I think I have figured out what the problem is with our current government. They feel as though simply throwing money at a problem as fast as they can possibly throw it will solve all of our problems. Well, they are wrong. I came across this nifty little site (govtrack.us) while doing some research into the first stimulus bill and found a startling piece of information.
Do you know how long it took from the time good ‘ole H.R. 1: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 was introduced to the time it was signed into law by our President? Exactly twenty-two days. And if that fact is not staggering enough, remember how much money this “package” is estimated to cost the American people. Only a measly $715 billion! I do not think I could have spent one million dollars in less than a month, let alone almost a trillion!
In my opinion, this is the problem: Not enough time is being spent in deliberation before these huge bills are being passed. President Obama is making it seem as though we need to get these bills through Congress as quickly as possible, when this is simply not the case. Did we need to do something to prop up our collapsing economy? Yes. However, I think that when spending such a huge amount of our hard-earned dollars, the least they could have done was spend at least a few months in deliberation.
I am afraid to see what is going to become of our health care system at the rate these bills are flying through Congress. For once, I actually applaud the planned filibustering, because someone needs to get in there to slow Congress down. I feel the same with the proposed second stimulus package. This country is heading down the drain fast if the only idea Congress can come with is to throw money at problems to make them go away. To be honest, I do not mind if we throw money at a problem, but only after enough time has been spent to plan out a SOLUTION to the problem and not just a TEMPORARY FIX.
Congress, I beg you, please stop wasting our taxpayer dollars and time on useless temporary fixes. Take your time, and create a bill that will actually help us. That is the only way you will regain a smidgen of faith from me.
Here is the link to track H.R. 3200: America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009. I will post the link to the second stimulus if/when it becomes available.
– Timothy Hawley
