« The NRSC's Opening Salvo of 2010 | Main | Thought Police »

February 07, 2009

Tax cuts = Conservative "pork"

Tax cuts are an inefficient mechanism of economic stimulus. As such their inclusion in the current stimulus plan amounts to pork for rightwingers more interested in pandering than in averting a monumental economic crisis.

But, pork was inserted by liberals too. Increased family planning access is arguably beneficial, but would that really do much to stimulate the economy? I don't see how. So why was it inserted into the stimulus bill if it is only conservatives who are being disingenuous about economic stimulus?

The centrist Eye on Oregon blog posits two criteria by which effective economic stimulus ought to be judged here in Oregon and which I would suggest all such stimulus projects nationwide ought to be judged:

...a project that (1) would put men and women to work and (2) would be a long term investment in Oregon.

I submit that both of these criteria have historically been proven effective. Here in Oregon we need look no further to see the embodiment of both criteria than Timberline Lodge on the slopes of Mt. Hood. Built at the height of the Great Depression in the 1930s, it was ordered built by President Roosevelt via the Works Progress Administration with the goal of putting hundreds of Oregonians to work while simultaneously creating a long-term investment in the region which we continue to reap the rewards of some seventy years later and, barring a catastrophe, will continue do so for generations to come.

As the Friends of Timberline website puts it,

Construction workers at the lodge probably numbered about one hundred at any given time, but the jobs were rotated (except for highly skilled workers) in order to give work to as many of the unemployed as possible.

But it was more than just about putting people to work. As E. J. Griffith, State WPA Administrator at the time put it,

"The Timberline Lodge project was distinctly an experiment...to get away from the leaf raking type of project; and this was the spark that fired the imagination of those who planned Timberline Lodge... It was to be a monument to the skill and industry of the unemployed and it is a monument the world will have to acknowledge."

Now is not the time to be playing partisan politics with our economy on the ropes. Congressional Democrats and Republicans alike need to have their feet held to the fire. Giving "our side" a pass because they're on "our side" makes us complicit no matter how loudly we point fingers and scream about the "other side" and their shenanigans.

President Obama needs and deserves our staunch support in keeping Congress focused on the point of the exercise!

Posted by Kevin at February 7, 2009 03:20 PM