Ben Stein: Half of Stimulus Goes to Unions

peaceandlove · 02-07-2009, 10:37 AM

Ben Stein: Half of Stimulus Goes to Unions

Sunday, February 1, 2009 1:01 PM

Source: http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/b...mo_code=7937-1

Columnist Ben Stein has taken a close look at President Barack Obama's proposed $820 billion stimulus package, and made some eye-opening discoveries.

Writing for Spectator.com and NYPost.com, Stein calculates that:

* The House of Representatives debated the bill for eight hours, or roughly $102 billion per hour.
* Only 10 percent of the stimulus funds would be spent in 2009.

* Almost half of the $820 billion would end up in the pockets of Democratic-controlled unions, such as the Service Employees International Union, and federal, state, and municipal employee unions.

* At 680 pages long, neither Obama nor any member of the House had enough time to read the entire bill before the House voted.

* The $820 billion would be enough to give every unemployed American $75,000.

Says Stein: "There has been pork-barrel politics since there has been politics, but the scale of this pork is beyond what had ever been imagined before -- and no one can be sure it will actually do much stimulation. ... This has been a punch in the solar plexus to the kind of responsible, far-seeing, mature government processes that are needed to protect America."

© 2009 Newsmax. All rights reserved.

02-07-2009, 10:37 AM	#1
peaceandlove Avalon Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Turtle Island Posts: 2,776	Ben Stein: Half of Stimulus Goes to Unions Ben Stein: Half of Stimulus Goes to Unions Sunday, February 1, 2009 1:01 PM Source: http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/b...mo_code=7937-1 Columnist Ben Stein has taken a close look at President Barack Obama's proposed $820 billion stimulus package, and made some eye-opening discoveries. Writing for Spectator.com and NYPost.com, Stein calculates that: * The House of Representatives debated the bill for eight hours, or roughly $102 billion per hour. * Only 10 percent of the stimulus funds would be spent in 2009. * Almost half of the $820 billion would end up in the pockets of Democratic-controlled unions, such as the Service Employees International Union, and federal, state, and municipal employee unions. * At 680 pages long, neither Obama nor any member of the House had enough time to read the entire bill before the House voted. * The $820 billion would be enough to give every unemployed American $75,000. Says Stein: "There has been pork-barrel politics since there has been politics, but the scale of this pork is beyond what had ever been imagined before -- and no one can be sure it will actually do much stimulation. ... This has been a punch in the solar plexus to the kind of responsible, far-seeing, mature government processes that are needed to protect America." © 2009 Newsmax. All rights reserved.