I am no economist, so I am not one qualified to say definitively whether or not the economic recovery package will work. But from what I have seen of it there are some things to like and some things not to like about it. Unfortunately, there are more things not to like than like.

The Good:

- Contains some tax cuts. While I don’t think the tax cuts go far enough, I will give the Dems a little credit for throwing a bone to we less-taxes folk. The Republicans introduced a stimulus bill and all it was, was tax cuts; it was ridiculous and I am a Republican. This bill contains both spending and tax cuts, despite containing too much spending and too little cuts, I will give them credit

- Transparency and accountability. Well, they aren’t being wholly transparent yet as the complete contents of the bill are not yet released as I understand it, but the bill does call for accountability and transparency on the part of those receiving the money, or I should say from the businesses receiving the money. Money spent of any kind from taxes should be held with the highest regard by our government and should constantly be accounted for and cared for. While our government is horrible at this, at least this bill calls for it.

The Bad:

- Excessive government spending on things that will do little to jump start the economy. I understand that in politics if you want a small, seemingly insignificant (or controversial) project funded and passed one needs to attach it to a bill that is large, important, and easy to hide things in. Such as this bill. Many times, this act, while less than ideal, doesn’t really bother me. But in this case it does. It does because this bill, if we are to believe the President, is of huge import. Apparently the sky is about to fall so we must pass the bill immediately (I happen to disagree). So if this bill is THAT important, it is to important to play politics with. This bill should be solely limited to fixing the economy (something I think the government has no chance at being successful with). It is too important for pet projects, pork, and the like. Keep this one “meat and potatoes” and leave out the rest.

-Big Brother like health care provisions. Consider:

Your medical treatments will be tracked electronically by a federal system. Having electronic medical records at your fingertips, easily transferred to a hospital, is beneficial. It will help avoid duplicate tests and errors.

One new bureaucracy, the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology, will monitor treatments to make sure your doctor is doing what the federal government deems appropriate and cost effective. The goal is to reduce costs and “guide” your doctor’s decisions (442, 446). These provisions in the stimulus bill are virtually identical to what Daschle prescribed in his 2008 book, “Critical: What We Can Do About the Health-Care Crisis.” According to Daschle, doctors have to give up autonomy and “learn to operate less like solo practitioners.”

Are you kidding me?! This deserves a whole post in and of itself, but I will keep it short. The last thing the Federal Government should do or is smart enough to do is “guide your doctor’s decisions”. All they will do is screw it up and ensure that we don’t get the care we need. Universal health care, which this is obviously a first step toward, would be an unmitigated disaster. I have had significant health care issues in both Canada and the U.K., both have nationalized health care systems and both are terrible. There is a reason Canada’s best doctors come to the U.S.; they can get paid. Competition breeds excellence; a nationalized health care system ends that.

-Max pay for employees of firms receiving help is too low. Despite being a solid capitalist, I have no problem with capping the salaries of CEO’s, but $500,000 is way too low. To me and most American’s it is a lot, but not in terms of senior business leadership. Unfortunately I don’t think there is a right number, it is really just arbitrary, but I think a max of between 2-3 million would be just about right. Keep in mind, many of these people and their companies work ridiculous hours and make obscene amounts of money the run our economy and country and employ vasts amount of people. Too little pay limits incentive. A highly capable leader may be rather inclined to just quit and go to another company, allowing the failing, yet apparently essential company, to be lead by someone who is ok with just $500K, meaning they probably aren’t very good at their job.

Ultimately there is some to like, but mostly to dislike about the bill. I would have voted against it, I don’t think it is necessary. I have faith in the capitalist system and I think it would have pulled itself out of this mess quicker than the government can do it. In the 1930’s at the start of the Great Depression, many argue that it was the government action that prolonged the misery. I am concerned that the same could happen here. The government continues to show that it is inept in nearly everything it runs, what makes them think they can fix our economy?