Stimulus Bill: Economists DO NOT agree on Government Action

It pains me to think that President Obama might have knowingly lied to us when he said:

"There is no disagreement that we need action by our government, a recovery plan that will help to jumpstart the economy." — PRESIDENT-ELECT BARACK OBAMA, JANUARY 9 , 2009

But, this is an untruth!

I hear this democratic talking point about "no disagreement" regurgitated every day, by elected democrats and their representatives in the main stream media. But, I know they are lying on this point; anyone who reads can confirm this.
One place to start checking your facts is at the The Cato Institute's web site. Read the list of economists who signed their petition and, if you're an economist, sign the petition to express your agreement with the following statement:

Notwithstanding reports that all economists are now Keynesians and that we all support a big increase in the burden of government, we do not believe that more government spending is a way to improve economic performance. More government spending by Hoover and Roosevelt did not pull the United States economy out of the Great Depression in the 1930s. More government spending did not solve Japan's "lost decade" in the 1990s. As such, it is a triumph of hope over experience to believe that more government spending will help the U.S. today. To improve the economy, policy makers should focus on reforms that remove impediments to work, saving, investment and production. Lower tax rates and a reduction in the burden of government are the best ways of using fiscal policy to boost growth.

Certainly, Free-Market Economists disagree with the President. Read anything on Mises.Org for an understanding of their point of view. For a good recent example, see "Obama's Wealth Destruction" by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr., excerpt below:

Obama can put a stop to his madness. He needs to know — someone must tell him frankly and openly — that his current path is going to lead not to recovery, but to an extension of suffering, and untold amounts of it.
The biggest threat facing the American economy right now is rarely even discussed. It is the massive buildup of paper bank reserves in the last quarter of 2008. This was Bush's doing. He ordered the Fed to print like mad. Fortunately for us, the banks are still holding on to these reserves. When they start lending again, the result could be hyperinflation of Confederate-dollar proportions.
Hence the priority of the Obama administration should be to first do no evil, and second to find some means for withdrawing those reserves from the banking system before they wash through the economic structure and destroy the dollar. There is still time. He must act. Yes, that will lead to bank failures. That's good! It will lead to business failures. That's good and essential too.

Even the Congressional Budget Office has pointed out that this almost trillion-dollar price bill will do worse to our overall economy than no government action whatsoever. How can our President claim otherwise?

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