Democrats Consider New Porkulus

RUSH: From TIME Magazine: ‘The White House Readies a Stealth Stimulus — White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett was adamant on Sunday, when asked if President Obama was considering a so-called second stimulus to deal with the rising unemployment rate. ‘I think it’s too soon. It’s premature to say, ‘Is a second stimulus needed?” she told David Gregory, the host of NBC’s Meet the Press. But a moment later she said the White House was already looking at tax credits and other measures to further stimulate the economy. ‘There are a range of suggestions that are being considered right now by his economic team, and we’ll see what we come forward with,’ she added. On its face, the two comments sounded like a contradiction. But at the White House, there is no confusion. More stimulus is coming, but it just won’t be called stimulus.

Economic advisers, in concert with senior Democrats in the House and Senate, are planning additional piecemeal benefit extensions, tax breaks and other spending that could eventually add up to as much as $100 billion… ‘The fact is that this is a word game. It isn’t a discussion of the ‘second stimulus,” says Jennifer Psaki, a White House spokeswoman. ‘This needs to be an ongoing discussion between the President and his economic team about new ideas and ways to get people back to work.” Now, I’ve read this whole TIME Magazine story. They’re saying things, like, ‘Well, the White House has so far declined to spell out its wishes.’ You go through this whole story in TIME Magazine, and you will not read that the first stimulus didn’t work. You will not read that the first stimulus is a bomb! You will not read that the first stimulus is an abject failure. But get this. Last night on Charlie Rose, he interviewed the New York Times chief mergers and acquisitions reporter, Andrew Ross Sorkin. Charlie Rose said, ‘How do they measure the stimulus’s effectiveness, both the administration and the people who know about the application of this money?’

SORKIN: I talked to a CEO last week who said, when you look at… To the extent the economy has recovered, you can’t ascribe any of it for the stimulus program. You really have to ascribe it to inventories which are low which people now have to replenish; you know, the economy coming back just on its own.

ROSE: The stimulus program has not been a genius creation to create jobs for the American people?

SORKIN: Not at the moment.

RUSH: Well, this is… I’m sitting here watching two eggheads think that they’re the smartest guy in the room. I remember Charlie Rose talking to Brokaw, ‘We don’t really know who Obama is. I don’t know who he admires, Charlie. I don’t know who he’s read, Tom. We don’t know really what he believes over there.’ This is like a week before the election! And now these two dunces are up there, ‘Well, the stimulus… ACEO told me the stimulus hasn’t had any major effect on anything,’ and Charlie Rose pipes in, ‘The stimulus program has not been a genius creation, to create jobs for the American people.’ ‘Not at the moment.’ Yet there’s a second one on the way, folks. This ain’t by accident.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: This is Juan in Huntsville, Alabama. Hi, Juan, great to have you on the EIB Network. Hello.

CALLER: Thanks for taking my call, Rush. I just want to know how many more mistakes is this government going to keep on continuing to make before they realize that the stimulus package is not working? ‘Cause, you know, correct me if I’m wrong but is this not the third stimulus package?

RUSH: Yeah.

CALLER: The first one under Bush —

RUSH: Well there’s been many more than that. A year ago Bush and Pelosi got together with a stimulus, sent everybody a check except people like you and me one.

CALLER: Right.

RUSH: And then we had the TARP bailout. And then we had more bank bailouts and we had stimulus, the Porkulus bill. What are we up to, four? Oh, yeah, Cash for Clunkers, that didn’t work. So the point is that we’ve tried the governmental side of this, the public side, we know it doesn’t work, it’s time to go to the private sector. Therefore, Juan, your question, when are they going to realize that it’s not working — it is working, as far as Obama wants it to work. This is exactly what he intended all along. Never said so, but this is exactly what he intended. Juan, you’re a smart guy. You’re a smart guy. Your question is, at what point are they going to wake up and realize it ain’t working?

CALLER: Correct.

RUSH: Right.

CALLER: That’s basically it. I mean I don’t know, maybe I’m on the wrong planet, but it just seems to me that it’s not working, why continue to go down that road. I mean there’s only so much money —

RUSH: I’ll tell you, Juan, we’re not on the wrong planet. I feel like I’ve been sent up to the Hale-Bopp comet. I actually don’t think I’m on earth anymore. This is not the earth I knew, much less the country I knew. You’re asking the great question, when are these people gonna realize? You gotta conclude, Juan, they’re smarter than you are, they went to Harvard and Yale, they got PhDs and all this worthless stuff and yet they keep throwing good money after bad. You gotta consider at some point, my man, that it’s on purpose.