Economy, my ass.

This passing of the economic stimulus package drafted by Congress feels like one more nail in the coffin of the vision of a productive, economically competitive America. The idea that the United States can afford to throw $168 billion of our taxes back at us while government spending increases as quickly as government aid programs are being cut is depressing in its naÃ.ïvetÃ.é.

This “stimulus” package fails on two counts: First, those $168 billion won’t be able to be spent elsewhere in the fiscal budget. Second, any impact of an economic stimulus that throws $600 a head at a national problem will be short-lived, if not negligible, without changing the way our economy functions.

So don’t believe the hype. It’s easy to turn on the news and hear how much bipartisan support there is for the economic stimulus package and how important it is to do something to boost our lagging economy. What’s hard to do is find any clear and rational justifications for exactly why slipping $600 in our pockets makes a dent in the foreclosure crisis or the rapidly diminishing confidence in American business. Nor does this solution alleviate the cause of our economic troubles: The fact that production of goods is already outsourced everywhere around the globe, which in turn has left the U.S. with no overwhelming resources of value outside of its massive military.

In case no one has noticed though, our military power doesn’t exactly always play in our favor. Another problem exists at the point where the next presidential candidate will be faced with the daunting, if not impossible, task of reversing almost a decade of nearly unprecedented military spending. The economic stimulus package takes away from money drawn from taxes just to turn it around and give it back to us as if it is some great gift from our benevolent government.

How does this affect us? Because each day we turn on the news and see a new declaration by the presidential candidates about how they will fix the economy, reform health care or give everyone on the planet a big fluffy bunny to hug while they sleep. Maybe it’s just election fatigue, but once again, I’m left with the same end argument: don’t believe the hype.