Penny-wise, Pound-foolish
I've been watching the assorted brouhaha over the stimulus package with some amusement and no small amount of desire to slap somebody.
The latest urge to slap a member of Congress came when I started hearing that there was a proposal in the Senate to reduce the proposed funding to the states because that money wouldn't create new jobs.
On the surface this seems perfectly logical and "penny-wise". Until you look deeper and realize that by not sending that money to the states those same states will then have to lay off people currently in jobs thus adding to the unemployment numbers and putting a greater strain on the support programs.
So by being "penny-wise" in this case, Congress is being "pound-foolish" and actually making the overall problem worse at the state level. And ladies and gentlemen a good many of the states have higher unemployment rates than the general national number. Heck, the county I live in has a higher number than our state level and the national level. Some counties and a few states are now in the double digits.
Plus by reducing money to the states you reduce the possibility of those "shovel ready" projects states and their cities have all lined up ever getting done. The communities won't see any money to get those infrastructure tasks completed because the money doesn't go directly to them... it is funneled through the states (typically). Again, not looking beyond the surface.
Although we probably shouldn't be surprised, Congress has a long history of not being able to see beyond the end of its collective nose. Can't honestly imagine a two-week old administration to be able to fix that so quickly.
The latest urge to slap a member of Congress came when I started hearing that there was a proposal in the Senate to reduce the proposed funding to the states because that money wouldn't create new jobs.
On the surface this seems perfectly logical and "penny-wise". Until you look deeper and realize that by not sending that money to the states those same states will then have to lay off people currently in jobs thus adding to the unemployment numbers and putting a greater strain on the support programs.
So by being "penny-wise" in this case, Congress is being "pound-foolish" and actually making the overall problem worse at the state level. And ladies and gentlemen a good many of the states have higher unemployment rates than the general national number. Heck, the county I live in has a higher number than our state level and the national level. Some counties and a few states are now in the double digits.
Plus by reducing money to the states you reduce the possibility of those "shovel ready" projects states and their cities have all lined up ever getting done. The communities won't see any money to get those infrastructure tasks completed because the money doesn't go directly to them... it is funneled through the states (typically). Again, not looking beyond the surface.
Although we probably shouldn't be surprised, Congress has a long history of not being able to see beyond the end of its collective nose. Can't honestly imagine a two-week old administration to be able to fix that so quickly.
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