Stimulus...

(HT to Gerald Warner) If you summarize the entire US Government's commitments under O'bama's stimulus package along with the commitments made over the last couple of months by the Treasury Secretary and others, here is the grand total:

• $5.5 trillion (yes, TRILLION) to the Federal Reserve to bailout banks
• $1.5 trillion (yes, TRILLION) to the FDIC
• $947 billion (only billion) to the Treasury
• $300 billion (only billion) to the Federal Housing Administration

Total: $8.34 TRILLION by 2017 (BTW-the total government deficit under the 6 years of the Bush administration was $3.35 trillion).

ASTERISK:

The $8.34 trillion deficit does NOT include the cost of nationalising Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, which will cost an estimated $5 trillion, running up the sum to a meager $13.4 trillion deficit.

The gulp/gasp that you hear is the vacuous sound of my wallet when I open it up after pay day...

Moral of the story: Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal men, who cannot save. When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing. Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God, the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them—the LORD, who remains faithful forever. (Psalm 146:3-6)