YOUR COMMENTS

Kirk from Raymond - you're willing to have the government its size to the tune of 1 trillion dollars in 3 weeks for an 'IF'?
- John II, Manchester

This bill is a complete waste of time and more importantly, MONEY!
50 million for the arts, 335 million for S.T.D prevention, tens of millions for ACORN type groups etc etc. This is not stimulus but a catch all for every democrats favorite cause! Less than 20% (per White House press scrty) is for infrastructure spending and almost none of it is "shovel ready" because there is no such thing! Why are they in such a hurry to pass a bill when most of the money will not be spent for three or four years?
Come on liberals, supporting this bill just because your party is pusing it is silly!
- Jesse, Orford

If the stimulus bill is passed, the US will be taking on a load of debt that mortgages our future. We are sacrificing our children's futures on something that will not work! If he signs the bill, Obama ensures his defeat in 2010.
- Brian Murphy, Fairfield, Connecticut

There's now a lot of buyer's remorse among all the poor hapless sycophants who put these criminals in office. These crooks should all be impeached and tossed just like Mr. Blago himself was. Don't even wait for the next election...

Our founding fathers warned us not to hand our financial business over to international bankers and yet, now we only get presidents who work for these people, people who want to control everything and 'equalize' the world's economies for the 'good of mankind' while causing stress and strife for the rest of us by manipulating our economies and markets so they can elect their boy.

It's disgusting and I'm surprised there are not riots in the streets with those who have lost their shirts.

The 16th amendment needs to be repealed, even if merely de facto.
- Sue, Manchester

The easiest way to stimulate the economy is to cut payroll taxes for business and tax payers substantially. President Obama needs to tell Nancy Pelosi that he has the 70% approval rating , not her! He won the election for the Democrats; he needs to tell Pelosi what needs to be in the stimulus, and if it isn't there by the time the equally low rated Senate gets done with it, he needs to show some chutzpah and veto it!
- Don, Winsted, CT

Ah well, it's refreshing to note that the granite state has just as many idiots as the rest of the country. At least every other comment is ripe with nonsense. Not opinions mind you, one can have dumb ones of those as one wishes, but the manglilng of facts to suit ones desired outcome is right on the mark.

Here I thought we had a more informed citizenry in these New England states. Not so it seems.
- Jean Bainger, Scranton, Pennsylvania

To LJC, Manchester, lets do a quick Civics 101 review.

Congress (Legislature) controls all spending authorizations.

Executive branch (POTUS) ultimately has little say in spending unless he (she) asks "Nicely"

Liberal Myth 101: Clinton balanced the budget.....see above. The Republicans were in control of Congress when THEY balanced the budget by cutting a great many of Clinton's wasteful proposals....you may recall it was Clinton that attempted to shove Socialized Medicine down out throats the first time.

Liberal Myth 102: Reagan ran up the deficit. See above once again. The Democrats were in control of Congress while Reagan was in office....hence the Democrats ran up the deficit.
- JP, Warner

Hey Dan, The GOP did not "overwhelmingly" pass the Bailout Bill. The vast majority voted against it (twice). This misnamed stimulus bill would better be called Democrat political payoff bill of 2009. This is old Washington style politics on steroids. The fact that President Barak Obama didn't call congress out on their infidelity to the American people in their time of need shows him to be just another political hack loyal first to his party and its supporters.
- Peter, Seattle

"I love watching so-called conservatives blame the federal debt on the Democrats. When Reagan was elected in 1980 the federal debt was less than $1T. When George W. Bush took office it was $5.7T. At the end of his term last week, the debt was $10.7T. And had it not been for Clinton balancing the budget in the late 1990s this number would no doubt be much higher.
- LJC, Manchester"

LJC, where do you get this notion that conservatives blame Democrats on the debt? What is your source for this? Both parties are to blame. Both parties are for having a safety net for the poor and unemployed. This is not wholly owned by Democrats. It's true Republicans spent money like drunken sailors the whole time they were in power, but at least they blew their wad on defense spending which creates jobs immediately and has a return on the investment by keeping us safe. The Democrats on the other hand, wanted to spend even more money on top of what Republicans wanted to spend. You can take that to the bank, just check out the congressional record. This so-called "Stimulus Bill" shows what the Democrat's spending priorities really are: Payoff to special interests, labor unions and squandering money on fixing up libraries, and laying down sod at federal buildings. This will hardly jump start the private sector.
- Jeff, Andover, MN

The Messiah, Obama, is having trouble to fill out his cabinet position.

The best solution would be to OUTSOURCE the cabinet secretaries.

Because if you listen to the democraps, they are the best and brightest people for the respective positions. REALLY????

No wonder what kind of scoundrel they are in the first place.

Based on their clueless brains, they have come up with this stimulus package which is nothing but shenanigan by the democraps, crooks and the fraud, Messiah Obama.

This stimulus package should be stopped immediately.

Just think about the following. Why are the democraps and the fraud, Messiah asking the congress to pass the fraud bill so hurry??

They know that they have to come back to the congress again to get more money to bail-out the banking system and who knows...........



That's all I have to say about these gang of scoundrel.
- CuriousObserver, Houston, TX

The editorial sneers at the $89 billion included in the stimulus package for Medicaid even as New Hampshire legislators eye cutting all optional Medicaid payments to cover a $200 million budget shortfall.

If the Union Leader is opposed to government assisted healthcare of any sort, it should just say so. Don't pretend that additional Medicaid funding is not needed by the state and its citizens.

The editorial is pure ideological claptrap. If Medicaid funding were not included, the Union Leader would next object to raising taxes to cover the budget shortfall.
- Doug, Portsmouth, NH

To Kirk, Raymond.
Exactly what is Obama's plan?
Also not everyone who disagrees with you is a "right wing nut". Unless you consider Democratic Senator Ben Nelson a right Wing nut.
- TL Honeycutt, Greenville NC

This 'stimulus' bill is a product of the ills in politics I tried to highlight in my Presidential campaign. We elect career politicians whose sole mission is to solidify their career and make money. Look at the former Senator Daschle and his tax problems - and his huge payday after he left office. We don't have statesmen in office and we won't until we end all salaries, benefits and pensions at the federal level. New Hampshire is a shining example of people who serve for the honor and duty of public service. If we had that at the federal level, we wouldn't have this mess nor the huge debt we are leaving to our children. We need honest, capable, honorable people to serve; not the political moneymen masquerading as public servants.
- John Cox, Chicago, Illinois

Only about half this bill could be considered ligitimate by any stretch of the imagination. The other half is a malicious scam to defraud the American people.

Nancy Pelosi has loaded this emergency stimulus package with $400billion in irresposible spending that is neither stimulative nor urgent.

Pelosi includes this disreputable spending in an emergency bill to avoid the normal scrutiny by the American people and the spending rules and due diligence by Congress that would most likely result in those items being disapproved.

Congress should reject this underhanded attempt to distort the process by removing the corruption (those things that are neither stimulative nor urgent) from the emergency bill.
- Mike Sorensen, Las Vegas

Dan: The TOTAL cost of the US wars in Iraq AND Afghanistan are less than the $825 BILLION bill that the House passed this week.
- Bob, Sudan

1. Suggest an incentive to employers to hire unemployed U.S. Citizens under which the employer receives 25% of the first-year compensation costs if the employee works the full year, is full-time position, the average salary of all employees for the employer increases and the employee count for the employer increases over the calendar year.

IRS already has the baseline prior-year data for all tax compliant employers in its BMF / Business Master Files.

This would also increase business tax compliance and, over time, massively increase tax revenue and would increase full-time employment jobs.

Includes first hire for new employer and includes international employers so long as the above requirements are met, including full-time, U.S. citizen employee, new-hire from unemployed.

After all, isn't the purpose of incentives to increase employment of U.S. Citizens?

2. Suggest incentive to attract innovative/inventors who are highly skilled professionals in science, physics, chemistry, biological sciences, engineering, energy, health care.. to immigrate into USA.

If we can entice 25 million of such profiles, we will win the race for innovation, and, at the same time, end the housing crisis and budget deficits because these folks buy homes, are highly compensated and pay taxes.

Ken
- Ken, Hyattsville, MD

I love watching so-called conservatives blame the federal debt on the Democrats. When Reagan was elected in 1980 the federal debt was less than $1T. When George W. Bush took office it was $5.7T. At the end of his term last week, the debt was $10.7T. And had it not been for Clinton balancing the budget in the late 1990s this number would no doubt be much higher.
- LJC, Manchester

The one thing this so-called stimulus package is guaranteed to do is hasten the inevitable demise of the US Dollar.

Buy gold now folks, or later wish you had.
- Mark, Amherst

Not a positive idea in the bunch. All these wing nut conservatives have to say is no, no, can't do that, won't work let's go back to the time that never was. We don't have problems, eight years of greed was not our fault we're blameless, don't do anything I have figured out how to game this system and if you change it, I'll have to figure our new ways to get free money from the government. Did you see the $18 billion that Wall Street gave itself for screwing up our economy. That is a conservative program.
- William, Deerfield

To: JD

You write:

"Billions to rich wall street
Billions to special interested
Stealing our children's future for our greed today; the new motto of the Democrat Party."

In fact, TARP (pushed by GWB and passed overwhlemingly by the GOP last Fall) gave billions to Wall Street and 'special interests'. GWB's war in Iraq is also contributing pretty significantly towards the theft of "our children's future".

The Dems may not be innocent of catering to special interests, but they certainly aren't alone.
- Dan, Auburn

Thank you for stating the truth that many Americans refuse to see, I am so sick of looking at the smug democrats on tv, Pelosi and her band of tax spending liberals. Our nation is in for "change" alright, from #1 to dead last!
- JHolden, Manchester, NH

I agree with Bob from Wilton. What caught my eye about the article was the $4.6 Bil for employment and training programs. Unless this money is intended to be recieved directly by employers to train new hires on-site OR used directly for college programs, then it is a waste and desiged to support kickbacks, abuse, waste and fraud in proprietary programs. Non-college programs are also approved and licensed by the state but there is no monitoring of programs or curricula. I was a person who was fed to these programs right from the unemployment office. We are to select one from their recommended short list. The details of the scam were revealed to the survey company that called me. The company is still out there.

I eventually found a job and was trained on the job. I wasted alot of time, effort and thousands of dollars by accepting a training program marketed by the employment counselors.
- Meredith, Manchester

JP in Warner: I did not claim that the Republicans had helped write H.R. 1. I said that many provisions they insisted on were incorporated in the bill. Those provisions, the tax cut in particular, are what CBO objects to. Go to Thomas.gov at the Library of Congress and check out the version the Democrats introduced and what finally passed. You will see much GOP mischief.
- LJC, Manchester

jeez, what are all you right wing wack jobs going to say if Obama's plan works?
- Kirk, Raymond

Vincent, get your facts in order:
Roberts said, ". . . that I will execute the office of the president of the United States faithfully ..." in stead of: ". . . that I will faithfully execute the office of the president of the United . . ." Roberts had left out "faithfully" until the end. You don't transpose words in a quotation from the Constitution. You blame this on Obama? Did you also not here that Roberts ran into Obama later and said :My bad:. (Note the quotation marks!) Yes, I used the exact same words, I didn't switch them to "bad my" and attribute them to Roberts.
But really, why do you care about this? I didn't until you decided facts weren't important.
- Chip, Wilton

Mr. Letourneau, thanks for a specific and factual response. But I view Mitt Romney as the candidate who, in Mass., got the tax man to not just check what we earn but how we spend it--on suitable health insurance, which must cover abortions, though Romney pandered to pro-lifers. Romney's campaign failed solely because his message kept shifting--and there is a reason for that! Am not buying the excuse about the things he was "forced" to do because Mass. was his domain--am holding out for candidates whose actions are not at odds with their political persona.
- Spike, Brentwood NH

Obama and company are thus far exceeding my wildest expectations. Alternative lifestyle minister at the inauguration, blundered swearing in faulted on Judge Roberts when it was clearly Obama's mistake first, a repeat swearing in without a Bible, future closing of Gitmo without a plan of action based in reality, executive order to reinstate public dollars for family planning centers internationally that provide abortion services, a first presidental interview not to the American citizens but rather to the Islamic world apoligizing for the USA, a corrupt tax evader Geitner aproved as Treasury secretary and now a very unstimulating stimulus package.
This package is designed for one thing only, make as many people as possible beholding to the federal government in order to solidify the democrat party power in perpetuity. The more people there are that receive something from the federal government, the more democrat votes in the future.
It is time for the sheeple who voted in these bums in to become aware of what is happeneing to our Country. Please read what is in the Obama stimulus plan and wake up for the sake of our children.
- Vincent Caruana, Bedford NH

To LJC, Manchester, You would be well served by checking your facts.

The House Republicans did not have any "say" in the writing of the Pork-ulus Bill as it was wholly written by the Speaker of the House and House Democrats.

The CBO has also been highly critical of this bill so what does that tell you?

Simply put...its a bad bill and wrong for the US....I agree that Congress should do the right thing and defeat this bill in the Senate.
- JP, Warner

If I had a business in the DC area, I would have one of those air scents that smelled like money. I'd have every politician drawn to my place like flies to dead meat.
- Marc, Derry

New Hampshire holds a high position of considerable responsibility for handing power to people who have little clue or consideration for real problems and real soltutions, at both state and federal levels.

Our own voters are among the country's most deluded.

Sad.
- Bob, Wilton

The stimulus bill is a mess, mostly because of Mr. Obama's attempts to get the GOP on board. The Republicans insisted on dumb changes to the bill then voted against it anyway. It is time for the President and the Democrats in Congress to ignore the "just say no" party and do what is right for the country.
- LJC, Manchester

Fraud committed against the American people, come on... this isn't anything new either by Republicans or Democrats. I am surprised it even makes the front page anymore. I wish our new president well, and pray he can turn this mess we are in around. He needs to concentrate on American, and forget about all those people that funneled millions for him to be elected, it's the pay back that gets you everytime.
- Pat VanDenBerghe, Manchester, Nh

Billions to rich wall street
Billions to special interested
Stealing our children's future for our greed today; the new motto of the Democrat Party.
- JD, Nashua

What I think the editorial should have hit on also is that the 12% of stimulus won't enter the economy until around election time in 2010, with the rest coming in around 2011 and 2012 right in time for the general election. I find the double talk by the Obama administration amazing. They have changed their position and are now talking about saving 3-4 million jobs, when last week the stimulus was supposed to create 3-4 million new jobs. Talk about scare tactics.
- Don Rubby, Exeter, NH

This pork-filled payback to voters who elected Obama, plus the gutting of our intelligence services and the socialism of our country virtually insure that the Messiah will be a one-term president. I hope we survive it.
- Paul, Hampton, NH

This isn't a Stimulus package but rather a "Pork-ulus" Package to pay back the Unions, ACORN and expand Entitlement Programs.

The Congressional Budget Office even gave this bill a scathing/skeptical review.

I just hope that at least ONE of our Senators has the Integrity that the House Republicans had in opposing this wasteful/deceptive spending.
- JP, Warner

Spike, we had a real chance at change with Gov. Romney. He was the only chance we had with the economy. Romney knew how to curb spending and bring the budget back into reality. We blew it. Now our kids will pay!
- Bob Letourneau, Derry

Left leaning politicians have long favored making the US into a European-style semi-socialist state. The present economic situation is the fulcrum allowing them to do just that putting more and more of the economy in the hands of government and creating such public debt that future increases in taxation is a must.

What allows them to do this is the citizenry that has no willingness to endure pain and no understanding of or concern for long term consequences.

I fear that the US many of us knew and loved is quickly passing away.
- Chabis, Peterborough

In 1990, George H.W. Bush caved, gave the Democrats the tax increase they had begged for. They then called him a liar ("read my lips!") for the rest of his public life. We VOTED FOR CHANGE and, in 1993, with a weepy line about how he had never worked harder, Clinton gave us a carbon copy of Bush I's tax increase, down to the higher marginal rates and a gas-tax increase.

In 2008, disgusted by George W. Bush's bailout, we VOTED FOR CHANGE and are about to get more of the same, another unimaginably large bill of favors for cronies and bureaucrats, a permanent increase in the size and scope of the parasite sector.

(This is not to say we would have gotten "straight talk" if we had instead voted for Mr. "straight talk.")
- Spike, Brentwood NH