“Your problem is you aren’t thinking like wastrels or thieves”

Posted by Marc Hodak on July 15, 2010 under Invisible trade-offs | Be the First to Comment

That’s the problem with conservatives.  They just don’t get it with the stimulus.

Holland, Mich., where Mr. Obama visits Thursday, has seen a big infusion of cash from the president’s economic stimulus plan: hundreds of millions of dollars for new automotive battery plants, tens of millions for schools, as well as millions more for housing, small businesses, university research and transportation.

Yet many in the region of 260,000 people, struggling with 12% unemployment, are skeptical the federal spending has made an impact.

“I wish he’d save his money and not come to Western Michigan,” said Becky DeWind, co-owner of a company that received nearly $95,000 in stimulus money to neutralize radioactive contamination in groundwater—her only U.S. business in a year. “They were just swiping a Chinese charge card for it anyway, and my kid’s got to pick up the tab.”

See?  They just aren’t seeing the benefits of all that stimulus cash, even when it’s right before their eyes!

“I just don’t know if people are seeing it yet as fully as I’m seeing it,” said Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, a Democrat, referring to effects from the stimulus.

Actually, Ms. DeWind is seeing it more fully–too fully.  She’s not only seeing the immediate, visible benefits of the spending; she’s also looking ahead at how the bill will get paid.  Ms. DeWind’s problem is that she isn’t appreciating the stimulus through the eyes of a wastrel, as someone happy to get the cheese if her kids are picking up the tab.

“This is one instance where you can see job creating coming from it, but again…at what cost?” said Republican Jay Riemersma, a former pro-football player who is running for Mr. Hoekstra’s House seat. “People don’t want government stimulus and government spending…In their mind we’re mortgaging their future and their grandchildren’s future.”

Of course, Ms. DeWind and Mr. Riemersma are not entirely correct.  They are overstating their case.  Their kids and grandkids are on the hook for only a portion of those sums spent on her particular business or community.  Really, it’s other people’s kids who will have to pick up the rest.  So even Ms. DeWind and Mr. Riemersma are not seeing things as fully as possible.  They aren’t just missing the wastrel view of things, they’re also missing the thieving mentality needed to fully embrace the stimulus.

So, what are the Democrats doing to combat this deficient view?

Faced with such opinions, the White House and Democrats say they must keep pressing their points—one town and one project at a time.

This, of course, misses the point.  That’s the strategy you follow if the benefits of the stimulus were invisible to these people.  That’s the strategy assuming these people are too stupid to see what’s right before their eyes.  Wrong strategy.  They see the benefits, but they also see the costs.

“Sometimes you go into a conversation knowing someone’s going to come out with a certain perspective, no matter what you put before them,” Gov. Granholm said, expressing frustration. “You’re not going to be able to resolve that in one session.”

True enough, Jen.  True enough.