Friday night my family and I watched the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 in the Senate on C-SPan2. I’m not sure if you’ve seen the passage of a bill before, but it is a crazy process. Everyone is trying to argue their point and make deals to get their bill passed. Needless to say the President didn’t get his wish on a bipartisan passage of the recovery act because both sides wanted their version of the bill to be passed. While it was interesting, it was kind of sad to see grown people act like kids because they didn’t get their way. Where is the working together to get things done? Where’s the compromise? Isn’t that what America wanted?

While sitting there, I had to think, what would I do with a little extra stimulus money? It was a pretty easy question to answer because I had a couple of times under the Bush Administration to do it. I have to admit, I wasn’t a good American because I used it to pay bills. I know the Republicans were counting on me “stimulate” the economy, but I had bills to pay. I guess in some way it helped because the electric, phone and water companies were able to get their money. Tax cuts and checks are great, but that can’t be the only solution. Even if I were to go out and spend a little money on something, how much of it would be on American made products anyway?

I don’t know whether the ARRA will work or not, but at least it’s a step in a different direction. The ideas of the past haven’t improved much, so let’s give it a try and pray things get better. If you would like to review and comment on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, it’s posted on the White House website for all to see.

ARRA Public Review

Text of the Conference Report — Division A
Text of the Conference Report — Division B
Joint Explanatory Statement — Division A
Joint Explanatory Statement — Division B