What is the Rush on the "Stimulus" Bill? Slow Down and Look This Over!

The screaming headlines and urgent sound bites declaring that Congress has to pass an "economic stimulus" bill right this second or the world will collapse into an eon of darkness and chaos reminds me way too much of slick sales tactics used to put something over on unwary buyers.

For example: A couple of decades ago a close associate was being pressured into buying a car. He said the salesman was a really good guy who was always really nice to him and wouldn't screw him over. He was sure of it.

I didn't like the rush job the salesman was putting on my associate, and said so. I was accused of being over-protective. So I said, "Tell him no. Then see what kind of reaction you get."

My associate reluctantly did as I suggested. The salesman turned into an ogre. My associate looked elsewhere and ultimately got a better car at a better price and drove it for quite a few years before moving on.

I now would like to suggest that since Congress is very nearly listening to the American public - a composite aggregation of the entire 300 million of us which every single politician in Washington claims to have a direct line to - the three turncoat Republicans who are helping foist this fiasco on us should stop for just a moment and say "No."

The Obama Administration is acting like an unscrupulous car salesman, trying to hustle the public into accepting this package without even looking under the hood. Obama and his minions are praising them, but let's see what happens if they say no, just to see the reaction.

Senators Snowe, Collins and Specter are selling out the Republican Party, hoping that in their apparently too-Democratic leaning states they will have more goodwill than animosity from voters who in a few years might forget how they voted.

These three turncoats claim that the "stimulus" bill is necessary and they are on their guard to catch any programs that won't really help the economy.

Well, based on the news coming out so far, this package is loaded with junk that won't help the economy. There is so much social engineering money in this bill - intended to change the political and financial landscape of the entire country - that it could run many third world countries for decades.

We have heard that there is money to redirect medical funding for the elderly - permitting the government to decide who will get what kind of treatment, and ultimately, who will live and who will die.

But I was told just recently that there also is money in this bill to implant sensors in school children, or at least their backpacks, so Big Brother Obama can know in an instant where they are. This will be especially helpful if the "stimulus" bill contains enough money to "stimulate" his plans to create a national police force, equal in size, equipment and funding to the American military.

This will be especially helpful if his national police want to track down recalcitrant high schoolers who haven't done their required period of community service.

If we can find out these things in just a few days, imagine what we will discover if there is time for a legion of taxpayers and voters to really peruse this illusion.

We are just three votes shy of putting a halt to this travesty, and we need some time to determine whether we really are looking at a possible economic stimulus or, as many others are claiming, a pork ridden spending spree that will once again benefit the few at the expense of the many.

Let this bill be handled the way bills should be handled. With plenty of time for close inspection, plenty of time for "spirited debate" as they like to say in DC, and plenty of time for the real "American public" to scrutinize every facet of it before contacting their Senators and Representatives to voice their opinions.

There is an adage among sales people that once you have sold a customer, "get the money off the table." The reasoning behind this is that if you have a down payment or even a full payment in your hands, leaving it in plain sight could result in the buyer having second thoughts.

Poker players know this rule as "never count your money, while you're sitting at the table" as Kenny Rogers noted in his song The Gambler.

It is clear that the Obama Administration, aided and abetted by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate President Harry Reid and their minions, is working feverishly to get the money off the table. Pass the bill, sign it into law quickly, and then commandeer the airwaves and American Terrorist Media to crow about its benefits even if the country is being flushed down the sewer - that is the plan.

Lest we forget, the economy first went into a tailspin because the housing market collapsed. But the housing market collapsed because ages-old safeguards that were put into place during the Roosevelt Administration to prevent just this situation were removed by Presidents carter and Clinton, and Congress speeded the deterioration by forcing banks to make loans to people who had no means to repay them.

I am not for a moment going to claim that this was entirely a Democratic engineered situation because there were far too many Republicans involved. But it was wrong, it is wrong, and dumping a larger pile of money on top of a burning pile of money in hopes that it will smother the fire just doesn't seem viable.

The stock market tanked yesterday after Obama's plan passed the Senate and went back to the House for rework. That should tell us something about how the business world views this proposal.

It is time for Senators and Congressmen of all political persuasions who really care about America to put the brakes on before this out-of-control train becomes a train wreck. Hold up this package for full scrutiny, let's see it in the harsh light of dawn and decide whether it is a be-all, end-all economic miracle, or just another piece of DC legislation that further erodes the rights of the America populace and sells our children into economic slavery.

It's easy. Two letters, one word. Just say no!