"Mystery Meat" of Stimulus Bill May be the Right Food for Economic Growth

Compromise has been part of American government since the time of the writing of the Constitution, and can not be eliminated now. When making a Constitution, the Founding Fathers knew that there was no way to create a document that would suit everyone perfectly; however, they understood the importance of having even an imperfect government over no government at all. In today’s society, making a stable American government is no longer the greatest concern, but compromise is still just as necessary. In times of economic crisis, it is necessary to pass some form of stimulus, even if it must include some earmarks. The greatest concern was ensuring that the $787 billion dollar stimulus bill made it through Congress, and in order for this to have happened, it required an enormous amount of cooperation that could only have been achieved with the additions of “pork spending.” Perhaps it is best to look at the original guidelines for stimulus, laid out by “the intellectual godfather of all economic-stimulus plans, economist John Maynard Keynes.” (1) In dealing with the greatest economic crisis of all time, the Great Depression, he understood the foremost issue was ensuring that government money was given back to the people, no matter how it was spent. In fact, he believed that the government could simply “fill old bottles with banknotes, bury them at suitable depths in disused coal mines, which are then filled up to the surface with town rubbish, and leave it to private enterprise on well-tried principles of laissez-faire to dig the notes up again." (1) While this is one extreme, it is evident that America needs whatever it can get for help right now. Besides, with the abundant criticism for the “pet projects,” many citizens fail to realize that these additions to the original bill may be just as useful as the original bill itself. For instance, the “almost $2 million for swine odor and manure management for Tom Harkin” (2) will surely provide an increase in labor need in his area, helping to diminish the rapidly growing unemployment statistics. While the stimulus bill is meant to assist the nation as a whole, many of the earmarks proposed are more specific and therefore can be more efficient for jumpstarting the economy. In North Carolina, Rep. Larry Kissell argues for the manufacturing of TSA uniforms in his own state, instead of in foreign countries including Honduras and Mexico. He states that, “The immediate impact would be to bring the assembly work to the U.S., which would create jobs," (3) and the economic boost that his state would receive could eventually spread around the nation. At least this gives the U.S. a sense of hope that there is a rebound in the economy, and may lead to higher levels of spending. Furthermore, some of the so-called pork spending is only meant to fix past legislations’ mistakes. For instance, one part of the bill is meant to give Medicare funding to three hospitals that did not receive it under a former bill. Rep. Larson’s spokeswoman, Emily Barocas, made it clear that “the measure fixes a mistake in a previous law that unintentionally excluded the three hospitals.” (3) Clearly, this is not a selfish act being made on the part of Congressman Larson. Instead of looking so scrupulously at the pet projects included in the stimulus bill, perhaps it is best to look at the scope of the bill as a whole. There is no hiding the fact that the U.S. is in a crisis of great magnitude, and it is probably best to have projects that reach out to every aspect of the economy so that everyone can get their share of the “pork.”
1- Justin Fox, Will Obama's Stimulus Package Work?, 9 January 2009, http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1870575,00.html


2- 8000 Credit.org, Stimulus Package Pork Spending, 1 March 2009, http://www.8000credit.org/150/


3- ProPublica.org, In the Stimulus Bill: An Earmark by Any Other Name, 5 February 2009, http://www.propublica.org/feature/welcome-in-the-stimulus-bill-an-earmark-by-any-other-name