PrintFebruary 17, 2009
Abraham Lincoln famously said: "A house divided can not stand."
The 2009 Obama version is: "A house of cards will stand forever."
God or the Devil is in the details.
The long term problem with Obama's recent political victory the passage of the $787 Billion Dollar "stimulus bill" is that simple math proves otherwise.
Even if the bill produces the advertised 3.5 million jobs divide that number into the advertised cost of $787 Billion, this equals $224,857.14 per job. The average value of an American job is about $45,000.00 per year. ($42,500.00 - 2005)
The simple math indicates that 20% of the spending might actually stimulate the economy long term. That is, if anything tangible is produced by these jobs. Past performance would indicate that this is a very big if.
A savvier way to view this is: The $45,000 dollar job might produce $15,000 in tax revenue. This means that the best return on investment from the Government's point of view is 14.9 years. Return on investment used to be the criteria banks and business used to use in determining the economic viability of a loan or an investment.
Eighty percent or more is already down the Democrat's rat hole.
Why do you think the Bill went to K Street before the Republicans had a chance to look at it?
According to the Heritage Foundation the true cost is $3.27 Trillion. Now do the same math. The answer is $934,285.71 per job. This figure does not include the increased cost of capital to the private sector.
The truer return on investment is: 62.3 years!
The "simple math" also indicates that the Obama Administration will have to be back for another $ Trillion before the end of the year.
