There are many good critiques of the so-called “stimulus” bill: Jim Manzi at National Review Online shows just how little of the stimulus bill is actually dedicated to economy-boosting activities and Larry Lindsey has a piece in today’s Wall Street Journal that highlights some of the other things that could be done for that much money (like cut the payroll tax in half) that would actually encourage job creation and get money in peoples hands quickly. Rush Limbaugh has a very funny piece on his idea for a bipartisan bill which would include big, incentive changing cuts in corporate and capital gains tax rates.
One thing that has been less covered is the media’s coverage of this bill — I guess it shouldn’t come as a surprise but the media seems rather willing to accept the line that this is all an “economic recovery bill,” and implicitly cheerleads for the bill’s passage. Imagine if it was Republicans who controlled both the legislative and executive branch and was pushing through massive tax reform in response to an economic crisis. Somehow I imagine the treatment would be quite different.