Stimulus Package – An Open Letter to Congress

I am extremely disappointed in the stimulus package that the congress has chosen to enact.

While our country’s future success does require "investment," the investment should be in business not government and in capital not social spending programs. In capitalist (not socialist) America, this typically means investment in a business’s human capital (equipping people to contribute to the success of the business), financial capacity, technology, and infrastructure that will increase FUTURE competitiveness and performance, not simply placate the “crowd.” Because placating the crowd is a politician's raison d'etre, a politician's objectivity in business decision making is highly suspect to begin with. Based upon congress’s historical performance on welfare, social security, energy, health, government’s actual track record isn't great either.

The country would be better off if government did nothing (I think the Congressional Budget Office agrees with me on this one). However, if you really have to do something, cut corporate taxes, provide ALL American workers with a payroll tax holiday, eliminate the mark to market rule, and if you are going to put us into debt, FOCUS spending money on building PROVEN energy supplies including off shore drilling, investment in refineries, building nuclear plants, and completing the Alaska natural gas pipeline.

I think that 300 million American’s are better able to direct the resources of this country than 535 elected representatives, 9 supreme court justices, and 1 president. Case in point: Where is the $78 billion dollars Congress overpaid in the first round of TARP? This is equivalent to $260 per person, or over $1,000 for a family of four. I suspect they would know where they had lost their money.