Here are some numbers in reference to the economic recovery that will make your spine crawl:
- 0 — the number of Senators and Representatives that read the whole Stimulus bill before voting to pass it
- 2.8% – the increase in unemployment since the Bailout (TARP) in September 2008… as of April 2009 we are now at 8.96% unemployment
- 3 hours — the time Obama waited to sign the SCHIP Healthcare bill… after promising to wait five days to sign any bill so the public could review and comment on the internet
- 15 years — since the last Federal tax increase… the ironman record was broken by SCHIP earlier this year
- 39 — banks have been seized (nationalized and resold to the private sector) by the FDIC in 2009
- 563 — banks have been bailed out through TARP
- 1,053 pages — in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (The Stimulus)… bringing transparency to government
- $8,000 — the increase in spending per household by the Obama budget
- 9,286 — earmarks in the 2009 Omnibus spending bill… after the President promised to end wasteful spending
- $250,000 salary — the arbitrary wealth line now in vogue… because at $249,999 a year, then you’re still considered poor, but at $250,001 you’re filthy rich and not paying your fair share
- $165 million — the amount it took for America to finally get upset about wasteful government spending (AIG bonuses)
- $15.4 billion — the total Stimulus money spent two months after passing… so why was the recovery package rushed through Congress if the money was going to trickle out so slowly?
- $33 billion — the tax increase on cigarettes to pay for SCHIP, which will affect many low-income Americans… after Obama promised no tax increases for low-income Americans, though that’s where the smoking tax hits hardest
- $787 billion — the amount deemed necessary to restart the American economy (The Stimulus)
- $10.4 trillion — total spending and loan commitments by the federal government to fight the recession since 2008 that was NOT approved by Congress (authorized unilaterally by the Fed or FDIC)
- $12,866,700,000,000 — total spending and loan commitments by the federal government to fight the recession since 2008