New Stimulus Plan Gets Skeptical Response, Even From Democrats

Obama’s plan for $50 billion more in stimulus spending is getting a skeptical response even from some Democratic lawmakers.  (We explained earlier why this proposal is a bad idea.)

The newfound skepticism may be because of Obama’s lost credibility.  Unemployment rose to 10 percent soon after passage of his earlier $800 billion stimulus package, despite claims that it would keep unemployment under 8 percent.  Obama falsely claimed that the stimulus package was needed to prevent “irreversible decline,” but the Congressional Budget Office admitted that it would actually shrink the economy “in the long run.”  (The CBO thought it would help the economy in the short run, but parts of the stimulus ended up destroying jobs even in the short run.)

The Obama administration’s bailout and stimulus spending is harming the economy, even while adding trillions to the national debt.  Economists say the real estate market was harmed by one of its mortgage bailout programs, which cost $75 billion.  The Washington Examiner today notes that a foreclosure relief program called “First Look” is impeding the sale of homes in depressed neighborhoods, at taxpayer expense:

One investor recently bid $300,000 for a bank-foreclosed property in New Hampshire only to see it turned over to First Look participant Fannie Mae, which sold it for $199,000. Another prospective buyer offered the full asking price — in cash — for a foreclosed home in an upscale neighborhood, but had to wait nearly two weeks until First Look groups were given the first shot at the property. So, the same meddling politicians bureaucrats who came up with the abject failure known as the Home Affordable Modification Program are now blocking sales of foreclosed homes to ready, willing and able buyers.