Madison Powers, a columnist for the CQ Guest, wrote an article, “Trade-Offs in the Stimulus Package.” Powers is writing Trade-Offs to inform the general public about how there must be a balance, or equity of interests in the drafting of the new stimulus package which President Obama intends to sign into law this coming week. According to Powers, during the writing of the legislation there has been partisan conflict over where the estimated nearly $1 trillion should go. Most Republicans who oppose the bill claim that it is mainly a goody bag of Democrat programs such as increasing welfare, to please their constituents. There has been much debate over where this recovery money should go; most agree that we want the biggest bang for each buck of government expenditure, which leads to the second debate in the writing of the stimulus package.
Many politicians cannot be certain whether we should only spend the money on large infrastructure projects or a combination of other programs that will stimulate the economy. It seems that no one is certain because some economists say that by increasing food stamps, unemployment benefits, and even giving money to local and state governments could be just as economically stimulative as undergoing large infrastructure projects which may yield as much as $1.75 in profit for every government dollar invested in the stimulus. Lastly, I believe that our Congress must unite on a common goal or purpose to accomplish what is in the best interests of our nation, whether it be by investing in large infrastructure projects or small pet projects to boost the American economy.
