Let the Good Times Roll!

By William L. Garvin

Happy days are here again!  Laissez les bons temps rouler!  All those nasty Bush tax cuts which the Democrats refused to make permanent are now institutionalized as the Obama tax cuts.  There is one difference—now all those nasty rich people who have been robbing orphans and widows are going to be punished.  Their tax rates are going up and new revenue will just come gushing in.  The Obama Economy is in full recovery mode.  Don’t worry; be happy!

Why just look at the job boom in the last month alone.  There were 155,000 new jobs created.  That’s wonderful—all the television stations say so.  Don’t worry that the number is insufficient to keep pace with population growth.  Don’t worry that the unemployment rate rose to 7.8%.  Don’t worry about the number being revised downward next month—it’s a BOOMING recovery.  It’s party time!

Our astute leaders in Washington obviously believe their own press clippings.  Otherwise, they might actually be concerned about the $16.4 trillion (and growing) national debt.  Instead, they are not only refusing to place any significant spending cuts in place, they are already reverting to their pork barreling ways.  Examples highlighted in the San Francisco Chronicle show “fiscal cliff” crony capitalism running rampant.  For instance, “There’s 75,000 happy wind workers today,” an industry representative told them. “They literally have scarcely any orders for next year.” However, Washington’s corporate welfare program will pay wind farms $22 for every megawatt-hour of electricity they generate.  Congress also provides alternative energy producers $1.01 per gallon for cellulosic biofuels.  The Bill extends tax credits for construction of biomass, geothermal, hydropower and other alternative power plants.  Congress insists the extension is a one-year loophole that will “only” cost taxpayers $116 million this year but critics point out that the tax credit itself is good for the next 10 years!   The final cost will be closer $12.2 billion by the time alternative energy corporations are done benefiting.
There’s also $15 million for asparagus farmers and a $4 million tax break for people who buy “2 or 3-wheeled plug-in electric vehicles”.  Puerto Rican and US Virgin Island rum makers will have a majority of their federal taxes refunded.  There’s another item called the “NASCAR Pork Chop” which costs out at around $70 million which dwarfs in comparison to Hollywood’s $430 million late Christmas package.  Estimates of the total pork barrel hover in the $76 billion range.  Let the good times roll!

After Harry Reid called John Boehner a “dictator” (a phrase he never uses when discussing actual dictators!), Chris Christie joined the fray over the Hurricane Sandy Relief Bill.  One hesitates to say he “piled on” for obvious reasons.  Unfortunately, he was way out of line and for a change, Boehner was right.  The Bill was another blatant example of continuing fiscal insanity and another manifestation of Congressional addiction to spending.  Some of the porker additions are as follows: $28 billion for future unspecified "disaster-mitigation" projects; $100 million for the repair of Head Start centers around the country; $8 million to buy cars and equipment for Homeland Security and Justice departments; $150 million for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to dole out to fisheries in Alaska; $2 million for the Smithsonian Institution to repair museum roofs in Washington, D.C.; $207 million for the VA Manhattan Medical Center; $4 million for repairs at Kennedy Space Center in Florida; and $3.3 million for the Plum Island Animal Disease Center of New York.

The bottom line is that most of the bill money would never reach the Jersey shores and the people who actually need help.  After all the hoopla about FEMA doing such a wonderful job, much of the area is still in shambles, uninhabitable and mired in red tape.  Maybe that Obama-Christie hug was “premature congratulation” and less than satisfying to the people they are supposed to represent.  But don’t worry; be happy.  This administration has a wonderful economic plan to spend us into prosperity.  Don’t worry about spending cuts or sequestration.  The President has said the latter won’t happen and he doesn’t seem to care about the former.  It’s a wonderful world; no worries, mate; let the good times roll!