A bill passed in 2009 with the underlying premise that we can borrow money, spend it, and it will make us all richer by "stimulating" the economy such that we can pay it
all back and more.
The bill's official name is the "American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (
ARRA)", which was a forced compromise between the Democrats who wanted to call it the "You Have to Print Money to Make Money Act" and the Republicans who wanted to call it the "Screw our Children with Massive Debt Act"
Reporter: "President Obama, with unemployment continuing to rise, how do you know that this Stimulus Package is even working?"
Obama: "Because without it, job loss would have been far worse and the economy even more depressed."
Reporter: "Wait, how could you possibly know that?"
Obama: "I have a team of people with impressive
credentials that told me so after I told them I didn't like their first answer and to give me another answer or be fired"
Reporter: "But, if we can really 'stimulate' our economy by borrowing future earnings and spending it now, wouldn't it just make sense to do this constantly so that our economy is always 'stimulated' and we all become
filthy rich?"
Obama: "I like this reporter -
Rahm, add him to my cabinet"
Rahm Emanuel: "Uh, sir, I think he's being sarcastic..."