Opinion - Aug. 6, 2009

It is hard to tell how much stimulus money is out there. Billions and billions of dollars for sure. Commitments may actually run into the trillions.

Not so long ago, people used to say “a billion, with a “B.” It was to avoid misunderstandings and to emphasize the amount.

Now, a billion does not sound like much at all.

Congress is sure to give a couple of billion more this week for the “cash for clunkers” program, where the federal government gives money when old vehicles are traded in for newer ones that get better fuel mileage. The billion dollar limit was reached in just days. A couple more billion will surely be added to the program.

Billions have been allocated to mortgage adjustment programs. Billions have been given in tax breaks. Billions have been handed out to save financial institutions. Billions are going to “shovel ready” construction projects, most of which can be considered normal maintenance items. Billions are going to extended unemployment insurance. Billions have bought a stake in a number of private companies.

Even with all this money being pumped into the economy, we may be short of a vaccine for the anticipated swine flu outbreak this fall, simply because we cannot produce enough in this country for domestic use, and the producing countries, in the event of a dramatic outbreak, may control its distribution for their own citizens. Already, one health official predicts that priority allocations of the vaccine will go to those under 64 years of age.

Recent reports indicate that some of the stimulus spending is making a difference and that certain sectors of the economy are improving. At least a portion of the billions and billions have helped. As more money flows into the economy, aside from the debt being generated, more economic recovery may follow.

Still, as the situation with the country’s ability to produce a simple vaccine, all this will come to naught if fundamental priorities cannot be met.

The stimulus programs have been unleashed and will not be recalled. Talk of more, however, needs to be tempered with considerations of other needs.

Gordon Forgey

Publisher