After hearing about republicans blocking previous bills and making things difficult just so they can be dicks, its great to hear how they ALL voted against this and it still passed. Man it feels great ^_^

As more information comes in about what is in this bill, it becomes clear why those that support it don't want to debate it, but pass it quickly without any scrutiny.  I read the fist 85 pages or so.  I didn't find one item that could be considered anthing more than passing out money to supporters and creating new government programs.  I read in an article that there are 32 new government programs, but I could only stomach reading any further, so I can't verify that figure.

$2 billion to help subsidize child care.

$650 million for coupons to help consumers convert their TV sets from analog to digital, part of the digital TV conversion.

$600 million to buy a new fleet of cars for federal employees and government departments.

$75 million to fund programs to help people quit smoking.

53.4 billion for science facilities, high speed Internet, and miscellaneous energy and environmental programs.

$13 billion to repair and weatherize public housing, help the homeless, repair foreclosed homes.

$10.3 billion for tax credits to help families defray the cost of college tuition.

This bill has more pork in than all of the earmarks in both the Bush and Clinton Admins combined.  This spending will prolong any recover, cause a big spike in inflation and probably result in many higher taxes and fees. When it fails, we will be told that we just didn't spend enough!  Good grief.  

For those of you that want government healthcare, this is their way of getting it via the back door.  Let's not debate it and let's not let the people know what we're doing.  But don't complain when care eventually has to be rationed and your choices for treatment are limited and you have to wait 2 years for an MRI, if the machines still work.

You might be right about some of the pork in the spending bill. i suppose there'll always be a certain amount of pork in a spending bill. The only difference is whether that pork gets spent on individuals or by corporations, so you take your pick. I am highly suspicious of your claims of pork though when i read your little rant at the end about rationalized health care and having to wait 2 years for an MRI. The UK has a national health service. How many people over there do you know had to wait 2 years for an MRI. If 1 person in a million had to, is that a worthwhile price to pay so 100 others don't go to the emergency room for treatment?

This bill contains more for roads and airports than transit, and the stimulus to genuine green tech, such as wind, is dwarfed by the huge continued subsidies to ethanol, which is probably worse than fossil fuel from the point of view of environmental destruction and social justice. Renewable energy has been growing geometrically in the past few years, and has stopped due to the depression, so the bill will barely maintain the momentum, while breathing fresh life into nuclear, coal and ethanol which are also moribund due to the crisis.

The tax cuts will only hasten the day that the US currency becomes worthless, which is certainly not the strategy to develop a sustainable economy.
Its the same thinking that got us here......

As to rationing of health care, better to wait than to NEVER get it. Obviously you must be getting health care, or you would be fine with waiting.

I think all of those things you listed are ways to pump money into the working people's pockets, so they can actually have SOMETHING to spend to get things going. Most of the people doing the jobs that will be subsidized earn around minimum wage. They are actually the ones that keep the economy happening because they have to SPEND IT, not the well to do that just suck out and stash money, keeping it out of circulation. Think of it as the lifeblood of the economy. The money has to move around to do any good.

I did not like Obama going against the democrats on the buy American Provision they put in the Bill. It is not protectionist and does not violate WTO rules. Even China and Europe have such provisions and they are not considered illegal trade practise for government contracts.

The millions of green manufacturing jobs will go to China because we lost the trade war years ago when we give them most favored nation trading status and gave away our manufacturing base.

Some green constuction jobs maybe and some tech spin off jobs if we shut down the 1-1/2 million VISA applicants. We will not reap the benifits of millions of green manufacturing jobs if we don't put some tax incentives into that bill for manufacturing to be done in the U.S.

I think the provision is being considered for any corporation that will fabricate here to get tax incentives. If this is not done most of the manufacturing jobs will go to pacific rim countries and China. I do not feel it is fair to use American Tax dollars to stimulate the economy of China.

We voted for change, not the outsourcing, trickle down economics of George Bush. Obama made campaign promises at the Harley Davison plant to restore and protect American mnufacturing. If he breaks this campaign promise 2 weeks into his term he will be a one term president. This is a sore spot for more democrats than just the blue dogs and even republicans.

Big mistake if he breaks this campaing promise this early in his admisistration.

The eons of time and nature was good to us down here. It was not until we become civilized that destroying our habitat become fathomable or fashionable.