Adding Fiscal Insult to Budget Injury

A recent poll, conducted in early January, shows that the America pepole are catching on to the stimulus scam. Three-fourths of respondents believe that at least one-half of the money has been wasted. Here's a brief excerpt from the CNN story, which includes a rather bizarre assertion that the stimulus represented a "cost to the government." Actually, the so-called stimulus was a shot-in-the-arm to government. The burden of all the new spending is borne by the economy today and taxpayers in the future:

Nearly three out of four Americans think that at least half of the money spent in the federal stimulus plan has been wasted, according to a new national poll. A CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Monday morning also indicates that 63 percent of the public thinks that projects in the plan were included for purely political reasons... the program, formally known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, attempts to stimulate the country's economy...at a total cost to the government of $787 billion.

But it gets worse. According to the new CBO budget numbers, Obama's boondoggle proposal actually will cost $75 billion more than he said last year (typical mistake with government budgeting, yet we're somehow supposed to believe his fatuous claims that a giant new healthcare entitlement will reduce the deficit). By the way, this doesn't count the added interest on the debt from all this new spending, so the actual cost of the so-called stimulus is more than $1 trillion - and rising. And as this AP story notes, there's more bad news since the Senate is crafting a second "stimulus" to waste another $82.5 billion:

Last year's $787 billion economic stimulus bill is going to be even more expensive — $75 billion more. The new Congressional Budget Office estimate, released Tuesday, provides more ammunition for Republicans who say the stimulus has been long on spending and short on creating promised jobs. ...Democrats are pressing for another stimulus measure and top Senate Democrats have drafted an $82.5 billion jobs plan that would help small businesses, boost spending on road construction and mass transit, and give local governments money to retain teachers.