Figuring Out What This Stimulus Thing Is All About
By: Doug Busselman, Executive Vice President
It’s sort of weird how something that has been talked about so much has resulted in less understanding as times goes on. Shortly after President Obama signed the stimulus legislation into law, Farm Bureau President Bob Stallman released a statement in support for the elements of the package that benefit rural America and agriculture.
In trying to sort through my own thoughts, often in response to the comments of others who are still dwelling on how this whole thing isn’t going to get us anywhere but in worse trouble…I’ve come to the conclusion that its time to move beyond the debate and into the mode of implementation.
Based on the presentations I’ve sat through in the Nevada Legislature and minor research that I’ve conducted so far – getting the stimulus into the stimulating is probably going to be even harder than getting through the legislative process that was mostly a slam-dunk of one party having little need for the “bi-partisan” effort they complained they couldn’t get.
When you’ve got the level of control that the current majority party has – you’ve only got to worry that the public is going to recognize and remember that whatever you ram through the decision process was all your idea. If it works…great! If not…how are you going to spin that?
Getting past the finger-pointing and down to the details of where we go from here, we’ve been checking into some key areas (including the ones for rural broadband, alternative energy and financial support for infrastructure repairs). The things we’ve been learning so far is that the details of how are still being worked on.
Until those pieces come together in an understandable way to carry out, there isn’t going to be much progress in stimulating anything other than more finger-pointing and rehashing whether the idea in general is any good.
As we focus on the implementation, we need to keep in our minds that the assistance being offered also comes with a responsibility. Uncle Sam, through our elected officials and professional government workers, can’t hand out anything that they didn’t get from somebody else’s pocket. When (or if) we accept those funds for assistance we must also be committed to spending what we’ve gotten in appropriate fashions.
The long-term benefit (if there will be any) from the stimulus package can only be realized to the extent that we will be able to stay alert to keeping spending steps on track with measurable benefits.
It’s sort of weird how something that has been talked about so much has resulted in less understanding as times goes on. Shortly after President Obama signed the stimulus legislation into law, Farm Bureau President Bob Stallman released a statement in support for the elements of the package that benefit rural America and agriculture.
In trying to sort through my own thoughts, often in response to the comments of others who are still dwelling on how this whole thing isn’t going to get us anywhere but in worse trouble…I’ve come to the conclusion that its time to move beyond the debate and into the mode of implementation.
Based on the presentations I’ve sat through in the Nevada Legislature and minor research that I’ve conducted so far – getting the stimulus into the stimulating is probably going to be even harder than getting through the legislative process that was mostly a slam-dunk of one party having little need for the “bi-partisan” effort they complained they couldn’t get.
When you’ve got the level of control that the current majority party has – you’ve only got to worry that the public is going to recognize and remember that whatever you ram through the decision process was all your idea. If it works…great! If not…how are you going to spin that?
Getting past the finger-pointing and down to the details of where we go from here, we’ve been checking into some key areas (including the ones for rural broadband, alternative energy and financial support for infrastructure repairs). The things we’ve been learning so far is that the details of how are still being worked on.
Until those pieces come together in an understandable way to carry out, there isn’t going to be much progress in stimulating anything other than more finger-pointing and rehashing whether the idea in general is any good.
As we focus on the implementation, we need to keep in our minds that the assistance being offered also comes with a responsibility. Uncle Sam, through our elected officials and professional government workers, can’t hand out anything that they didn’t get from somebody else’s pocket. When (or if) we accept those funds for assistance we must also be committed to spending what we’ve gotten in appropriate fashions.
The long-term benefit (if there will be any) from the stimulus package can only be realized to the extent that we will be able to stay alert to keeping spending steps on track with measurable benefits.
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