Captain O Delays Stimulus Blastoff

Posted by LK on 2/17/09 • Categorized as Politics, The Economy and Markets, Two Americas

The following speech, if given today, would do more to stimulate the economy in the short run than the stimulus bill as currently written, and would buy Congress and the President the time needed to get the package right:

President Obama, 2/17/09, 1PM, MST:

My Fellow Americans,

I have before me the economic stimulus plan approved by Congress. However, despite the hard work of members of that esteemed body, it is not yet focused enough on creating jobs or immediately stimulating the economy to warrant my signature.

Make no mistake, while much of what’s in the package is not what has irresponsibly been described as pork, it is policy, not stimulus, and should be dealt with at a future point in time through appropriate legislative channels.

Also, as the purpose of true bipartisanship is gaining valuable input from brilliant but dissenting minds in times of crisis, my initial intent and promise of one America has not been kept by the process that created this crucial piece of legislation.

Therefore, like the shuttle commander and mission controller who, prior to liftoff, are not happy with what they’re seeing on the gauges in front of them , I’m stopping the launch clock.

We can do better.

And like the shuttle, but magnified by lives in the millions and dollars in the billions, there’s too much at stake to proceed without first making sure that we’ve done everything humanly possible to assure that we achieve our goals, with as close to laser-like precision as we imperfect souls can muster.

It is my hope and belief that a delay of a few weeks, a delay that leads to a more effective fulfillment of the stated goals of the package, will be seen not as a reluctance to take immediate action, but as a vital fine tuning that gets the American economy, followed by the world economy, back on track.

Thank you, and God bless the United States of America.