not funding it properly.  If you think it was underfunded, that could be a fair point, but if your actual actions contradict your rhetoric, it just looks awful.

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         habeeposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         I've about decided they're ALL hypocrites. Ryan and the stimulus funds, Biden's blaming Ryan for voting for two wars and claiming that he (Joe) voted against them. Ugh.

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            Sooner28posted 12 years agoin reply to this

            Democrats like to believe they were in unison against the Iraq war; however, like you pointed out, that wasn't the case.
            
            Biden could just apply his criticism of Ryan on the wars to himself also :p.

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