Arkady's Thoughts

I will be providing regular updates on tonight's stimulus bill discussions, given the fact that this monstrosity might be voted on tonight. UPDATE: Pretty clear that this will not be voted on tonight, Reid has pushed for a special weekend session. Amendments incoming, stay tuned. Saturday 2:00pm - Vote officially pushed off until Monday, both sides will debate the bill for several hours. Friday 11:26 - Signing out folks, few random amendments left, will check in tomorrow. Good night! 11:25 - Harry Reid realizes that they will not finish by 12 and is proposing to meet tomorrow to debate the merits of the bill. 11:22 - Results incoming, all Republicans voting AYE. Most Democrats voting NAY. I cannot believe how many Democrats are handing over 4.1 Billion of taxpayer money to ACORN. Why does this have to be a partisan issue? ACORN is a group that destabilizes our voting process and compromises our country's law and order. They were intimately involved in the sub-prime scandal and...

CNN is reporting that a tentative deal has been struck between Susan Collins and the other Democrats. Senate is on recess until 7pm. Stay tuned for more updates. Even moderate Voinovich has left that particular negotiation citing that he is disappointed with the inability to negotiate. As of now it appears that Collins and possibly one other Republican will allow the largest bill in US history to pass. Collins is striking a deal in her last term with no fear of political retribution, she is doing this for her own selfish reasons. It is one thing to stab the GOP in the back over and over, but when it comes down to putting generations on the hook for the massive government expansion it becomes virtually inexcusable. At some point, a love of a country should take precedence over personal ambitions. It is unfortunate that the situation has reached a point where all hopes are pinned on several Republican moderates, I am sure they are enjoying the power that has suddenly been bestowed upon...

Jim Bunning is the senator this country needs, listening to his debate regarding the stimulus package I am growing quite fond of his ideas. His name previously showed up when TARP was being discussed and he was vehemently opposed to what at that time obviously looked like a horrible idea and one of Bush's worst legacies. In fact Jim referred to TARP as socialism, which is precisely what it is shaping up to be. Today he proposed an amendment that I believe is extremely overdue and as someone who has experienced stock losses before I believe is essential in modifying. As it stands, investors can write off up to a maximum of $3,000 in losses per year. This tax break was proposed in the 1970s with absolutely no regard for inflationary pressures what so ever. In 2009 the original proposal of $3,000 has eroded over 70%! Jim Bunning has therefore proposed, what I believe to be an extremely stimulative idea, that is to raise the limit from $3,000 to $15,000 ! His thinking is based on a s...

With all the stress being created by the "stimulus" bill, here is a little something to bring a smile to your face. An Israeli arrives in London Airport . The official helps him to fill the arrivals customs card: - Your name? - Moshe. - Family name? - Mizrakhi. - Citizenship? - Israeli. - Occupation? - No, NO!!! Not occupation!! Just visiting!!!"

I pose this simple question, because there is a very simple answer. I can sit here and list you all sorts of individual spending items, but with a tag price approaching 1 TRILLION dollars and a bill over 600 pages long it becomes virtually impossible to decipher. So I present to you another piece of evidence, directly from the government. Congressional Budget Office has released their estimate of the impact of what this bill will accomplish, link here at cbo .gov . Below is a small piece of the information presented and deals with estimated revenues for the next 10 years. Estimated Revenues in Billions starting from 2009 to 2019: 09) -76.5 10) -131.3 11) -14.5 12) 12.2 13) 8.1 14) 4.0 15) 0.6 16) -1.8 17) -3.5 18) -4.3 19) -4.8 Total for 10 years) -211.8 Billion dollars. NET IMPACT ON THE DEFICIT: 815.8 Billion dollars JOB CREATION ESTIMATE: CBO Further estimates that this bill could create 1.2 to 3.6 million jobs. In the absolute best case scenario, it will cost roughly $227,500 pe...