Republican opposition to the stimulus plan has reached the point of idiocy.
Don't take my word for it. Here is an excellent analysis by Washington Post business columnist Steven Pearlstein.
Pearlstein writes: "Actually, what's striking is that supposedly intelligent people are horrified at the thought that, during a deep recession, government might try to help the economy by buying up-to-date equipment for the people who protect us from epidemics and infectious diseases, by hiring people to repair environmental damage on federal lands and by contracting with private companies to make federal buildings more energy-efficient.
"What really irks so many Republicans, of course, is that all the stimulus money isn't being used to cut individual and business taxes, their cure-all for economic ailments, even though all the credible evidence is that tax cuts are only about half as stimulative as direct government spending."
He says Republicans need some remedial economic education, that their ignorance of basic facts, or their cynicism exploiting others' basic economic illiteracy, could make what is a financial crisis into a catastrophe.
Here's more from Daniel Gross, business columnist for Newsweek. He concludes that Republicans are taking their economic advice from Joe the Plumber.
As today's dismal job report emphasizes, we need action on the economy immediately. Holding it up can only bring more pain and when the hammer falls and working people in the country are losing their jobs, homes and pensions, they will remember who stood in the schoolhouse door.
