There has been a lot of talk in Washington about stimulating our economy and given the recent jobs report it is clear that something needs to be done.  But under the current proposal working its way through Congress, the only thing that would be stimulated is more government spending. 

There is still time for Congress to say no to more government spending and yes to some short term solutions that will actually kick start our economy and create real jobs.

One easy way is to give small businesses a payroll tax cut.  Taxes eat up one-third or more of a small business's income.  Reducing the tax burden will have an immediate impact on small businesses, enabling them to invest more of their capital to grow their business and send less to Washington, DC.

Another idea is to make health care more affordable and attainable, especially to those who have lost their job.  Instead of the federal government footing the bill for COBRA payments for the unemployed (billions of dollars are included in the stimulus bill to do just this), wouldn't it be better and less costly to allow people to carry their health insurance from job to job and allow small businesses to cross state lines to purchase a health care plan that works for their employees?    

If Congress is really serious about stimulating the economy they need to start by stimulating our small businesses.  Unfortunately, from what we have seen from the current proposal there is still a lot of work left to do.  You might check out this link on stimulus spending data:  http://www.readthestimulus.org/

NOTE: The U.S. Senate passed the stimulus package Tuesday by a vote of 61 – 37.  A final package will still need to be worked out between the House and Senate, voted on again by both Houses and then will go to the President for his signature. 

Is this Stimulus or Spending?  You tell me……

The Congressional Budget Office reports that only 7% of the stimulus spending (approx. $358 billion of the total) will be spent this year. By the end of 2010, only 38% will be spent. And by the end of 2011, only 67% will be spent. Here's a link to a Washington Post story about the CBO Report.

Peter Orszag (Office of Management and Budget) contradicted the CBO report, saying that three-fourths of the OVERALL stimulus package (spending + tax cuts) would hit the ground within 18 months. This is a nuanced, subtle way of saying that the TAX CUTS have a more immediate effect than the SPENDING. Here's a link to a Reuters story about Orszag's comments.

A new website: http://www.readthestimulus.org/ encourages someone to read the bill before passing it. The $825 billion stimulus package will exceed more than $1.1 trillion when adding in the interest ($300 plus billion) between 2009-2019 to pay for it.

The stimulus plan includes funding for contraceptives, family planning, Sexual Transmitted Disease prevention, and so forth. (This is NOT an economic issue nor stimulus. It IS spending.)

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