Two practical questions.

As of now, the House has passed the $787,000,000,000.00 so called stimulus bill. The Senate is awaiting the return of Ohio Democrat Sherrod Brown who was at his late mother’s memorial service before voting on it. http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D96AU3H80&show_article=1  Odds favor Senators Collins,  http://collins.senate.gov/public/ Snowe http://snowe.senate.gov/public/and Specter  http://specter.senate.gov/public/  continuing to vote with the Democrats on this bill. Most likely it is going to pass.

I have two simple questions to ask.

Questions #1 is:  How will we know whether or not the so called stimulus plan actually did what it was supposed to accomplish?  By what standards will the success of the plan be judged?  If the Congress was run by people who understood the scientific method, there would have been some device implanted in the so called stimulus bill to allow policy analysts, wonks and social scientists of various types to judge whether it worked so that future policy makers would have the benefit of their (and our) experiences to guide them.

Question #2:  Who is going to get stuck with the tab for the so called stimulus bill if it proves to be a bust?  I ask this question because the overwhelming consensus in the academic Economics community is strongly against the bill.  http://www.cato.org/fiscalreality 

I am being coy here. I know who is going to get stuck with the tab. I am. You are. Our children and grandchildren are all going to work long and hard hours to pay for this so called stimulus bill that was rushed through the Congress before anyone had had an opportunity to read it.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvnwOjDjnH4

Is the kind of change that we want to leave to the next generation? What hope is there for us all if our leaders pass laws that they do not even bother to read?