Josh's Weblog: February 2009 Archives

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Michelle's Wedding

Misty's sister Michelle got married this weekend.

The bride:

The happy couple:

The girls:

The boys:

More family, Darcie, Ken, Michelle, and Marilyn:

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Tuesday, Feb 24 2009 08:09 PM | Permalink | No comments | No trackbacks

Stimulus Bigger Than $1K/Year For 2000 Years

I hope my kids enjoy paying it off.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Politics” Friday, Feb 20 2009 07:39 PM | Permalink | No comments | No trackbacks

Where Is Your Money Going

The government has launched recovery.gov to tell us where the stimulus money is going. Today it has this graph on the front page:

Already we are being mislead, although there is a “*” there on the biggest category, tax “relief.” If we click through we find out that tax relief is

* Tax Relief—includes $15 B for Infrastructure and Science, $61 B for Protecting the Vulnerable, $25 B for Education and Training and $22 B for Energy, so total funds are $126 B for Infrastructure and Science, $142 B for Protecting the Vulnerable, $78 B for Education and Training, and $65 B for Energy.

Uh, why did all of those things get rolled up into “tax relief” instead of being allocated those other graph lines that are already on the chart? Because they were all tax credits to various companies (and perhaps individuals in the ambiguous “Protecting the Vulnerable” category). However, as has been noted by Fair Tax advocates, these sorts of tax cuts are really just spending measures disguised by using the tax code to send these entities money.

This misleading graphic doesn't give me a lot of confidence.

(Hat tip to Wizbang!.)

Update:

This is what I think the chart should look like:

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Politics” Wednesday, Feb 18 2009 06:42 AM | Permalink | No comments | No trackbacks

Our First View of The Spendulous

Republican Reading Committee Chairman Tom Price shows us the consolidated Spendulous Bill he finally got a copy of 11pm last night.

They want votes on this bill combining the House and Senate versions today. So much for the promise that the bill would be available for everyone to examine online 48 hours in advance.

I am highly skeptical that spending our way out of this mess will help, especially since market interference has a history of unintended negative consequences. In fact, the more government messes with things, the lower my confidence and the less likely I am willing to borrow and spend on my own, which is precisely opposite of what a stimulus is supposed to accomplish.

(Hat tip to Hot Air.)

Update: The link to the bill will be posted at ReadTheStimulus.org by midday, but they have a link to the Speaker of the House's website, which is failing under traffic.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Politics” Friday, Feb 13 2009 08:19 AM | Permalink | No comments | No trackbacks