Reply #7: Therein lies the problem... I don't like it. (Though passage is much better than non-passage.) [View All]

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

I would like to be enthused about shoving the stimulus down the pugs' throat but I don't think there's any real stimulus package on the table.

The "stimulus" bill is not a stimulus bill. It is a relief bill.

Relief is all well and good, but relief should be a minor part of a staggering stimulus proposal.

So any desire I have that this particular scale/style of bill be passed is 1) personal partisanship and 2) it's better than nothing.

Sufficient reasons, but not real exciting or even hopeful.

The most optimistic claims for this package are to reduce future surplus unemployment by about one third.

That is merely softening the blow somewhat with no concerted attempt to avoid the blow through real stimulus.

How much has the money supply shrunk in the last two years? Simple asset devaluation in homes and stocks is way over ten trillion. Pulling back on credit from other sources... if it's under 20 trillion I'd be surprised.

(The Fed has tried to keep pace printing new money but if banks won't issue loans the authorization to create new money goes un-used.)