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Donate Online | July 29, 2010 | Printer-Friendly Version |
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Questions about the Minnick stimulus planThe Idaho Affiliate of the American Family Association
Friday, February 6, 2009
Bryan Fischer, Executive Director
NOT READY TO JUMP ON THE MINNICK BANDWAGON
If the Republican Party in Idaho is not careful, it may allow freshman Congressman Walt Minnick to gain a possibly undeserved reputation as a genuine fiscal conservative and lock down his seat for 2010.
Rep. Minnick has proposed a $174 billion alternative stimulus plan, which is not likely to go anywhere, but which has already earned him some face-time on Neal Cavuto’s Fox News show. The fact that Senate Republicans are aiming for something in the $650 billion range makes Minnick, rightly or wrongly, look like a budget hawk.
But Idaho conservatives (I’ve heard of one conservative who is “so proud” of Minnick for his fiscal restraint) should not take the bait just because Minnick’s
 plan is $700 billion less than the porker Pres. Obama is trying to ram through Congress. His bill should stand and fall on its own merits. Less expensive cuts of pork are still pork.There are several key questions that fiscal conservatives should be raising publicly about Minnick’s proposal. First, how exactly is his “PAYGO” plan going to work? Is this a plan that will pay for itself as he claims, or is it just another $174 billion exercise in deficit spending?
According to Minnick’s own press release, his bill “narrows the current escape hatch to waive PAYGO.” Narrowing something, you will note, is not the same as eliminating it. Deficit spending is bad whether we are talking about $174 billion or $900 billion.
Second, his plan ignores the reality of just how cobbed up infrastructure projects are by bureaucratic red tape and environmental regulations. It is likely almost to a certainty that no money would flow directly into such projects for two to three years, which would hardly have the immediately stimulative affect everyone claims we need.
As an illustration, environmental groups are in full-throated opposition to a provision in the current stimulus bill that requires all environmental impact studies to be completed within nine months. Not enough time, they say. So even on a best case scenario none of the infrastructure money even starts into the pipeline until late 2009, and that’s assuming environmentalists are not able to impose their will on a Democratic-dominated Congress.
Minnick’s own plan doesn’t require this money to be spent until the last day of 2010. How does that address the immediate fiscal crisis?
Third, his plan, apparently for the first time, would get the federal government involved in the renovation and remodeling of local schools. What kind of strings
 and conditions will be attached to this construction money? Minnick’s $100 billion tax cut proposal actually appears to be more welfare than tax cut, since it entitles more and more people to get a paycheck from the federal government who have paid no taxes in the first place.
As former Rep. Bill Sali argued during the bailout mess, the key to a healthy and prosperous economy is for government to create an environment in which business can succeed and grow, for the obvious reason that it is business, not government, which creates jobs – and taxpayers. And the government does not do this through increased spending, but rather through reduced regulation, across-the-board tax cuts (especially in the corporate tax rate), and reduced government spending. Sadly, Rep. Minnick’s proposal appears to fail the test on all three counts.
Minnick’s plan does nothing to deal with the housing crisis, which is the fundamental cause of the current recession. With another seven million more mortgages likely headed for a meltdown, the reality is that until housing prices bottom out, inventory is reduced, and the housing market begins to climb, the economy simply will not get better. Any plan that does not deal with the housing crisis is a plan that is working on the wrong piece of the puzzle.
If the government is going to have to borrow the money, where will it come from? China, to whom we already owe $862 billion, has indicated it won’t be buying Treasury notes, so who will? Noises are coming from D.C. that the federal government is actually thinking about borrowing from itself to get the money. How long could you manage your own debt by borrowing from yourself?
GOOD NEWS FROM THE IDAHO LEGISLATURE
MORE LAYOFFS AT MCCLATCHY, STATESMAN
Print media continues to face a very dismal future due to plunging advertising revenue and slumping circulation rates. The Idaho Statesman’s parent company, the McClatchy Co., reported a loss of $21.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2008, and is looking to hack another $100 million from is operating expenses. Statesman publisher Mi-Ai Parrish indicated that the Statesman will be forced to make additional layoffs on top of the ones announced last year.
MEDIA ADVISORY – GUEST HOST THIS SATURDAY ON “AM IDAHO SATURDAY”
I will serve as Doug McConnaughey’s guest host for the first hour of his “AM Idaho Satu
 rday” program on Boise’s KIDO 580 AM radio station. I’ll be on from 5 a.m. to 6 a.m. Rep. Steven Thayn will be my guest on the program, as we discuss some of his innovative ideas for education.We also hope to hear from Casey Luskin of the Discovery Institute, discussing the issue of academic freedom and the censorship of Darwinian skepticism in science curricula.
The call in numbers are 208-580-5436 in the Treasure Valley and 888-580-5436 toll-free nationwide, and you can listen live via audio-streaming by going here. (http://www.kidoam.com/?pollId=40)
If you value the work of the IVA, please consider a donation today. Information on how to donate, including online, may be found here. Thank you! BONUS BYTES
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to help the state survive the current economic stress. Denney observed correctly that taking more money of citizens’ pockets will only make matters worse. (
nant Presbyterian in Boise, which is pastored by my good friend Phil Moran, is building a residence hall for twenty orphans on the Rafiki Foundation campus outside Kampala. The first lady invited Rafiki to come to Uganda to help with the huge challenge her nation is facing in taking care of orphaned and abandoned children. True conservatism is both political and personal, not one or the other, and is involved both in reforming social structures and in providing social relief. Genuine, thoroughgoing conservatives don’t have to choose between them.
mains of the baby a week later in a cardboard box. Thanks to the Supreme Court, the only mistake this doctor made was not killing this baby before it had the audacity to be born. Amazingly, no criminal charges have been filed in the case. (
patient for her recovery, despite the fact that the patient was not offended by her offer in the least and made no complaint. It used to be that religious freedom couldn’t be trampled unless somebody at least claimed to be offended, but that threshold no longer exists. The nurse was disciplined for failing to demonstrate a proper “commitment to equality and diversity.” Apparently equality applies to everybody but conservative Christians. The hospital subsequently backtracked and put her back to work yesterday. The British government has ruled that any effort by medical professionals to share their faith during the course of treatment will be considered harassment and intimidation. (