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Posted
Wednesday, January 28, 2009 6:28 PM
| By
Rachael Larimore
Dayo,
Forgive me, but didn't we just spend eight years complaining that George Bush and Congress were saddling future generations with an unfair burden of debt? (I was no fan of the GOP-led Congress, believe me.) And wasn't one of the many complaints about the Patriot Act that it was rushed through and congressfolk didn't have time to read it? But now we have a proposal that will end up costing $1 trillion with interest and a president who says there is not a "moment to spare," and yet it's the Republicans with their concerns who are trying to "rule by ... hissy fit." (Um, also, aren't the Democrats in the majority here?) [Note: The NYT reports that the package has passed the House. It apparently went through without the contraceptives, but with $335 million for STD prevention.]
Now that they are out of power, the Republicans have an opportunity—and a responsibility—to start living up to their historical reputations for fiscal conservatism. House Minority Leader John Boehner had compiled a long list of concerns about the stimulus package, of which the complaint about contraceptives was just one item. For example, the creation of 32 new government programs that will cost $136 billion. What happens when they've spent their stimulus money? Will the programs go away? And then there's the fact that this is being sold as an "infrastructure" package, yet only 25 percent of the infrastructure dollars would be spent in the first year. (So, why the rush?)
I'm not an economist. I have no idea if the stimulus is going to work. It might be the only thing standing between us and a depression, or, as Politico pointed out today, even $1 trillion on stimulus might not be enough. But what I do know, is that if we're going to go ahead with this massive and hugely expensive project (the Senate takes it up next week), I want the focus to be on creating jobs quickly and getting money pumping through the economy. Whether that is through infrastructure or corporate tax breaks, I don't care. But I don't think that $200 million for contraceptives would create as many jobs as it could if directed toward some other purpose. There are lots of generic oral contraceptives, for example, which cost less (yay for Medicaid and our tax dollars) but reduce the incentive for pharmaceutical companies to have people out there selling (profitable) brand-name alternatives. And while $5 billion might sound like a big industry, it's comparable to what we spend on Halloween. Heck, the porn industry has asked for a bailout worth $5 billion. I'd much rather see that $200 million go as tax breaks to small businesses in return for hiring new employees, or a necessary infrastructure project (maybe a couple of bridges to SOMEWHERE, for a change). It's got nothing to do with scorn for women's health.
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