Rush Holt struggled to support the Democrat $787 billion stimulus he voted for in January 2009. Devoting barely three minutes in a 60 minute unprepared droll lecture to the audience at South Hunterdon High School on October 17th 2009, Holt falls woefully short to present any substantive results for the stimulus.

Rush Holt Stimulus Report Not Stimulating

$487,000 from $787 Billion
The total of all items Holt gave to the audience was $487,000, an amount citizens could have raised for a good cause and only .06% of the total stimulus. The number is not even enough to seed a small two person business.

New Jersey Top Federal Budget Donor State
For the 10 years Rush Holt has held his elected office, New Jersey is the top donor State contributing to the Federal budget. New Jersey sends more money to DC than it gets back or approximately $0.61 of federal spending for every $1.00 sent.

The statistics Holt provided supports that fact. New Jersey is a revenue generator for the Democrat spending programs where the money goes elsewhere in the country short changing the worst cities in the US: Trenton, Elizabeth, Camden, Newark and “so forth” to use a favorite Holt lecture phrase. In these places children and family lives are destroyed decade after decade without hope, a compassionate reason to vote the Democratic party out and particularly intellectual elites like Rush Holt. New Jersey could do better keeping the money here instead of the round trip to DC that reduces it to shavings thrown to the air.

Stimulus Lie #1: Jobs Are Being Created
Democrats are working talking points to support the stimulus at town halls to see if they stick. Holt was unable to identify a single permanent job in his report, although he did say his report was representative of what New Jersey got from the stimulus. After outlining a list of items that excluded any permanent job he summarizes with a huge generalization that misses tax outgo to DC.

“That is just kinda of a sampling of the billions of dollars that has come to New Jersey”.

Of course Holt, 60+ yrs, is a trained physics professor who has no record of working for private industry less creating a job or knows what it takes to maintain a job except for how he appears to project his own elected position as a job. However he clearly believes jobs are being created.

“There is no question that money is being spent and jobs are being created.”

His statement was followed by a tell tale shrugged shoulders without any specifics.

Government Stimulus Stimulating Government
The entire list of items Holt presented were for Government. One for the police in Frenchtown, most for schools and two for government funded programs. All dwindling taxpayer dollars to government to government. Nothing listed helped the private sector or the New Jersey economy as evidenced by the September 9.8% unemployment rate.

For the school stimulus, none of the grants equated to an amount to fund a permanent teaching position and at most only could support lower paid teacher aide or temporary work. This assumes the schools actually spend the money on staff as he was not clear on how it was tied to actual sustainable jobs. All school money went to Special Education where schools often used aides and other lower cost personnel to juggle the amorphous very costly student units. Nothing long term economically stimulating about any item listed.

Stimulus Resurrects a Speed Trap?
The largest payout went to Frenchtown. I travel NJ route 29 starting in Frenchtown to Trenton for 30 years. About 5 or perhaps 10 years back, the local speed trap at the start of 29 in Frenchtown disappeared. On my recent trip to Trenton for the Citizens for NJ Assembly announcement on September 30th  I was surprised to see the speed trap again, perhaps funded from stimulus. The $200,000 money given to Frenchtown would best support such function for 1 year given the salary, the health cost, NJ pension contributions and overhead for equipment. At best this is a token amount that administrators surely appreciate as a single budget year bonus, but not one that enhances revenue for Frenchtown to continue the budget item.

Stimulus Lie #2: Effects Won’t Be Known For Years
The next talking point trial balloon Holt pushed on the audience is “hindsight” as a safe false argument.

“I think the effect of this spending won’t be known for some years.You know economists are always better retrospectively than they are prospectively. The initial signs are [pause] I’d guess I say mixed.”

Holt Expounds on Hoplessness to Gauge Stimulus Effects Until Far In Future

This brings into question all Government spending New Jersians are asked to support. From the viewpoint of today we do see retrospectively Government spending has been wasteful and did not live up to the promises argued. Thus we can conclude beforehand the stimulus failed even before it was voted into law.

Indeed we can see a specific measurable future effect. The stimulus is contributing to a $1.5 trillion dollar deficit and the total US debt of $350,000 for every American. That does impact everyone long after Holt retires.

These positions question our ability to see money spent from the stimulus going to ongoing sustainable activities other than debt interest. Holt believes we cannot tell what happened in the present or at least he uses the “hindsight is better” clique on the audience.

Also the blanket charge that all economists miss the mark is a leap of faith demonstrating a childish argument for the scientist Holt characterized himself at the opening of his lecture. As if talking to a mob with a blinded single mindset he misses the fact his audience has intelligence and knows the weakness of using “all” to make a conclusion. Many economists predicted the sub prime failure and testified in Congress long before that calamity happened. His job is to make the decisions based on that data and he failed.

Stimulus Lie #3: What Would Have Happened Without It

Holt, after coming up short on specific jobs or job counts created from stimulus money, used another false argument that cannot be proven.

“The question is ‘what would have happened without it’”.

He proceeds to cite Goldman Sachs who received $12 billion in bailouts from the Federal Government through TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program).

“You know it is interesting the Goldman Sachs economists … say for example April May and June, most recent quarter … for which the data are available, instead of a 1% slow economy it would have been 4% [down?]“.

He had to again shrug his shoulders with vocal pauses as there was no audience response because common sense tells you this is something you expect from your teenager explaining a mistake with confusion and obfuscation.

Holt Uses What If To Justify $787 Billion Failed Stimulus

Less we forget the Federal bailout billions paid to the financial sector as TARP in addition to the stimulus. Perhaps the question is would there have been big economic and employment growth if we did not spend the stimulus.  That argument is equally as true without the troubling evidence that the stimulus failed as yet another Big Government wasteful program.

Holt Dishonorable and Disconnected
Set aside the lies made over the results of the stimulus, Holt dishonors the post he fills. An honorable representative would break from the party line and be honest to the constituents. Only reason I can see for his need to adhere to false arguments unbecoming of a scientist, is that this is a job he would not want to lose and that only the Democrat control over New Jersey and his election will guarantee for him. Holt appears to be a 60+ year old youngster that never had the opportunity to perform in society and lived his life in a protected world from economic realities of the communities he serves.

Diane Sawyer business math for Government computes a loss as profit on ABC News 9/2/09.

$4 Billion Profit excludes National Debt 6% Interest To Raise $205 Billion Borrowed

This amateurish analysis lacks depth and basic business math skills.

The set’s TV screen on outset of the piece shows “Follow The Money”. But how far was the money followed? Not as far as to compute profit or loss.

The information presented neglects the cost of the US borrowing the money for Tarp at 6% from other nations such as China. Subtract about $10 Billion for interest for about 9 months.

Then subtract the administrative overhead to create the legislation such as lawyers hired to write it who are not the low end of the US wage scale. Take out the administrative costs needed to manage Tarp.

Now we have a loss except for one item a business lending the money has that the Federal Government does not. That is income tax on any profit. But maybe not. The loss gets added to the National Debt that continues to accrue interest. That interest eventually requires private sector profit to be taxed.

Diane confuses Government as a profit entity. Government is a profit consumer.

Playing on the words of CNBC Jim Cramer WE EARNED NOTHING! NOTHING!

This lack of the simple business math is why Government and TV slugs do not run a business. Here is the formula for the business wizards at ABC News:

Income – Costs (ALL OF THEM)  = profit or loss.

Simple rule to remember ABC: Government it is always ALWAYS a loss and never a profit. It just cannot because it creates no wealth, just uses it or confiscates it.