The Government Must Think We Are Morons

I will be the first to shout it from the rooftops that I did not vote for Obama. However, I have also been willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and see what he does before I make blanket judgments on his presidency. So far - I am not impressed. The Stimulus Bill is driving me bonkers/crazy/plain ole mad. I have SO many issues with the way the money is being spent and what it is being spent on and the amount of money is atrocious. My biggest issue with the Obama Administration thus far is how they label things. They call things "Tax Relief" that are not actually tax relief. I can't do anything about the stimulus bill - its been voted on, signed into law - fine. But, don't try to trick me by mislabeling what the money is being spent on. If you go to www.recovery.gov on the front page is a bar graph of where the money in the stimulus bill is going. (I am always wary of bar graphs - the first thing you learn in statistics is that you can make graphs say whatever you want them to say). Tax relief is the largest bar. You then click on the graph and it takes you to another page that has circles. At the bottom of the page is this:

* Tax Relief - includes $15 B for Infrastructure and Science, $61 B for Protecting the Vulnerable, $25 B for Education and Training and $22 B for Energy, so total funds are $126 B for Infrastructure and Science, $142 B for Protecting the Vulnerable, $78 B for Education and Training, and $65 B for Energy.

That adds up to 123 Billion dollars that is not tax relief and going to other places - leaving 165 Billion for tax relief. Why label it as something that it is not? It would be like if I labeled all of the food in my kitchen as health food and then had to add the disclaimer "Healthfood includes chocolate, doritos, soda, candy and ice cream." It is ridiculous. If you have to use an asterisk to make your self look better - you are better off not using an asterisk at all and just being honest. My opinion of the Obama Administration would be higher if they would do that.