Well, since very few people will actually read this i doubt this rant will actually make anyone but myself feel better but i just can't help it.

Topic for Debate: $787 billion stimulus bill about to become law

First off i would like readily admit but not condone the economic state that we are in. I cannot say that i was completely blind to its approach but i was surprised by its complexity and scope. So i do not consider myself as to be so naive, that i do not understand that real lives have been ruined because of many mistakes and indecisions over the past 4 years, in relevance to the current economic catastrophe (And do not think it is not a catastrophe yet, because you not seen the end). However as painful and opposed to watching President Bush and Congress allow $700 Billion + to fly out of my paycheck back into the bank vaults to sit and rot, i am abhorred at the realization of the empirical economic and social bottom that we are about to experience. The first reason i believe that we will not be successful in saving ourselves, is a simple frase that even the youngest of minds treasure when they have only begun to comprehend the vastness if life: Pride Goeth Before the Fall. In this entire collaspe no one has yet claimed any responsibility. Banks are now rewarded with safety nets after their greed tore them apart and their promises full of lies were returned with dishonor. Home owners are encouraged to break their agreements dishonestly and abandon their homes to better themselves and take advantage of others. Politicians blame each other and try to avoid looking at history, by pointing to a future painted with hope, with no plan or idea how to get there.
          My absolute favorite part about the current leaders idea's on how to solve crisis... is that it nearly identically mirrors how the economic crisis began. We as american's have been taught that we are to pursue our dreams to fullest. No matter what cost. If you need to borrow money for education, do it. If you need to borrow money for a car, do it. If you need to borrow money for a house, do it. Why even hesitate? It's a no brainer. In fact i can count on one hand, the number of people that think borrowing money for any of these three things is foolish. YOU HAVE TO, some say. YOU CANT DO IT ANY OTHER WAY, others say. YOU NEED THOSE THINGS TO LIVE, most say. And even after all that has happened as a result of lost jobs, lost cars, and lost homes in the past 3 years, scarcely anyone would even think twice and say NO! NOW THAT I SEE WHAT MIGHT HAPPEN, MAYBE YOU SHOULDN'T. And unfortunately the person leading this denial, is also leading the country, and in doing so is prepared to spend whatever it takes to take us back to the good old days of profits. And how will he do this? By borrowing money he doesnt actually have. One of the main reasons we are where we are today and starting to tailspin.
          Consider where we actually are as a country despite indivuals. The national debt according to the counter is 10.7 Trillion Dollaras (http://brillig.com/debt_clock/). With an estimated 305 million people in the US thats an average debt per person of 35,000. However, consider this. Only an estimated 3/5ths of americans actually earn an standard living wage each year to pay off a long term debt because of children, retirement, and the unemployed. So even if %75 of all americans work that would leave the working class with an average debt of 47,000. Since working americans only average wages of 25,000 dollars per year and the current average US citizens savings rate each year is around %3 (including retirement accounts). Even if every single working class citizen gave all of their savings every year to the government, it would take 60 YEARS!!!!! to pay off the national debt so that your dollar was actually worth a full dollar.
           Even despite the depressing knowledge that the national debt will never be paid off, we as americans have suddenly decided that the best way to go forward is to do continue to spend without reason and to continue to spend on things that are not necessities for a functioning america. Consider the current bill and where these funds actually go based on the original bill that was recently revised to 787 billion... and note this is just the bulk of the funds that actually only add up to about 732 billion, 55 billion more are squeezed into other programs with amounts too small to be noted here.

Unemployed

• $47 billion to provide extended unemployment
• $16.5 billion to increase food stamp benefits by 12 percent through fiscal 2011 and issue a one-time bonus
• $3 billion in temporary welfare payments.
• $20 billion to increase food stamp benefits by 14 percent
• $1 billion for home heating subsidies and $1 billion for community action agencies

Direct Cash Payments

• $17 billion to give one-time $300 payments to Social Security recipients, poor people on Supplemental Security Income, and veterans receiving disability and pensions.
• $4 billion to provide a one-time additional Supplemental Security Income payment to poor elderly and disabled people of $450 for individuals and $630 for married couples.
• Infrastructure
• $4.6 billion for the Army Corps of Engineers
• $47 billion for transportation projects
• $5 billion for public housing improvements
• $6.4 billion for clean and drinking water projects

Health Care

• $21 billion to subsidize health care insurance for the unemployed
• $87 billion to help states with Medicaid
• $22 billion to modernize health information technology systems
• $10 billion for health research and construction of National Institutes of Health facilities.
• Education
  
• $79 billion in state fiscal relief to prevent cuts in education aid and provide block grants
• $25 billion to school districts to fund special education and the No Child Left Behind K-12 law
• $14 billion to boost the maximum Pell Grant by $400 to $5,250
• $1.1 billion for Head Start.

Energy

• $28.4 billion for energy efficiency and renewable energy programs
• $11 billion to fund a so-called "smart electricity grid" to reduce waste
• $4.7 billion for homeland security programs, including $1 billion for airport screening equipment and $800 million for port security
• $3.5 billion in grants to state and local law enforcement to hire officers and purchase equipment

Tax Credits

• About $145 billion for $500 per-worker, $1,000 per-couple tax credits in 2009 and 2010. For the last half of 2009, workers could expect to see about $20 a week less withheld from their paychecks starting around June. Millions of Americans who don't make enough money to pay federal income taxes could file returns next year and receive checks. Individuals making more than $75,000 and couples making more than $150,000 would receive reduced amounts.
• $7.5 billion to give greater access to the $1,000 per-child tax credit for the working poor in 2009 and 2010
• $4.7 billion to increase the earned-income tax credit -- which provides money to the working poor -- for families with at least three children.
• $13.7 billion to provide a $2,500 expanded tax credit for college tuition and related expenses for 2009 and 2010. The credit is phased out for couples making more than $160,000
• $2.6 billion to repeal a requirement that a $7,500 first-time homebuyer tax credit be paid back over time for homes purchased from Jan. 1 to July 1, unless the home is sold within three years. The credit is phased out for couples making more than $150,000
• $4.3 billion to provide an expanded credit to homeowners who make their homes more energy-efficient in 2009 and 2010
• $5 billion to extend a provision allowing businesses buying equipment such as computers to speed up its depreciation through 2009
• $15 billion to allow companies to use current losses to offset profits made in the previous five years, instead of two, making them eligible for tax refunds
• $13 billion to extend tax credits for renewable energy production
• $36 billion to subsidize locally issued bonds for school construction, teacher training, economic development and infrastructure improvements
• Repeal a Treasury provision that allowed firms that buy money-losing banks to use more of the losses as tax credits to offset the profits of the merged banks for tax purposes. The change would increase taxes on the merged banks by $7 billion over 10 years
• $11 billion to make interest payments on most auto loans and sales tax on cars deductible.

      Anyway to cap off another long winded fairly factual point: Remember history repeats itself, not because its just part of the cycle life but because people continue to make the same mistakes, foolishly believing this time will be different.