No, it wasn't the attempted theft of the Millennium Diamond or any bank robbery; it was the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act also known as the 787 Billion Dollar Stimulus Package. As with every great speech about it we must start by reminding everybody how bad things were when Obama stepped into office. If you didn't know this he will remind you at the beginning of every speech.
The truth about the stimulus package is that it has done little to help the private sector expand. Granted some people have obtained employment but most of those jobs are public jobs. The problem with this is very simple and cannot be masked by any amount of political propaganda, how do we fund those jobs when the stimulus money runs out?
It is the private sector that funds the federal government and without growth in private sector hiring there will be no true recovery. The other problem with the propaganda surrounding the stimulus is the concept of "saved" jobs. There are piles of reports about miscalculations, jobs created in congressional districts that don't exist and millions unaccounted for. Much of the money has been spent on extending unemployment and other entitlements.
The results might endear President Obama to the unions and the welfare state but the rest of the country is not impressed. Only 6% of American actually believes that the stimulus has created jobs. Much of this is due to right wing propaganda that is about as optimistic about Obama as the left was about Bush.
Putting partisan sniping aside, let's just look at common sense. The unemployment number is at almost 10% and we have yet to see a month with positive job growth. The private sector creates wealth and sustains government not the other way around. Until the focus is put on creating a business friendly environment instead of token tax credits, there will be no significant change in our economic situation.
