You Want Something Passed Quickly? Make It Big And Complicated

This week the House of Representatives of the United States of America passed the "American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009". The vote was 244 - 188. All Republicans voted against it. All but 11 Democrats voted for it. The Bill, otherwise known as Obama's stimulus package, provides for $819,000,000,000 in spending. (Some news reports say it's worth $825,000,000,000 - but why quibble over a mere six billion dollars?)

I thought that I would take a look at the Bill to see how this $819 billion is going to be spent. But, my Lord! The Bill is hundreds of pages long, with thousands of sections, sub-sections, and sub-sub-sections. It must have taken all of the lawyers in Washington D.C. days to make this stuff up and write it down in the form of a Bill. I could not, did not, and will not read the whole thing. I bet you not many, if any, of the 432 members of the House of Representatives who actually voted for or against it, did either.

A quick skimming of the reams of pages of provisions reveals some fascinating things. The concerns of the legislators seem to run from the sublime to the ridiculous. For example, it is totally forbidden to use any of the stimulus money for projects relating to casinos, gaming establishments, aquariums, zoos, golf courses or swimming pools. Okay - I can understand the hang-up over casinos - but zoos, aquariums, golf courses and swimming pools? Americans love exotic, caged animals, and fish. Swimming is great exercise. I agree that golf is annoying, impossible and frustrating. But without golf courses the whole tourist industry of already struggling Phoenix and Southern California will be flushed down the drain. As a part time Phoenician, I am concerned and hope that the Senate will rethink this provision.

Then there is the really BIG prohibition - the "Buy In America" clause. The Bill provides that all of the iron and steel used in projects related to public buildings and public works must be made in America, with some limited exceptions. That includes the iron and steel used in the building of pipelines. Curiously enough, however, there is no provision requiring that the oil and gas which travels through these pipelines must also only be produced in America. I wonder why?

Canada is steamed over the Buy In America trade protectionist measures. It, of course, shouldn't be. President Obama, who touted himself as a citizen of the world who wanted to tear down walls, when he was in Berlin, also promised that he would protect U.S. jobs and penalize companies who shipped jobs overseas, when he was in Pennsylvania. It appears that the Pennsylvania promise is the one that he actually intends to keep. This matter will at least give President Obama and Prime Minister Harper something to talk about, when Obama makes his day trip to Ottawa this February 19. (You heard me right - day trip. The President will not even be staying overnight. So much for the first big international visit.)

I particularly love the Governor Rod Blagojevich (now ex-Governor) clause. The State of Illinois was not to get any funds at all if Blagojevich was still its Governor, unless the funds were approved in legislation by the State legislature. Gotcha Rod! The Democrats having been fooled by Blagojevich once, were not going to be fooled again. They took to heart what George W. Bush so brilliantly said: "Fool me once, shame uh... shame on you. Uh.. uh.. You can't get fooled again." (See that classic again: http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=eKgPY1adc0A). In view of this provision, it is no wonder that it took so little time for Blagojevich to get impeached by the Illinois State legislature.

The spending provisions go on and on. For example, $650,000,000 is provided for assisting in the conversion from analog to digital television; $400,000,000 for habitat restoration and migration activities; and $140,000,000 for climate data modeling. It's as if every Department of Government was asked to submit a "wish list" and as long as what they asked for sounded reasonable, poof,like magic, they got it. $819 billion is a lot of money; it can cover a lot of requests which individually only amount to a few hundred millions or so. Overnight every Department's budget has been significantly increased. So whether it had to do with agriculture, defense, homeland security, climate control, health insurance, technology, science, education, student loans, national parks, the environment, water, museums, art projects etc. etc., there was money to be had just for the asking. All of this depite the fact that the U.S. deficit is enormous already.

Both Obama and McCain were repeatedly asked during the campaign debates where they would cut spending and what promises they would shelve in view of the dire economic situation. Both candidates avoided answering the question directly, but each conceded that spending would have to be cut. Both were going to use a sharp pencil to cut out the fat and eliminate Department programs which are not working. Adding $819 billion to Department spending is a far cry from that broken promise.

My years in the Ivory Tower have taught me that the more complicated and bigger a proposal is, the more likely it is that it will get passed with little debate. It is much harder to get your mind wrapped around an elephant than it is a mouse. Had Congress been debating a small appropriation Bill to build a "bridge to nowhere", the debate would have gone on for days. But a Bill that proposes the building of a million bridges to everywhere is much harder to figure out. It's much easier just to raise your hand and vote "aye" or "nay" and go home.