According to unelected Sen. Dean Heller …

“Three years after the trillion dollar stimulus became law, Nevadans are still struggling and our nation’s economy is still anemic. Despite promises claiming the stimulus would provide an ‘immediate jolt’ to our economy and unemployment would not rise above eight percent, too many Nevadans are out of work, underemployed or have given up looking for a job. Clearly big government and massive debt have not been the answer. It is time for Washington to focus on a pro-growth economic plan that puts our faith in the American people and not the federal government,” said Senator Dean Heller.”

Well Mr. Heller, just exactly ‘which’ stimulus would that be?  After all, there have been so many.  Let’s also remember some FACTS about the economy and why stimulus was needed in the first place.  Specifically, who started it and why it was required.  It’s no like all of this started on the current administration’s watch … it started long before this administration began and the economy handed over to the Obama administration was much worse than

March 2008
$29 Billion Stimulus Package – Wall Street Bailout
The Federal Reserve stepped in to prevent the collapse of Bear Stearns (one of the world’s largest investment banks and brokerage firms) by guaranteeing $29 billion worth of potential losses in its battered portfolio. This provided enough economic stimulus for JP Morgan Chase to take over the beleaguered firm.

May 2008
$178 Billion Stimulus Package – Average American Bailout
The U.S. Treasury provided an economic stimulus package to American taxpayers in the form of $600 economic stimulus checks for individuals and $1,200 economic stimulus payments for couples. That cost the government $100 billion, and they threw in another $68 billion in tax breaks for businesses, $8 billion to increase unemployment benefits from 26 weeks to 39 weeks, and a $4 billion economic stimulus package to be doled out to states and local municipalities to buy and rehab foreclosed properties.

July 2008
$300 Billion Stimulus Package – Homeowners Bailout
The Bush Administration committed $300 billion for 30-year fixed rate mortgages for at-risk borrowers, as well as tax credits for first-time homebuyers, who could be eligible to receive up to a $7,500 tax credit.

September 2008
$200 Billion Stimulus Package – Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Bailout
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (privately owned mortgage companies that are backed by the federal government) were about to fail, due to declining house prices and rising foreclosures. The Bush Administration stepped in with a $200 billion economic stimulus package and placed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and their $5 trillion in home loans in “temporary conservatorship,” to be supervised by the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

September 2008
$50 Billion Stimulus Package To Guarantee Money Market Funds
When the economic crisis reached a crescendo, Americans began to pull their money out of money market funds – historically considered to be the safest investment. To stop the bloodshed, the U.S. Treasury agreed to guarantee up to $50 billion, for up to a year.

September 2008
$25 Billion Stimulus Package – Automakers Bailout
In an attempt to stave off bankruptcies for the “Big 3 automakers,” the Bush Administration gave General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler $25 billion in low-interest loans.

September – November 2008
$150 Billion Stimulus Package – AIG Bailout
With the world’s largest insurance company in dire straits and 74 million clients at risk, the American government chipped in and gave AIG (American Insurance Group) $150 billion in a stimulus package that included: loans, purchase of toxic assets, and purchase of preferred shares.

October 2008
$700 Billion Stimulus Package – Banks Bailout
The Bush Administration, under the umbrella of the U.S. Treasury, committed $700 billion in economic stimulus money under TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program). By many accounts, if this economic stimulus money hadn’t been injected, credit between banks would have frozen overnight, and not only the American economy, but also the global economy, would have seized up.

So before President Obama ever took office, the Bush Administration had already dumped $1.632 Trillion into the economy trying to correct the mess they had created.  But … it wasn’t even close enough to remedy the economy which was still slipping into oblivion.

---

Enter the Obama administration and RepubliBANs in Congress who vote “NO” en bloc on any Democratic proposal to fix the mess the country found itself in.

February 2009
$787 Billion Stimulus Package – Average Americans Bailout
The Obama Administration and Congress authorized $787 billion in spending and tax cuts, primarily to create or save an estimated 3.5 million American jobs.

February 2009
$275 Billion Stimulus Package – Homeowners  & FM/FM Bailout
The Obama Administration handed out a $275 billion mortgage stimulus plan, designed to assist more than 9 million American homeowners in refinancing their home loans or averting foreclosure. Of the $275 billion stimulus, $75 billion was allotted for direct spending for keeping people in their homes, and $200 billion came in the form of additional help for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. (See above, in the July 2008 entry, for more information on the first economic stimulus package that was awarded to these mortgage giants.)

March 2009
$30 Billion Stimulus Package – AIG Bailout
The federal government intervened once again to help insurance giant AIG, this time in the form of a $30 billion loan from TARP funds. (See above in the September-November 2008 entry, for more information on other AIG bailouts.)

March 2009
$15 Billion Stimulus Package – Small Business Loans
The Obama Administration introduced a $15 billion economic stimulus venture aimed at the small business lending market to get money flowing into small business lines of credit again.

March 2009
$1 Trillion “Toxic Asset” Program – Banks Bailout
The Obama Administration launched a public-private economic stimulus venture (involving the U.S. Treasury and FDIC) to try to get toxic assets off the balance sheets of banks so that they can return to normal lending practices.

March 2009
$22 Billion Stimulus Package – Automakers Bailout
The Obama Administration extended another $22 billion in loans to Chrysler and GM, this time, with strings attached, including the firing of General Motors Chairman Rick Wagoner.

---

April 2009
$1 Trillion Stimulus Package – G-20 World Leaders Stimulus
The leaders of the 20 most powerful countries in the world (representing 85% of global economic production) convened in London and agreed to $1 trillion in economic stimulus funds, as well as tighter global financial regulations.

Important to remember:  the economy was in a NOSE DIVE.  The Bush Administration started the stimulus spending because under their watch, the economy tanked and the entire world financial system was facing a total collapse! Let’s remember where we came from (the brink of a Great Depression) and where we are now – recovering!

[contentblock id=1 img=iframe.png]